Muhurta is an important branch of Astrology. The technique of muhurta selection is simply creating a positive link between the cosmic energies of the moment (electional chart) to the birth chart. The energies operating at the time of action should positively influence the birth chart. When astral energies are in tune with the birth chart, the result of the action will be favorable. Otherwise, it is like going against the natural flow.
The basic tool for determining muhurta is panchanga along with the Moon sign and ascendant. Moon plays a very big role in muhurta. Moon rules over the mind and psychological patterns. However, other planets also influence the election chart. Each planet has a greater say in different elections, like Jupiter should be given more prominence in educational muhurtas, mercury in intelligence, mars in aggressive works, and so on.
Components of Muhurta
I. Tithi or Lunar Day
Tithi is an angle created by the movement of the Sun and the Moon. Tithi represents lunar energy, which is nothing but mental energy.
A lunar month starts when Sun and Moon are together at the same degree, which is called New Moon or Amavasya. The difference between the longitudes of the Moon and the Sun starts increasing. As one circle of the zodiac consists of 360°, Moon can move 360° apart from the Sun. As the Moon moves away from Sun at a multiple of 12° a new tithi is formed.
So, Tithi=(longitude of Moon - longitude of Sun) / 12
The quotient represents the number of tithis elapsed. Each tithi is equal to 0.9483 of a day so that a lunar month is about 29.53 days. The time from one new Moon to another new moon is called a lunar month.
There are 30 tithis in a month, of which fifteen are bright half (Shukla paksha) when the Moon moves away from the Sun, and fifteen are dark half (Krishna paksha) when the Moon moves towards the Sun.
Lords of the Tithis
Lord Tithi Tithi Sun Pratipada Navami Moon Dwitiya Dashami Mars Tritiya Ekadashi Mercury Chaturthi Dwadashi Jupiter Panchami Trayodashi Venus Shashti Chaturdashi Saturn Saptami Purnima (Full Moon) Rahu Ashtami Amavasya (New Moon) Deities of the Tithis
Find below the table with various tithis with their deities. Each tithi is suitable for different kinds of activities.
Tithi Number Tithi Name Nature Deity Purpose 1st Pratipada Vriddhi Prada - Increase Agni (Fire) Auspicious & religious ceremonies 2nd Dwitiya Mangala Prada - Auspicious Happenings Brahma Activities involve permanent nature like laying the foundation for building 3rd Tritiya Bala Prada - Power Giving Goddess Gauri cutting one's hair, nails 4th Chaturthi Khala Lord Ganesha (Fulfillment) Removal of obstacles, destruction of enemies and acts of combat 5th Panchami Lakshmi Prada - Wealth Giving Naga (Serpents) Administering medicine, removing poisons and performing surgery 6th Shashti Yasha Prada - Fame Giving Lord Kartikeya (Valour) Coronation, festivities, and enjoyments 7th Saptami Mitra - Friendly Lord Sun All activities of movable nature like a journey 8th Ashtami Dwandwa - Conflict giving Lord Rudra (Destruction) Building one's defenses, taking up arms 9th Navami Ugra - Aggressive Goddess Durga (Power) Acts of destruction, killing enemies etc. 10th Dashami Soumya - Sober Lord Dharmaraja (God of Death) Religious functions, spiritual activities, all pious activities 11th Ekadashi Ananda Prada - Enjoyments Lord Vishwadeva Devotional activities, remembrance of lord, fasting 12th Dwadashi Yasha Prada - Fame & Good Qualities Lord Vishnu/Aditya Religious ceremonies, the lighting of a sacred fire, the performance of one's duties 13th Trayodashi Jaya Prada - Victory Lord Kamadeva (God of desire) Forming friendships, sensual pleasures, desire fulfilling activities 14th Chaturdashi Ugra - Aggressive Goddess Kali (Destruction) Administering poison, calling of spirits 15th Purnima Soumya - Sober Moon Fire sacrifice, joyous activities 30th Amavasya Aggressive Pitr (Ancestors) Performance of austerities, propitiation of spirit II. Nakshatra
Nakshatras are huge electromagnetic bodies much larger than the Sun. If Sun represents the soul then stars can be represented as a super soul. It is stated in Sanskrit that, “Na Ksharathi Na Gacchati Nakshatram”, which means nakshatra is a body that does not move. It is the planets that move over the stars.
If we divide the zodiac into 27 equal parts, then each division or arc will be 13° 20’ (or 800’)and is called Nakshatra, which is often termed as a lunar mansion. When the Moon is transiting in a particular division of 13°20’, it is called the Nakshatra of that moment. The nakshatras get associated with twelve signs of the zodiac from Aries to Pisces.
When we say Nakshatra, it is not always one big body. It is a group of stars forming a particular pattern/form and ancient rishis have named them accordingly. For example, Shatabhisha nakshatra is a group of 100 stars, which is collectively called Shatabhisha. So, the features, traits, and energies of all the nakshatras are different. These nakshatras emit energies that impact the human psyche in different ways. When the Moon transits over different nakshatras, it behaves differently.
The 27 Nakshatra are:
1 Ashwini 10 Magha 19 Moola 2 Bharani 11 Purva Phalguni 20 Poorvashada 3 Kritika 12 Uttara Phalguni 21 Uttarashada 4 Rohini 13 Hasta 21a Abhijit 5 Mrigasira 14 Chitra 22 Shravana 6 Ardra 15 Swati 23 Dhanishta 7 Punarvasu 16 Vishakha 24 Shatabhisha 8 Pushya 17 Anuradha 25 Purva Bhadrapad 9 Ashlesha 18 Jyestha 26 Uttara Bhadrapada 27 Revati Abhijit Nakshatra - Apart from the regular 27 nakshatras, one more nakshatra is used especially in Muhurta. That is Abhijit Nakshatra. It is the last quarter of Uttarashada and the first 4 ghatis of Shravana (1/15 portion). So, from 6° 40’ to 10° 53’ 20” of Capricorn (Makara) is the measure of Abhijit Nakshatra.
III. Vaara or Day
In Indian astronomy, the day is considered to be from one sunrise to the next sunrise. Each day is dedicated to a planet and weekdays are named in accordance with planetary considerations. On a day when a planet gets the lordship, that planet influences predominantly. So, the weekdays are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and lords are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn respectively. Out of these, Tuesday and Saturday are generally considered malefic and avoided for auspicious events.
Classification of Vaara
Sunday Dhruva-Sthira (Fixed & Constant) Monday Chara (Movable) Tuesday Ugra-Kroora (Aggressive & Cruel) Wednesday Mishra (Mixed) Thursday Kshipra-Laghu (Dynamic & Light) Friday Mridu-Maitra (Gentle & Friendly) Saturday Tikshna-Daruna (Ferocious & Bitter) The days are suitable for the acts for which the nakshatras of the same category are used. Ex. Sunday is suitable for acts which are fixed in nature like fixed nakshatras.
IV. Yoga
Yoga is the result of the combined motion of the Sun and the Moon. It is the period during which the combined motion in longitude of the Sun and the Moon amounts to 13° 20’. Mathematical equation according to Surya Siddhanta is,
Yoga = (Sun’s Longitude + Moon’s Longitude) / 13° 20’
This will give you the Yoga number. There are 27 Yogas in total and their names are suggestive of their nature. The names of Yoga are:
Sl.No. Yoga Sl.No. Yoga Sl.No. Yoga 1 Vishakumbha 10 Ganda 19 Parigha 2 Preeti 11 Vriddhi 20 Shiva 3 Ayushman 12 Dhruva 21 Siddha 4 Soubhagya 13 Vyaghata 22 Sadhya 5 Shobhana 14 Harshana 23 Shubha 6 Atiganda 15 Vajra 24 Shukla 7 Sukarma 16 Siddhi 25 Brahma 8 Dhriti 17 Vyatipata 26 Indra 9 Shoola 18 Variyan 27 Vaidhriti Among these, the malefic yogas are 1. Vishkumbha 6. Atiganda 9. Shoola 10. Ganda 13. Vyaghata 15. Vajra 17. Vyatipata 19. Parigha and 27. Vaidhriti. These yogas should be avoided in auspicious elections.
Out of these malefic yogas also, there are certain times which are specifically bad and should be avoided in the elections. The malefic portion of yogas are given below:
Yoga Malefic Part in Ghatis Malefic Part in Hours Vishakumbha First 3 ghatis First 1 hour 12 minutes Atiganda First 6 ghatis First 2 hour 24 minutes Shoola First 5 ghatis First 2 hours Ganda First 6 ghatis First 2 hour 24 minutes Vyaghat First 9 ghatis First 3 hours 36 minutes Vajra First 3 ghatis First 1 hour 12 minutes Vyatipata Full 60 ghatis Full 24 hours Parigha First 30 ghatis First 12 hours Vaidhriti Full 60 ghatis Full 24 hours V. Karana
Karana is one half of a tithi, which is half a lunar day. Each Karana is decided by the time taken by the Moon to gain over the Sun by a margin of 6° (as against 12° in the case of tithi). The mathematical calculation is:
Karana = (Longitude of the Moon - Longitude of Sun) / 6°
Quotient + 1 will give the Karana running at the time.
There are eleven karanas out of which seven repeats eight times during a month and four are non-recurring. The eleven karanas are:
1. Bava 2. Balava 3. Kaulava 4. Taitila 5. Gara 6. Vanija 7. Vishti 8. Shakuni 9. Chatushpada 10. Naga 11. Kintughna
First seven karanas repeat eight times, so comes 56 (7*8) times in a month and the last four come only four times during a month.
The last four karanas (Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga, and Kintughna) are considered inauspicious.
Karana Table
Shukla Paksha (Bright Half) Krishna Paksha (Dark Half) Tithi 1st Half of Tithi 2nd Half of Tithi Tithi 1st Half of Tithi 2nd Half of Tithi 1 Kintughna Bava 1 Balava Kaulava 2 Balava Kaulava 2 Taitila Gara 3 Taitila Gara 3 Vanija Vishti 4 Vanija Vishti 4 Bava Balava 5 Bava Balava 5 Kaulava Taitila 6 Kaulava Taitila 6 Gara Vanija 7 Gara Vanija 7 Vishti Bava 8 Vishti Bava 8 Balava Kaulava 9 Balava Kaulava 9 Taitila Gara 10 Taitila Gara 10 Vanija Vishti 11 Vanija Vishti 11 Bava Balava 12 Bava Balava 12 Kaulava Taitila 13 Kaulava Taitila 13 Gara Vanija 14 Gara Vanija 14 Vishti Shakuni 15 Vishti Bava 30 Chatushpada Naga VI. Ascendant or Lagna
Ascendant is a foundation of any chart. Just like how ascendant is very important in the birth chart, it is equally important in the muhurta chart. It is advisable to always strengthen the ascendant and its lord. It is stated in classical texts that a strong ascendant can remove many doshas or malefic defects present in the muhurta horoscope. The selection of proper ascendant and planets will differ in the nature of the activity to be performed.
Important factors in selecting ascendant and planets position
Kendra (1,4,7,10) and Trikona (1,5,9) houses should be occupied by benefic planets and 3,6 and 11th houses are to be occupied by malefics.
Some events require only fixed ascendants and other events require movable ascendants. Choose fixed signs (2,5,8,11) for activities of fixed nature like construction agriculture, starting a company, marriage etc. Similarly, choose movable signs (1,4,7,10) for activities of movable nature like a journey.
In Aries, Taurus, Virgo, and Sagittarius, the first three degrees should be avoided, as it is ruled by bhujanga (serpent). In Gemini, Libra, Aquarius, and Leo, the middle three degrees (13° 30’ to 16° 30’) should be avoided as it is ruled by Gridhra. In Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, and Capricorn, the last three degrees should be avoided as it is ruled by Rahu.
Adhika Masa and Kshaya Masa
Adhika masa is a lunar month during which there is no solar ingress (Surya Sankramana) between two new moon days. It will happen once in three years. Kshaya masa happens when there are two solar ingresses (sankrantis) between two new moons.
Kshaya and Adhika masas are generally avoided in the elections like construction activities, entering a house, annaprashan (first feeding), journey etc. However, some events like a holy bath, samskaras related to pregnancy, shraddha and other routine matters can be performed.
