Whenever we think of performing any auspicious event or task, the first thing that strikes the mind is “the right muhuruta”. On the other hand if anything goes wrong and the desired results are not obtained, the foremost thing that can be heard is “It might not have been started on the right muhuruta”...
What is Muhuruta? It is the most favourable time that is deemed to help the event or task to begin, prosper and reach to the anticipated outcome. A right muhuruta is thought to prevent all sorts of blockages or obstacles that might hamper the fructification. Let’s look at what makes a Muhuruta. The five elements of Panchanga – Tithi, Vaara, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana together with other variables like solar and lunar month, lagna, hora etc. are blended together to arrive at a time that is best suited for a particular event.
A brief on these components
Tithi – A difference of 12 degrees between Moon’s longitude and Sun’s longitude gives us one tithi. In total there are 30 tithis, fifteen tithis of Shukla Paksha (brighter half) & fifteen tithis of Krishna Paksha (darker half). Coming together of the luminaries – Sun and Moon is called Amavasya (New Moon) & when in mutual aspect (180 degrees apart), we get Poornima (Full Moon). For Muhuruta purposes, the tithis are classified in five groups:
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Nanda - Lorded by Venus, this group includes 1st, 6th, 11th tithis of Krishna & Shukla paksha. Indicative of happiness they are considered auspicious for activities like purchasing of jewellery, good clothes, costly gems, beginning of fine arts, marriage etc.
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Bhadra – With Mercury as the lord of the 2nd, 7th, 12th tithis of both Krishna & Shukla Paksha, these help activities like starting of business, commencement of professions related to accountancy, CA, journalism, beginning of education to prosper.
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Jaya – As the name suggests, the 3rd, 8th , 13th tithis of Krishna & Shukla Paksha are ruled by fiery Mars and signifying victory, these tithis are good for activities like filing of legal cases, bhoomi-poojan, joining uniformed services, fire related works, give some contribution/ investment to younger sibling etc.
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Rikta – Considered not very apt for muhuruta, the 4th, 9th, 14th tithis of both pakshas, lorded by Saturn are thought to delay the results.
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Poorna – Full or complete, the tithis 5th, 10th, 15th/30th of both Krishna & Shukla paksha are true symbolic of their lord Jupiter and deemed good for all occasions.
Vaara – The duration from one sunrise to another. Each day is associated with a lord i.e. Ravivaara to Sun, Somavaara to Moon, Mangalvaara to Mars, Budhavaara to Mercury, Guruvaara to Jupiter, Shukravaara to Venus and Shanivaara to Saturn. Generally Mangalavaara & Shanivaara are not preferred for any auspicious events. Soma, Budha, Guru and Shukra fall under the category of “Shubha Vaaras”. Depending upon the signification of the lord, works can be undertaken for example Wednesday for educational purposes.
Nakshatra – 27 nakshatras in all, each with a span of 13 degrees 20 minutes, each planet has the lordship of three nakshatras. Out of the five components of Panchanga, nakshatra has been given maximum importance. Based on the characteristics of the star, certain suitable activities are considered suitable to be performed during that nakshatra period.
Under the Shubha nakshatra category
- The first is Dhruva (Best) with Sun’s nakshatra of Uttaraphalguni, Uttarashada, Saturn’s Uttarabhadra and Moon’s Rohini. Considered auspicious for tasks like foundation laying, digging well, starting of service, house building i.e. anything which should be secure and long-term.
- Next in line is Laghu (Light) with Moon’s Hasta, Ketu’s Ashwini, Saturn’s Pushya and Abhijit which are considered suitable for activities like advertising and publishing, wearing ornaments, fine-arts (music and drama) etc.
- Then comes Mridu (Gentle) with Mars Mrigashira & Chitra, Saturn’s Anuradha and Mercury’s Revati which are good for softer activities like singing, learning music, making friends, learning game skills, making ornaments etc.
- Chara (Moving) is next with Moon’s Shravana, Mar’s Dhanishta, Rahu’s Satabisha & Swati and Jupiter’s Punarvasu. All deemed well for activities that involve movement, like purchasing of vehicle, learning to drive, journeys (Shravana being the most favourable).
- Then comes Madhyama (Neutral) with Ketu’s Magha & Moola and Jupiter’s Vishakha, deemed suitable for preparing medicines, works involving use of fire, sale/purchase/use of arms, surgical operations, and research on poisonous medicines, welding, gas works etc.
- Not preferred nakshatras are Venus’s Bharani, Poorvaphalguni & Poorvashada. Sun’s Kritika, Rahu’s Ardra, Mercury Ashlesha & Jyestha, Jupiter’s Poorvabhadra.
Mrigashira and Swati fall under the “Mahanakshatra” category (especially for marriage purposes).
Yoga – The relative position of Sun and Moon gives yoga. Mathematically it is given as
Yoga = (Moon’s Longitude + Sun’s Longitude)/13deg20min
There are 27 yogas, out of which 18 are useful for fixing Muhuruta & 7 yogas can be considered only after discarding a particular no. of ghatis, whereas 2 yogas are not considered for muhuruta. The shubha yogas are Ayushman, Dhruva, Sidda (Ketu), Saubhagya, Sadhya (Venus), Shobhana, Harshana, Shubha (Sun), Shukla (Moon), Sukarman, Siddhi, Brahma (Mars), Dhriti, Indra (Rahu), Variyan (Jupiter), Preeti, Vriddhi, Shiva (Mercury).
The inauspicious ones are Vyaghata (Venus), Atiganda, Vajra (Moon), Vyatipata (Rahu), Vishkumbha, Ganda, Parigha (Saturn) & Shoola, Vaidhriti (Jupiter).
Out of the above 9, Vyatipata & Vaidhriti are totally malefic and are avoided in all auspicious events. The first 3 ghatis are malefic in case of Vishkumbha, for Ganda it is first 6 ghatis, the first 9 ghatis are to be avoided for Vyaghata, first 30 ghatis for Parigha are to be completely ignored, Atiganda can be used after neglecting first 6 ghatis, first 5 ghatis are malefic for Shoola and first 3 ghatis to be avoided for Vajra.
Karana – One-half of a tithi is called Karana. There are eleven karanas, out of which four are fixed and seven are movable.
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Fixed Karanas – Starting from 2nd half of Krishna Chaturdashi with Shakuni Karna, 1st half of Amavasya is Chatuspada, 2nd half is Naga Karana and 1st half of Shukla Pratipada is Kintughana Karana, All these four karanas are considered inauspicious.
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Movable Karanas – Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija, Vishti. Starting from 2nd half of Shukla pratipada, they come in order and each Karana comes eight times in a lunar month.
Birth Karana is the best for a native even if he is born in sthira Karana. For ex: A person is born in Taitila Karana. For his work to be successful he should carry out the work in Taitila Karana.
Apart from the main players, Hora i.e. the 24 subdivisions of a day (12 from sunrise to sunset and 12 from sunset to next sunrise) also refine the muhuruta. Each hora is ruled by a planet in the order “Arka-Sukra-Budha-Chandraho-Manda-Jeevo-Dharasutah” i.e. “Sun-Venus-Mercury-Moon-Saturn-Jupiter-Mars”. The first hora belongs to the lord of the day. For example on a Sunday, first hora from Sunrise (local Sunrise) belongs to Sun, next to Venus and so on. On Monday it starts from first hora belonging to the Moon & rest following the order from Moon onwards.
Muhuruta lagna also plays an important role. Categorised as Chara (Movable), Sthira (Fixed) and Dwisvabhava (Movable & Fixed); the chara lagna are considered suitable for any work involving movement, continuity; the sthira are good for all activities requiring permanency and dwisvabhava for all events that should have momentum as well as stability.
One important aspect that further polishes and personalises the muhuruta is Tarabala. Out of the good nakshatras, we will have to pick up the best for the person for whom the muhuruta is to be decided, depending upon his Janma Nakshatra. Counting from the birth star to the star of the Muhuruta day and dividing the total by 9, the remainder indicates the tarabala or star’s influence on the concerned person or event.
Taras are 9 in number i.e. (1) Janma (2) Sampat (3) Vipat (4) Kshema (5) Pratyak (6) Sadhak (7) Naidhana (8) Maitra (9) Atimaitra
If a person is born in Bharani and on a particular day the star is Punarvasu, then, being the 6th star from Bharani, it is SadhakTara and if the others factors are supporting, the day is deemed good for realisation of objectives for the native.
All the above components in various permutations and combinations give auspicious and inauspicious yogas that are also kept in mind while fixing the muhuruta.
We are bound by karmas and have to fulfil our destiny, as stipulated by the supreme power. However using the right timings combined with an honest approach creates a balance between our energy, planetary vibrations and the divine force that ultimately helps us to materialise and realise our actions in an effective way.
Ritu Bhatnagar
MSc Operations Research, from Delhi University
Mo.9886056514