Panch means five Anga means limbs. Panchanga means the five limbs of the day. Panchanga is the Indian ephemeris, which takes into account the five sources of energy that support each day. The essence of the panchanga is how the Sun and Moon relate to each on a daily basis. Panchanga is used for almost every branch of Vedic astrology: natal, election, prashna (horary), religious calendars and to understand the energy of the day.
Panchang of the day birth effects our emotions, temperament and nature. It can give added information about who we are and how we feel. It can strengthen the effect of the planets and give us additional qualities that we may not understand purely through the natal chart. Panchanga is what sustains the birth chart, its supporting energy. This has never been properly understood, we continue to judge the natal chart without looking at the energies that surrounding the birth. Ancient classics like Jataka Bharnam, Hora Ratnam and Maan Sagri have much information on this subject, which somehow never got incorporated into present day Jyotish in analysing natal charts.
The panchang is a combination of the
1. Dina (solar day)
2. Nakshatra ( the transit of the Moon on a day)
3. The Tithi (Lunar day)
4. Karana (The half day)
5. Yoga (the relationship between the Sun and the Moon)
Dina is connected to the Sun and Nakshatra to the Moon, the other three components of the panchanga show the connection between the two.
The Sun, Moon and the Panchanga
The Sun and the Moon are the vital component. The panchang follows the transits of the Moon, its daily quality as it travels through the zodiac and the nakshatras and the Moon’s daily interaction with the Sun. The Sun is the Atma, eternal soul, our connection to the divine and Moon is the Jiva Atma, the living soul, our contact with the earth. How the mind and the soul interact is the story of the panchang.
The natal positions of the Sun and Moon are very important. Other planets are important but only to support the Luminaries interaction. The quality of the Sun and Moon in a natal chart by rashi, conjunction and aspect will impact on the qualities expressed by the panchang. If they are weak, despite the panchang promising a lot, it does not deliver to its best level. This is when the negative qualities of the panchang can take root. Similarly a very negative panchang can be improved, if they are in dignity and strong in the natal chart. If one is in dignity and the other is weak, it gives more neutral effects.
Remedial measures can be performed for a negative panchang connected to a negative panchang.
Dina or Solar Day
Dina means day. Dina is one solar day that begins at sunrise and ends at sunrise of the next solar day. There are 360 dina in a solar year, one day for one degree of the zodiac. Different planets rule the days in the week. The day is known as Dina or Vaar and the name of planet is prefixed to Vaar to give a particular day. Dina connects to the Sun and therefore to the soul. Dina is the most important component of the panchang as it is the primary influence on the soul and the planet that rules the dina has a lot to say about how the soul feels about this incarnation.
From Sun to Saturday the Dinas and their planetary rulers are:
1. Ravivaar- Sun’s day
2. Somvaar- Moon's day
3. Mangalvaar- Mars day
4. Buddhvaar- Mercury's day
5. Brihaspativaar or Guruvaar - Jupiter's day
6. Shukravaar- Venus's day
7. Shanivaar- Saturn's day
Vedic day begins at sunrise and ends at Sunrise of the next day. So when we are discussing Saturday, it will be Saturday after sunrise, the time before that belongs to Friday. The Dina of the day of birth will be weekday on which the Sun rose at a particular place (local time). In effect two people born on the same date may have different dina according to the place of birth. If the sun rose in UK at 5.30 am on Sunday morning on the 1st of June, someone born at 5.25 am will be born on Saturday and birth at 5.35am would be on Sunday. Even someone born at the same time and in the same country can have different dina as the Sun may rise earlier at one place than the other. This changes the quality of their personality, their connection with the eternal. As one inherits Saturn’s qualities and the other the Sun’s. Most Vedic software give the sunrise time of the place you are born and will also show the panchanga.
The Nakshatras
Nakshatra is the original language of the stars that the ancient rishis connected to. To study the Moon’s movement in the backdrop of the stars gave them an understanding of the deeper meaning of life. One nakshatra is how long the moon travels in one day.
Nakshatra literally means a star in Sanskrit. A star is a point of cosmic light. Naksha means to get closer and Tra means to preserve.
Moon is the significator of the mind and therefore nakshatra’s prime connection is with the ebb and flow of the mind. Dina reflect the soul, nakshatra the mind and is the 2nd most important component of the panchanga.
The day is divided into four portions, sunrise, midday, sunset and midnight, therefore the nakshatras are also divided into four parts known as padas. The four parts also reflect the four cardinal directions and the four main aims of the incarnating soul. Padas link divine part of the Moon’s energy to that of the Sun. The nakshatras and the rashis are joined together by the navamsha and padas.
Although in natal astrology we would study all the planet positions in their nakshatras, in Panchanga, we are only concerned with Moon’s position.
Nama Nakshatra
According to Vedic Tradition, the first letter of your birth name was chosen from the special consonant or vowel related to your birth nakshatra. This way you are perpetually connected to your birth energy. The name becomes like a mantra and whenever someone says your name it creates an auspicious energy.
The nakshatras reflect the complete Akshara (alphabet) of Sanskrit. Each nakshatra has four special consonants or vowels, one for each pada. The moment a child is born, the parents ask the Jyotishi or priest for the right consonant/ vowel to name their child correctly. This is known as Nama nakshatra. Nama means name. The choice is not from any four consonants of the Moon nakshatra but the one that belongs to the specific pada the Moon was in. This is a tradition has got lost as many don’t know the significance of the nama nakshatra. It can be difficult to find the Sanskrit alphabet names that can convert into western names
Tithi
Humans, according to Sage Mahatapas the great ascetic, are born from the Hiranyagarbha, the cosmic womb in their different forms to the world we live in. They represent separate principles of creation, all being distinct yet the same. Each person is connected to the Atma, the eternal soul that never dies. A portion of this eternal soul comes through the Hiranyagarbha to earth in the form of the Jiva Atma, the living soul. Sun is atma and Moon is Jiva atma. The daily distance between the Sun and Moon is a tithi. The principles of divinity are the deities that rule the tithis. These are Agni, Ashwini Kumaras, Gauri, Ganapati, Nagas, Kartikeya, Aditya, Matrs, Durga, Diks, Kubera, Vishnu, Yama, Rudra, Chandra and Pitris. Birth on the tithi will show what divine principle you are working with and how to deal with and get the best out of it.
Tithis represent the different natures of human life if when properly understood give us the opportunity to preserve our precious amrita that the soul has gathered over its previous lifetimes. It shows our weaknesses, our strengths as well as the connections to the deities. Each tithi is a personification of a deity that divided itself in two halves. One that remained in eternity and the other that came down to earth to face the law of karma and guard the soul.
The Tithi Basics
From their conjunction at the New moon, the Sun and the Moon move away from each other 12º per day. This is known as a lunar day or as a Tithi. A lunar month has 30 tithis. Each tithi is slightly shorter than the solar day. A lunar year is of 48 weeks. Tithis are the lunar steps to and away from the Sun, the daily interaction of the living with the eternal.
The lunar month is divided into two fortnights known as Pakshas. The Pakshas are
1. Shukla Paksha- the bright half of the Moon, from the New Moon to the full Moon. 15 tithis belong to the waxing cycle of the moon.
2. Krishna Paksha- the dark half of the Moon, from the Full Moon to the New Moon. 15 tithis belong to the waning cycle of the Moon
In the Indian almanac, the tithis are always represents by numbers from 1 (the first day) to 15 (the full moon). After the 15th day of the Lunar cycle, the next tithi is known as the number 1 again, then 2, 3, 4 and onwards to 14. The 30th day- the darkest night of the lunar month is known as Amavasya and number 30 represent this. Amavasya is when the Sun and Moon's longitude is the same again.
The lunar days (tithis) of both the bright and dark half of the month are below
Day Tithi Quality Deity
One Pratipada one giving rise Agni
Two Dwitiya Auspicious Ashwini Kumar/ Brahma
Three Tritiya strength and power Gauri- wife of Shiva
Four Chathurthi negative Ganapati
Five Panchami Laxmi/wealth Naga
Six Shashti Fame Kartika- Mars
Seven Saptami Friendly Surya - Sun
Eight Ashtami Conflict Shiva/ Matrgana
Nine Navami Aggressive Durga
Ten Dashami Soft Yama- the god of death/
Diks , the goddesses of the ten directions Eleven Ekadashi Happiness Vishwedeva/ Kubera/ Vayu
Twelve Dwadashi Fame Vishnu
Thirteen Trayodashi Victory Kamdeva/ Dharma
Fourteen Chaturdashi Aggressive Shiva/ Rudra
Fifteen/
Full Moon Purnima Soft Soma
Thirtieth Amavasya inauspicious Pitris
You always refer to the days as Shukla Trayodashi meaning the 3rd day of the waxing Moon or Krishna Pratipada, the 1st day of the waning Moon.
4th, 9th and 14th tithis are known as Rikta tithis. Rikta means unsupported and they are generally avoided in starting auspicious projects.
Originally the birth dates were always given in terms of tithis rather than the date of birth. When I asked my grandmother the date of birth, she told me that she was born at sunrise on the 5th tithi of the month of Bhadra ( Sun in Virgo) in the year George V visited India (1911).
The annual birthday is usually celebrated in two ways. One is celebrated on the day the Sun is in its birth rashi and the Moon is in the birth nakshatra. If you sun at birth is in Leo and the Moon in Ashwini. The annual birthday will be the date when these two are in their natal positions. The annual birthday would be different on different dates.
The second is Tithi Pravesh. Pravesh means to enter. The day the Tithi is the same as on the day of birth - in effect the angle between the sun and the moon is the same - is taken as the annual birthday. The yearly chart analysis is also done from tithi pravesh rather than solar return chart. As solar return only takes the sun and its return as the main factor, not both the luminaries, it does not give the complete picture of the coming year.
Karana
The Karana is half a tithi. Karna means to take action, to do. The karanas have the ability to strengthen or mar a tithi. They represent the underlying influences. Karana are underlying energies and have to be studied as subordinate to the tithis not the other way round. Karana are the 6º difference between the Sun and the Moon. They are 60 in all. There are thirty tithis and sixty karanas. There are 11 types of Karanas. Four fixed and seven movable. The fixed Karanas are Shakuni, Chatuspada, Naga and Kintughna are negative. The seven movable Karanas are Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija and Vishti. They start with Bava on the second half of the first tithi and repeat themselves in the same order eight times in a lunar month. The four fixed Karanas start with the 2nd half of the 14th day of the Krishna paksha, Amavasya and the first half of the 1st Tithi of the Shukla Paksha. The first karana in shukla paksha is always the fixed Kintughna. The fixed karanas do not repeat themselves.
Nitya Yoga
Nitya means daily and yoga means a yoke or connection. The panchanga yoga is different from the yogas formed by the planets. The yoga is formed by the daily connection between of the Sun and Moon. The Moon travels 13º 20' away from the Sun each day. These 13º 20' sections (similar length of a nakshatra) form a yoga. A yoga is a subtle blending of solar and lunar energies that give special indications every day. There are 27 such yogas formed and each one is linked to a particular nakshatra. Some are malefic in nature and others benefic. The yoga at the time of the birth influences the personality and also gives the yogi and avayogi planets. The yogas are connected to the nakshatras but are different from the planetary nakshatras.
Yogi planet and Yogi point
Yogi planet is a planet for prosperity and avayogi give the opposite results. The exact degree of the yoga becomes the yogi point. The ruler of the nakshatra where this point is yogi planet and the ruler of the Rashi the nakshatra is in, is known as the duplicate yogi. The 6th nakshatra from the yogi nakshatra is the avayogi nakshatra and its ruler is the avayogi planet.
Yogi point is an extremely positive degree in the natal chart, when benefics transit over this point, you can expect major material success. The house where the yogi planet is placed in the chart gets enhanced. Avayogi can cause trouble. The duplicate yogi is also a planet that helps. There is no duplicate avayogi. The dasha of yogi planets give good results and avayogi will give negative. In relationships compatibility, if your partner’s ascendant ruler is your yogi planet, it bring good fortune to your relationship whereas if it is your avayogi planet, it can bring debt, pain and incompatibility.
It is important not to get carried away by the principle of yogi and avayogi planets but to view them as supplementary information that enhances the natal analysis. While they have the ability to alter the final judgement, they are not the only factor to consider.
The Yogas
yoga nakshatra Yogi planet Avayogi
1. Vishkumbha Pushya Saturn Moon
2. Preeti Ashlesha Mercury Mars
3. Ayushmana Magha Ketu Rahu
4. Saubhagya P Phalguni Venus Jupiter
5. Shobhana U Phalguni Sun Saturn
6. Atiganda Hasta Moon Mercury
7. Sukarma Chitra Mars Ketu
8. Dhriti Swati Rahu Venus
9. Shoola Vishakha Jupiter Sun
10. Ganda Anuradha Saturn Moon
11. Vriddhi Jyeshta Mercury Mars
12. Dhruva Mula Ketu Rahu
13. Vyaghata P Ashadha Venus Jupiter
14. Harshana U Ashadha Sun Saturn
15. Vajra Shravana Moon Mercury
16. Siddhi Dhanishta Mars Ketu
17. Vyatipata Shatabhishak Rahu Venus
18. Variyana P Bhadra Jupiter Sun
19. Parigha U Bhadra Saturn Moon
20. Shiva Revati Mercury Mars
21. Siddha Ashwini Ketu Rahu
22. Sadhya Bharani Venus Jupiter
23. Shubha Krittika Sun Saturn
24.Shukla Rohini Moon Mercury
25. Brahma Mrigasira Mars Ketu
26.Indra Ardra Rahu Venus
27. Vaidhrati Punarvasu Jupiter Sun
Komilla is doing a new consultation called Personal Panchang. This covers the panchang on the day of birth and how it relates to your natal chart and how to make the best use of the light expressed by the panchang
Cost of the consultation is £100/ $190
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