sidereal zodiacclassical Indian, transmitted continuously to present practice9 rules
Vedic (Jyotiṣa)
The Indian sidereal system, whose electional branch (muhūrta) judges the fitness of a moment from the five limbs of the pañcāṅga. Its calendrical arithmetic is computed in `lib/panchanga.ts` and is fully reproducible; the judgements built on that arithmetic are recorded here, sourced to Varāhamihira.
Chart types · natal · electional · mundane
Epistemic status
Every rule below is recorded as documented interpretive tradition with no empirical validation. The provenance badge states how faithfully the record represents its source; it is not a measure of whether the rule is true. Prohibited uses: medical diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment decisions; legal conclusions or advice; investment, trading, or other financial decisions; predictions of death, disaster, or pregnancy outcomes; claims that a chart determines personality, capability, or behaviour; guarantees about future events; high-stakes decisions taken on astrological grounds alone; employment, lending, insurance, or housing decisions about a person.
The tradition classes these four nakshatras as stable (Dhruva) and directs that undertakings meant to endure — planting, building, sowing, and acts of public utility — be begun while the Moon passes through them.
Chart conditions
panchanga.nakshatra — The Moon occupies one of the four stable (Dhruva) nakshatras.
Source passages
“Of these 28 constellations (nakṣatra), those of Uttaraphālguni, Uttarāṣāḍha and Uttarabhādrapada together with the constellation of Rohiṇī are known as (Dhruva) stable asterisms.”
Transcription note: The edition transliterates the nakshatra names differently from the forms used in `lib/panchanga.ts`; the rule maps them to the canonical forms and the mapping is stated in its boundary.
“Coronation of kings, expiatory ceremonies, planting of trees, the building of towns, acts of public utility, the sowing of seeds and acts of permanent effects shall he commenced when the Moon passes through the stable asterisms.”
Transcription note: The cited edition reads “shall he commenced”, evidently a compositor’s error for “shall be commenced”. Transcribed as printed rather than silently corrected.
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way. The nakshatra names are matched against the canonical forms used by the pañcāṅga computation; the 1884 edition spells them Uttaraphālguni, Uttarāṣāḍha and Uttarabhādrapada, and that normalisation is a transcription decision rather than a doctrinal one.
The tradition classes these three nakshatras as light (Laghu) and associates them with sales, the acquisition of knowledge, the arts, and similar undertakings.
Chart conditions
panchanga.nakshatra — The Moon occupies one of the three light (Laghu) nakshatras.
Source passages
“The constellations (nakṣatra) of Hasta. Aśvinī and Puṣya are known as (Laghu) light asterisms.”
Transcription note: The full stop after “Hasta” is a comma in the printed text; retained here as the edition transcribes it.
“Sales, acts of sexual love, acquisition of knowledge, wearing of ornaments, arts, sculpture, medicine purchase of carriage and the like shall be commenced when the Moon passes through the light asterisms.”
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way.
The tradition classes these four nakshatras as soft (Mṛdu) and associates them with acts of friendship, the making of ornaments, music, and auspicious undertakings generally.
Chart conditions
panchanga.nakshatra — The Moon occupies one of the four soft (Mṛdu) nakshatras.
Source passages
“The constellations (nakṣatra) of Anurādhā, Citrā, Revatī and Mṛgaśīrṣa are known as (Mṛdu) soft asterisms.”
“Acts of friendship, sexual union, the purchase of clothes, the wearing or making of ornaments, any auspicious deeds and music shall be commenced when the Moon passes through the soft asterisms.”
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way.
The tradition prohibits shaving on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and the same verse extends the prohibition to twilight and night hours, Riktā tithis, the ninth lunar day, and the Bhadra karaṇa.
Chart conditions
panchanga.vara — The vāra is Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday.
Source passages
“Shaving is prohibited in twilight hours, hours of night, on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, on Rikta Tithis, on the ninth lunar day and when the karaṇa is Bhadra.”
Transcription note: A footnote marker after “Rikta” in the source is omitted. This verse is the evidence that Riktā avoidance and the Bhadra prohibition are Varāhamihira’s own, not only later doctrine.
Disagreements
The verse conditions a single act on several limbs at once. This rule fires on the vāra alone; the tithi and karaṇa conditions in the same verse are recorded in the passage but are not separately evaluated, so the rule is narrower than the source.
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way. The rule is deliberately narrower than its verse: the source joins several conditions with "or", which the condition model, being a conjunction of limbs, cannot express.
Transcription note: Transcribed in full for fidelity. Only the prohibition is carried into a rule; the remainder of the verse is recorded as historical text and is not acted on, and the prohibited uses attached to this layer forbid it.
Disagreements
Later muhūrta literature narrows the prohibition by the portion of Bhadra that falls in daylight and by which loka it is held to occupy, so practice varies on how much of the period is avoided.
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way. Only the prohibition in the cited verse is carried into this rule; the remainder of the verse is recorded in the passage for transcription fidelity and is not acted on.
The tradition holds that the Bava karaṇa suits auspicious undertakings, whether of a moveable or a fixed character, and acts directed at health and comfort.
Chart conditions
panchanga.karana — The karaṇa current at the moment under consideration is Bava.
Source passages
“In a Bava Karaṇa shall be done deeds of an auspicious, a moveable or a fixed character as well as deeds for the promotion of a person’s health or comfort.”
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way.
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way.
The tradition sorts the fifteen tithis of a fortnight into five named groups — Nandā, Bhadrā, Vijayā, Riktā and Pūrṇā — which later practice treats as the basis for selecting or avoiding a lunar day, Riktā being the group generally avoided.
Chart conditions
panchanga.tithi — The tithi current at the moment under consideration, taken within its fortnight.
Source passages
“The 1st, 6th and 11th lunar days are known as Nandā; the 2nd, 7th, and 12th, lunar days are known as Bhadrā; the 3rd, 8th and 13th lunar days are known as Vijayā; the 4th, 9th, and 14th lunar days are known as Riktā and the 5th, 10th and 15th lunar days are known as Pūrṇā.”
Verse 2 names the five groups without ranking them, but Chapter 98 verse 13 prohibits an act on Riktā tithis, so the avoidance of Riktā is Varāhamihira’s own and not purely later doctrine. An earlier revision of this record claimed otherwise and was corrected when the further chapter was transcribed.
Boundary: The pañcāṅga input is computed and reproducible, but the rule built on it is documented tradition with no empirical support. A moment being Viṣṭi or Riktā is a fact about the Sun and Moon; that such a moment is unfavourable for an undertaking is not, and no outcome should be expected either way. The grouping is transcribed from the source; the avoidance ranking attached to it is later practice and is flagged as such in the recorded disagreement.
The tradition places the four fixed karaṇas — Śakuni, Catuṣpada, Nāga and Kiṃstughna — beginning from the second half of the fourteenth day of the waning moon.
Chart conditions
panchanga.karana — The position of the four fixed karaṇas within the lunar month.
Source passages
“The four Dhruva (fixed) Karaṇas are—Śakuni, Catuṣpada, Nāga and Kiṃstughna and they begin from the second half of the 14th day of the waning moon.”
Boundary: This is a structural claim about the calendar rather than a judgement about a moment, and it is one of the few places where a classical text can be checked directly against the computation: `test/panchanga.test.ts` asserts that the implemented karaṇa sequence puts Śakuni at exactly this point. Agreement confirms the arithmetic matches the tradition; it says nothing about whether the tradition predicts anything.