What one named tradition holds about a given moment, compiled from a computed pañcāṅga and verbatim passages. Every rule that did not fire is listed with the reason, so the reading cannot be made to look stronger by hiding what was withheld.
What this is not
This report states what one named interpretive tradition holds, sourced to transcribed passages. Every rule it draws on is recorded as unvalidated tradition: there is no evidence that any of it predicts anything. It is not advice, and it must not inform any decision listed under prohibited uses.
The tradition classes these three nakshatras as light (Laghu) and associates them with sales, the acquisition of knowledge, the arts, and similar undertakings.
“The constellations (nakṣatra) of Hasta. Aśvinī and Puṣya are known as (Laghu) light asterisms.”
Chapter 98, verse 9 — On the constellations · The Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāha Mihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer, 1884
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.”
Chapter 98, verse 9 — On the constellations · The Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāha Mihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer, 1884
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.
Unvalidated traditionvāra selectionvara=Ravivāra
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.
“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.”
Chapter 98, verse 13 — On the constellations · The Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāha Mihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer, 1884
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.
Disagreement: 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.
Unvalidated traditionkaraṇa selectionkarana=Viṣṭi
The tradition holds that auspicious undertakings are not to be begun during the Viṣṭi (Bhadra) karaṇa.
“In a Viṣṭi or Bhadra Karaṇa, auspicious deeds shall not be done but acts aimed at the ruin of enemies and those connected with poison may be done.”
Chapter 99, verse 7 — On lunar days and half lunar days · The Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāha Mihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer, 1884
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.
Disagreement: 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.
Unvalidated traditiontithi selection
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.
“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.”
Chapter 99, verse 2 — On lunar days and half lunar days · The Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāha Mihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer, 1884
Disagreement: 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.
Unvalidated traditionkaraṇa structure
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.
“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.”
Chapter 99, verse 5 — On lunar days and half lunar days · The Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāha Mihira, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer, 1884
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.
Withheld
Every rule in the tradition is accounted for. Nothing is dropped silently.
Conditions not met at this momentbs-nakshatra-dhruva
The nakshatra is Hasta; this rule requires Uttara Phalgunī or Uttara Āṣāḍhā or Uttara Bhādrapadā or Rohiṇī.
Conditions not met at this momentbs-nakshatra-mridu
The nakshatra is Hasta; this rule requires Anurādhā or Citrā or Revatī or Mṛgaśīrṣa.
Conditions not met at this momentbs-muhurta-bava-favourable
The karana is Viṣṭi; this rule requires Bava.
Conditions not met at this momentbs-muhurta-kimstughna-favourable
The karana is Viṣṭi; this rule requires Kiṃstughna.
All applicable rules from the single declared tradition are reported. Recorded disagreements are surfaced alongside the rule and are never silently resolved. Rules from more than one tradition are never combined into one report: cross-tradition synthesis is refused, because a synthesis belongs to no tradition and can be checked against none.
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.