Guest guest Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Wednesday, 31 December 2008 Written by David Bruce Hughes Knowledge of astrology is in daily use in Vedic culture. All the Vedic festivals, rituals and even scheduling daily activities make use of Jyotish. The Vedic almanac gives recommended dates for religious festivals, the best times for rituals, and planetary combinations for election of a suitable moment for various activities. This Jyotish-based calendar, in use since times immemorial, is called a PañcÄá¹…ga. Astrological knowledge is in daily use in Vedic culture. Electional astrology uses knowledge of Jyotish for performing activities at the most propitious times. The Vedic almanac details recommended dates for religious festivals, the best times for rituals, and planetary combinations for the purpose of election of a suitable moment for various activities. This Jyotish-based calendar, in use since times immemorial, is called a PañcÄá¹…ga. A PañcÄá¹…ga consists of five parts: Tithi the lunar date at sunrise Vara the day of the week Naká¹£atra the lunar asterism at sunrise Yoga the Sun-Moon relationship at sunrise KaraṇaWhile Vara or the day of the week is a function of the Sun alone, the other four parts of the PañcÄá¹…ga depend upon the disposition of the Moon, either alone or in combination with the Sun. The Moon has a special significance in Vedic calendar. It is the lunar basis of this calendar that makes it so useful for predicting the weather, eclipses and other events, which occur according to lunar cycles. The months of the PañcÄá¹…ga are determined by the sun sign: Ra´si(Solar month) Ṛtu(Season) Gregorianmonths WesternZodiac Meá¹£a Vasanta(Spring) April/May Taurus Vṛṣabha May/June Gemini Mithuna GrisÌ£ma(Summer) June/July Cancer Karkaá¹a July/August Leo Simha VarsÌ£a(Monsoon) August/September Virgo Kanya September/October Libra Tula or Thula ´Sarada(Autumn) October/November Scorpio Vṛścika November/December Sagittarius Dhanuḥ Hemanta(Autumn-Winter) December/January Capricorn Makara January/February Aquarius Kumbha ´Si´sira(Winter-Spring) February/March Pisces Mina March/April Aries Tithis The (anticlockwise) angular distance between the sun and moon as measured from the earth along the ecliptic (circle on the sky in which the sun, moon and planets seem to move) can vary between 0° and 360°. This is divided into 30 parts. Each part ends at 12°, 24° etc. The time spent by the moon in each of these parts (i.e. the time taken for the angular distance to increase in steps of 12° starting from 0°) is called one tithi. The Tithi in which the moon is at the time of sunrise of a day is taken to be the Tithi for the day. The time of each Tithi is variable. Some days may span two Tithis or rarely, three. The month has two paká¹£as or fortnights. The first 15 Tithis constitute the bright fortnight or ´Sukla-paká¹£a, and the next 15 Tithis constitute the dark fortnight or Kṛṣṇa-paká¹£a. Tithis are indicated by their paká¹£a and ordinal number within the paká¹£a. The 15th Tithi of the ´Sukla-paká¹£a is called purnima (full moon) and the 15th tithi of the Kṛṣṇa-paká¹£a is called amavasya (new moon). Varas Vara refers to the days of the week. There are many variations of these names in the regional languages, mostly using alternate names of the celestial bodies involved. Ravi Vara (Sunday; Ravi = Sun) Candra Vara (Monday; Candra = Moon) Maá¹…gal Vara (Tuesday; Maá¹…gal = Mars) Budha Vara (Wednesday; budh = Mercury) Guru Vara (Thursday; Guru = Jupiter) ´Sukra Vara (Friday; ´Sukra = Venus) ´Sani Vara (Saturday; ´Sani = Saturn) Naká¹£atras Naká¹£atras A´svini Bharani Ká¹›ttika Rohini Má¹›ga´sirá¹£Ä Ardra Punarvasu Puá¹£ya A´sleá¹£Ä Magha Purvaphalguni Uttaraphalguni Hasta Chitra Svati Vi´sakha Anuradha Jyeá¹£á¹ha Mula PurvÄá¹£Äá¸ha UttarÄá¹£Äá¸ha ´Sravaá¹‡Ä Dhaniá¹£á¹ha ´Satabhiá¹£Ä Purvabhadra Uttarabhadra Revati The ecliptic is divided into 27 Naká¹£atras, sometimes called lunar houses or asterisms. These measure the moon's movement against the fixed stars. Each Naká¹£atra occupies an equal angle of 13°20'. Each Naká¹£atra is further divided into four padas (feet) of 3°20'. One complete lunar month takes 27 days, 7¾ hours, the fractional part being compensated by an intercalary 28th Naká¹£atra. The Naká¹£atra in which the moon lies at sunrise is the Naká¹£atra for the day. The 27 Naká¹£atras are reckoned eastwards from a fixed reference point, traditionally a point on the ecliptic directly opposite the star Spica (Chitra in Sanskrit) called Meá¹£Ädi or the "start of Aries". This is when the Vernal Equinox—where the ecliptic meets the celestial equator—was in Aries (today it is in Pisces, 28 degrees before Aries starts). The difference between Meshadi and the present equinox is known as ayanÄá¹á¹£a or fraction of ecliptic. Given the 25,800 year cycle for the precession of the equinoxes, the equinox was directly opposite Spica in 285 CE. The Naká¹£atras are listed in the right. An additional 28th intercalary Naká¹£atra, Abhijit, is between Uttarashada and Sravana. The last two Padas of Uttrashada and first two (first and second) Padas of Sravana are considered to be Abhijit. Naká¹£atras are covered in more detail in the Jyotish course. Yogas Yoga computation involves dividing the sum of the longitudes of the sun and moon into 27 parts. First one computes the angular distance along the ecliptic of each object, taking the ecliptic to start at Meá¹£a or Aries (Meá¹£Ädi, as defined above): this is called the longitude of that object. The longitude of the sun and the longitude of the moon are added, and normalized to a value ranging between 0° to 360° (if greater than 360, one subtracts 360.) This sum is divided into 27 parts. Each part will now equal 800' (where ' is the symbol of the arcminute which means 1/60 of a degree.) These parts are called the yogas. They are described as follows: Again, minor variations may exist. The yoga that is active during sunrise of a day is the yoga for the day. Karaṇas A Karaṇa is half of a Tithi. To be precise, a Karaṇa is the time required for the angular distance between the sun and the moon to increase in steps of 6° starting from 0°. (Compare with the definition of a Tithi above.) Since the Tithis are thirty in number, one would expect there to be sixty Karaṇas. But there are only eleven. There are four "fixed" Karaṇas and seven "repeating" Karaṇas. The four "fixed" Karaṇas are: Kimstughna Shakuni Chatushpad Nagava The seven "repeating" Karaṇas are: Bava Balava Kaulava Taitula Garaja Vanija Vishti (Bhadra) Now the first half of the first Tithi (of the bright fortnight) is always Kimstughna Karaṇa. Hence this Karaṇa is "fixed". Next, the seven repeating Karaṇas repeat eight times to cover the next 56 half-Tithis. Thus these are the "repeating" Karaṇas. The three remaining half-Tithis take the remaining "fixed" Karaṇas in order. Thus these are also "fixed". Thus one gets sixty Karaṇas from eleven. The Karaṇa active during sunrise of a day is the Karaṇa for the day.Hora The Vedic day begins at sunrise and lasts until the next sunrise. The day is divided into 24 equal parts called Horas, approximately equal to a Western hour. The first Hora of the day is ruled by the Lord of the Vara (see above); each succeeding Hora is ruled by the planet following it in order of speed of movement relative to the earth: ´Sani, Guru, Maá¹…gal, Surya, ´Sukra, Budha and Candra. For example, the first Hora of Sunday (Ravi Vara) is ruled by Surya, the next by ´Sukra, etc. Here is a typical page from a Vedic PañcÄá¹…ga: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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