Details of Almanac – Panchanga

– Dr. Sathyanarayana Acharya,
Lecturer, Poornaprajna Vidhyapeeta, Bangalore.

English translated by
– Prof. G. S. Mudambadithaya

Pancha means five and anga means parts.  Panchanga, as the word suggests comprises five aspects.  They are Tithi,  Vara (day)  Nakshatra (star), Yoga and Karana.  They change every day,  Months, fortnights and seasons change, but the day does not change, but today’s tithi and vara are not the same tomorrow.  It is the same case with nakshatra, yoga and karana.  These five aspects change and the panchanga comprises these five aspects.

The book which gives details about these five aspects is panchanga.

But when we open the page of a panchanga, we get confused.  these five aspects are represented by symbols and we find it difficult to understand them.  A panchanga gives us details such as the year, seasons, rithus, months, seasons, day of planets, details of preparing horoscopes, aspects of planets, favorable and unfavorable time (Visha  and Amrutha) and other auspicious time for celebrations, beside giving details about the five aspects mentioned earlier.  The five aspects are indicated by the first letters of words relating to them.

Before we try to understand panchanga let us try to know some basic things about Tithi, Vara, Nakshatra, Yoga and Karana.

Tithi:

A month has fortnight namely the brighter half (Shukla paksha) and the darker half of the moon (Krishna paksha) From the full moon day (Pournami) when he shines in all glory, appears to grow smaller. He goes on losing one aspect (of the sixteen) each day and totally disappears on the newmoon day (Amavasya) In this way from the full moon day (Pournami) he goes on losing one brighter aspect each day and that phase of the moon is called Krishna paksha. From this point, he begins to grow brighter and bigger and we see him in all his glory on the full moon day and these fifteen days from the Shuklapaksha. We have fifteen tithis on these two parts. In all there are 30 tithis. In fact, there are sixteen tithis in a month. The fourteen in each half go on changing.

The first, second, third and fourth tithis are named Padya, Bidige, Tadige and counts. We have to note that these names are not Sanskrit words. While doing samskalpa for a pooja, some people say Padyayam Shukla tithou. It is wrong. This is equal to saying Sunday vasare, instead of saying Ravivasare. Some other say Padyamyam tithou. We should not add a sanskrit inflection to a non Sanskrit word. It is a form of corruption. He is acceptable to add. The seventh inflection mee to Pratipad and say Pratipadi shubha tithou or Prathamayam shubha tithou.

A day comprises sixy ghalige. (one ghalige is equal to 24 minutes). At this point, we have to remember that all thithis are not as long as sixty ghalige. Some are shorter and some are longer. When two tithis which are shorter than sixty ghalige come one after the other, one of the two is marked upari meaning besides. That means six tithis will be over in five. This happens when the tithi absent at sun-rise and that tithi is considered upari. On the other hand when two tithis longer than 60 ghaliges appear one after the other, sometimes one tithi is considered to be present on two days. As a result of this, sometimes, we come across two padya or ekadashi appearing on two days continuously.

The reigning tithi at sun rise should be taken as the tithi of the day. (only in the case of pitrukaryas such as Shradda, the prevalent tithi is taken into account). The reigning length of the time of tithi is clearly mentioned in the panchanga. For example, an entry such as Dashami 3.15 means that the tithi Dashami lasts three ghalige and 15 Vighalige from the sun-rise. (One ghalige is equal to be vighalige) If the sun rise is at 6.00 a.m., Dashami tithi lasts till about 7.30 a.m. Then Ekadashi is going to be the tithi for the day, but for all practical purposes we have to take Dashami the tithi for the whole day.

every tithi has its own reigning deity. Astrologers recommend appearing rituals performed in the name of the reigning deity of the tithi in case there are problems relating to that tithi. A table is given below to half the general public to have a clear understanding of tithis.

Vara:

A cluster of seven days is called vara (week). In reality a week is not synonymous with our concept of vara. They are individual days named after seven grahas (planets) excluding Rahu and Ketu. Days change at Sunrise. In the Panchaga they are indicated by the first letters of their names.

Nakshatra:

Dakshaprajapati had sixty daughter. Twenty seven of them were married off. Those twenty seven are the consorts of Chandra. It is an interesting thing that all those twenty seven names are not in feminine gender. Shravana and moola are in the neuter gender while Pushya and Hasta are in the masculine gender. Therefore referring to them as Hasta Nakshatre, or Moola Nakshatre, the use of the long vowel at the end of the name is not acceptable. therefore use the short vowel at the end of the name -Moola nakshatre or Hasta nakshatre is preferred.

Chandra in his revolutionary course travels from one nakshatra to the other every day. He will be there in one nakshatra for the whole day. That nakshatra is called the nitya nakshatra. Surya (the sun) will stay in one nakshatra for about 13 days. That nakshattra is called the nakshatra. There is a reference to the Mahanakshatra in the panchangas, which follow soura system and published from Udupi.

In every panchanga, the days are indicated by their first letter. They are printed after tithi and vara this entry is followed by the lenth of its being present in terms of ghaligas. This indicates the length of the reign of that nakshatra fter sun-rise on a given day. For example – ‘Ashvi-15’ means Ashvini Nakshatra is there for 15 ghaligas (six hours) from sunrise. The following table indicates nakshatra, rashi and their reigning deities.

Yoga:

Dictionaries have given over twenty five meanings to the word yoga. In panchangas, it is used as a common uses and refer to twenty seven yogas starting from Vishkambha yoga. As in the case of nakshatras, yoga also lasts for sixty ghaligas. It changes every day. The name of the yoga is indicated by the letter as its symbol followed by its length indicated in ghaligas from sun rise. An entry Vari – 10 means the yoga variyan reigns for 10 ghaligas from sun rise during that day. SSmrithi literature has identified reigning deities for each yoga. There are 27 yogas. Among them Vyateepata and Vaidhriti yogaas have assumed great importance. In Krishnacharya Yoga, it is mentioned that on days when these yogas appear are have to eat only one and have to follow certain vritas. (Shraddha, feeding brahmins etc.)

Vyateepato Mahayogah Sarvakaryeshu Siddhidah |

Dritistu dhairyadanityam – – – – – – – – ||

It is considered to be an auspicious time to some panchangas they are printed in bold letters. The following table gives us the details about yogas.

Karana:

Karanas are eighteen in number. The first seven of them are considered shthira Karanas, the last four are considered chara Karanas by astrology. A tithi has two Karanas rule a day. charakaranas begin on the second half the brighter side of the moon (shuklapaksha) and continue to rule till the fourteenth day of the darker of the moon (Krishna paksha) and recur regularly. The four Shukla Karanas on the second part of Krishna caturdashi and continue to rule till the second part of Shukla padyami. They appear once a month.

Visha and Amritha:

There is a referance to Visha and Amrutha besides the five aspects in every pancanga. When he fail in our endeavors, we we grumble for having began the work in an inauspicious time. Vishaghalige is not auspicious to begin any work. It is always advisable to begin a work in Amrutha ghalige.

The entry ‘Vi’ means Visha and ‘Aa’ means Amrutha. Four ghaligas (96 mts) after the time entered against ‘Vi’ or ‘Aa’ will have Visha or Amrutha ghaliga. (please note that it is not up to the time entered that we have either Visha or amrutha ghaligas)

when a Nakshatra runs for the entire period of 60 ghaligas, Visha and Amrutha will be there for four ghaligas respectively. When the duration of the nakshatra is less than 60 ghaligas, duration of Visha and Amrutha varies. That means four ghaligas after the time specified, the influence of VIsha and Amrutha will be present. For example the entries vi 32-31 and Am40-15 mean that Visha sets in after 32 ghaligas and lasts for four ghaligas (from 6.00 to 7.30 p.m.) and Amrutha sets in 43 ghaligas after sun-rise and lasts for four ghaligas (10.00 to 11.30 p.m.)

When either Visha or Amrutha set in the last part of the night, their effects will be carried forward and three ghaligas after sun rise the two will have their affect.

After the entry of Visha and Amrutha, we see an entry which highlights the special features of the day if any:-Nadhva Navami, Mahaveer Jayanthi and so on. Then we find the changne in the movements of grahas- e.g. Anu3, ku 18 after sun rise 18 ghaligas later kuja (Mars) enters the third part of Anuradha nakshatra. In the same way Vrishabha Budhah, Haste Arkah

In same entries we come across Uttama Manwadi, Koorma Kalpadi, Tretayugadi and other details. It may be understood as – there are fourteen Manvantaras in a Kalpa. In the present Shwetha varaha Kalpa , six Manvantaras beginning with Swayambu have been over and now it is Vaivaswata Manwantara. The day each Manwantara began, is indicuted by the namem of the ruling Manwantara with an additional word Manwadi. For example, the first day of Uttama Manwantara is referred to as Uttamamanwadi. In the same way, we have Swayambhuva Manwadi etc.

The Creator, Brahma’s one day time is considered one Kalpa. Thousands of such Kalpas have been over since the creation of this world. Now Brahmas has completed fifty of his hundred years. He is in its fifty first year. It is the twenty sixth day of the first month of his fifty first year. This day is called Shwethavaraha Kalpa. This Kalpa began on chandra Yugadi. Panchangas highlight the beginning of other famous Kalpas such as Koorma Kalpadi and so on.

There are twenty one sequence of Chaturyugas. In the present Vaivaswatha Manwantara, 27 Chaturyugas are over and the last Kaliyuga of the 28th Chaturyuga Cycle is on. Panchangas refer the beginning of Treta and Dwapara Yugas.

Panchangas have many such details, basically the details given above would be enough to have clear understanding of the panchanga. Let us now analyse a day’s entry of Mysore Panchanga.

We can understand it without confusion. It is 9th April in Soura system, it is 27th of the month of Meena, Wednesday, tithi Bidige. 17 ghalige and 1Phala, that means tithi Bidige extends up to one hour six minutes after midday (1.6p.m.) The reigning nakshatra Bharani 46 ghalige 25 Phala meena, it extends upto 8.55 ghalige Kaula Karana rules up to 17.1 ghalige. Vishaghalige begins 13.3 ghaligas after sun-rise and be there for four ghaligas. Amruthakla bigins 39.32 ghaliges after Sun-rise. This day is Matsya Jayanthi. (According Siddhantha Vakya Ganitha the tithi of the is tritiya). Budha enters Bharani Nakshatra from the last quarter of Ashwini Nakshatra. There is a lot more to learn about panchanga.