Pratyak

Pratyak Tara (Pratyak-tāra) — the fifth of the nine taras in the Tara Bala system. The name comes from the Sanskrit "pratyak" (counter, turned back). Tradition places it among the unfavourable taras: a day on which matters go against the current.

Place in the system

Tara Bala divides the circle of 27 nakshatras into three circles of nine taras. Pratyak Tara is the fifth position: the Moon stands four steps ahead of your birth nakshatra.

Pratyak Tara comes around three times per lunar circuit — about every 9 days.

Practical meaning

Pratyak Tara is a day on which important matters are better postponed: effort on this day meets resistance rather than support. Tradition connects it with a headwind in one's affairs, not with their failure.

The Pratyak Tara background works through resistance. It is a day on which outward circumstances come to meet you with difficulty.

In Indian folk practice, Pratyak Tara is a day on which devout Hindus often fast and spend time in prayer, avoiding the start of new worldly matters.

In daily practice

Pratyak Tara is a day that calls for patience. If you have a choice, don't plan important meetings or negotiations over new matters for this day.

Pratyak Tara also suits a practice of inward focus: meditation, quiet, solitude. It is a day on which the "inner voice" sounds clearer.

Pratyak Tara also suits building up your own resources: rest, recovery, self-care. It is a day on which you can gather strength for the period ahead.

Pratyak Tara stands in the middle of the cycle, between the calm Kshema Tara and the active Sadhana Tara. If something is already going roughly on this day, that's no reason to dramatize it — the headwind settles just as it rises, and the next position of the cycle is again favourable for moving forward. What is already underway and running its own course, Pratyak Tara does not stop — the resistance concerns new steps specifically.

The previous position of the cycle is Kshema Tara, the next is Sadhana Tara.