Karanas

Karana (Karana) is a half of a lunar day, the most finely divided of the five limbs of the Vedic calendar. Every tithi splits into two karanas, so exactly sixty of them pass in a lunar month. If tithi sets the color of the whole lunar day, karana refines it for the day's first and second half — and, above all, answers whether the stretch suits a new undertaking.

This section is an overview. It explains what karana is and how its row of eleven names is built; the breakdown of each karana is on its own page.

What karana is

Karana is the stretch over which the growing distance between the Sun and the Moon increases by 6°. Tithi spans 12° of that divergence, karana half of it — hence the definition "half a tithi." A full lunar month of 360° of lunar-solar difference splits into 30 tithis and, correspondingly, into 60 karanas.

There aren't sixty names, though — there are eleven: the row is built out of repeats. Seven karanas are called movable (chara), because they run in a circle and take turns eight times over the month — seven times eight gives fifty-six halves. The remaining four karanas are called fixed (sthira): each takes one strictly set place in the month and doesn't repeat. Fifty-six movable plus four fixed add up to exactly sixty.

A limb of the panchanga

Karana is one of the five limbs of the Vedic calendar, the panchanga, alongside the lunar day tithi, the day of the week vara, the union of luminaries yoga, and the lunar station nakshatra. Of all five, karana is the finest-grained: while a tithi holds for about a day, a karana changes roughly every half a day, so a civil day usually carries two, and sometimes three, different karanas.

Among the limbs, karana has a narrow specialty. Nakshatra speaks to the day's subtle coloring, tithi to the lunar day's phase and character, and karana answers one practical question: does this stretch suit starting something, especially something important and long-term. In practice, when choosing a muhurta, karana is usually looked at last — it refines a picture of the day that's already taken shape.

Movable and fixed karanas

The seven movable karanas always run in the same order: Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija, and Vishti. Having run the full circle, they start it over, eight times in a row. These repeats fill nearly the whole month — from the second half of the first lunar day of the waxing moon to the first half of the fourteenth day of the waning moon.

The four fixed karanas stand at the seam between months, around the new moon and right after it. Shakuni falls on the second half of the fourteenth day of the waning moon, Chatushpada on the first half of Amavasya, Naga on its second half, and Kimstughna takes the first half of the first day of the waxing moon, thereby opening a new lunar month.

In muhurta tradition, movable and fixed karanas have different temperaments. Movable ones are generally held workable, suited to ordinary matters, and among them some are picked out as suited to particular pursuits: trade, craft, gentle company. Three of the four fixed ones, gathered around the dark new moon, tradition ties to matters quiet, protective, and closing rather than to loud, bright beginnings; the fourth, Kimstughna, falls already on the first half of the waxing moon and reads differently in muhurta tradition.

Vishti, also called Bhadra

Among the seven movable karanas, Vishti stands apart — its second, better-known name is Bhadra. It's the only movable karana with a directly unfavorable reputation: tradition advises not starting important and joyful matters in its hours — weddings, moves, major purchases, signing contracts. Since Vishti is movable, it returns eight times a month, so its windows are scattered across the whole calendar, and when choosing a time for a significant undertaking, they're specifically avoided.

That said, the ban concerns benefic undertakings specifically. Protective and medical matters, and those aimed at removing an obstacle, aren't forbidden in muhurta tradition during Bhadra's hours — sometimes they're even held fitting. A detailed look at its nature and what pursuits suit it is on the karana's own page.

How to read this section

Each of the eleven karanas has its own page. It states whether the karana is movable or fixed and where it falls in the row, and the body explains its temperament: what matters the stretch leans toward, and what's better not started in its hours. We deliberately leave theology and the lore tied to karanas aside — this section is practical, meant for a reader who cares about the stretch's quality rather than a survey of scripture.

Karana is almost never read alone. It's usually looked at last, on top of a picture of the day that's already taken shape: first tithi and nakshatra give the day's general tone, vara and yoga add their own touches, and only then does karana refine whether the particular half of the day suits a new undertaking. How favorable the day itself is for you personally is shown separately by Tara Bala, from your birth nakshatra.

A convenient reading order: start with this overview to understand what a half-tithi is and why it's distinguished; then open today's karana and check it against tithi and nakshatra. Over time, the eleven karana names will stop being a set of unfamiliar words and settle into the lunar month's shared rhythm, alongside tithi and the Moon's phases.