Kimstughna

Kimstughna (Kimstughna) is the eleventh karana, last in the row and one of the four fixed halves of a lunar day in the Indian calendar. A half of a lunar day is called a karana, and Kimstughna is fixed to the first half of Shukla Pratipada — the first day of the waxing moon, which opens a new lunar month. Of all the fixed karanas, only it stands on the bright side, right after the new moon, and so its stretch carries not a close but a fresh start: muhurta tradition holds Kimstughna favorable for undertakings.

Place in the system

Karana is the finest-grained of the five limbs of the panchanga, alongside the lunar day tithi, the lunar station nakshatra, the union of luminaries yoga, and the day of the week vara. Each karana equals half a tithi: two of them pass in a single lunar day, and sixty over a full lunar month.

There are only eleven karana names. The seven movable (chara) ones run in a circle and take turns eight times over the month, while the four fixed (sthira) ones each take one single place and don't come again. Kimstughna closes this row at number eleven, but within the month itself its stretch comes first of the whole four. The other three fixed karanas are locked around the dark meeting of the luminaries: Shakuni on the second half of the fourteenth day of the waning moon, Chatushpada and Naga on the two halves of Amavasya. Kimstughna, though, comes out already past the new moon, on the first half of the first day of the waxing moon, and thereby opens a new cycle. The second half of that day is then taken up by the movable Bava, with which the chara circle starts over.

Practical meaning

By its place in the month, Kimstughna stands apart among the fixed karanas. The other three are gathered at the waning, dark moon, and tradition ties them to matters quiet, protective, and closing. Kimstughna comes at the turn: the dark half is closed, the moon is waxing again, and its stretch opens the month's bright half. Muhurta tradition counts Kimstughna among the favorable karanas and holds its hour fitting for good beginnings — a new venture, rites of devotion, offerings and giving out gifts, returning to what was set aside.

Here tradition diverges. The same karana is read more strictly in natal analysis: by that line, Kimstughna is grouped with the other fixed karanas rather than counted among the bright ones. These two lines answer different questions: one is about the quality of a half-hour for choosing a time, the other about reading a birth chart. The articles in this section concern the first: in muhurta tradition, the first stretch of the waxing moon is open for a fresh start.

In daily practice

When the first half of the first day of the waxing moon falls on Kimstughna, its stretch favors a good beginning: take up a new venture, return to something stalled, carry out a rite or an offering, set out on what needs a solid, quick start. Its stretch opens the month's bright half, which sets it clearly apart from its dark neighbors in the fixed row.

Karana is usually read last, on top of a picture of the day that's already taken shape: first tithi and nakshatra set the day's general tone, vara and yoga add their own touches, and only then does karana refine the quality of the particular half of the day. When choosing a muhurta, Kimstughna is a marker leaning toward a fresh start rather than against one. How favorable the day itself is for you personally is shown separately by Tara Bala, from your birth nakshatra. And since Kimstughna invariably opens the waxing moon, its half carries the month's rising, gathering mood — a time more for setting out and starting than for closing.