Naga

Naga (Naga) is the tenth karana, one of the fixed halves of a lunar day in the Indian calendar. Its name means "serpent," and it falls on the second half of Amavasya, the dark new moon. In muhurta tradition, the karana Naga is counted among the unfavorable: bright matters aren't started in its hours, and the stretch is given over to offerings, reciting mantras, and quiet, closing concerns.

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. Seven of them are movable (chara) and repeat eight times over the month, while four are fixed (sthira): each takes one set place in the month and doesn't come again. Naga is the third of this four. On the second half of the fourteenth day of the waning moon this four is opened by Shakuni, then Chatushpada comes on the first half of Amavasya; Naga itself occupies the new moon's second half, and the lunar month is then opened by Kimstughna on the first half of the first day of the waxing moon. Naga stands at the very edge of the Sun and Moon's dark meeting — on the last half of the dark moon.

Practical meaning

Tradition counts Naga among the papa-karanas (unfavorable stretches), unsuited to bright beginnings. Its hours aren't given to a wedding or engagement, naming a child, moving into a new home, a long trip, a major purchase, or opening a new venture. In this Naga joins Shakuni and Chatushpada — three of the four fixed karanas, gathered around the new moon and tied more to closing and quiet than to a loud, good start.

Tradition ties its hours to matters of giving: charity and distributing gifts, feeding those in need as one is able. Focused spiritual work is also tied to it — reciting mantras, rites of remembrance and devotion, which fall on Amavasya itself. Tradition also adds matters firm and discreet: settling a score with an adversary, protective action and clearing obstacles, what's done without publicity and doesn't put itself on display. This is a karana not of joy and an open start, but of duty, quiet, and caution.

In daily practice

When the second half of the new moon falls on Naga, this stretch isn't chosen for an important, joyful start — a wedding, a move, a long trip, a major deal, or opening a venture, tradition will put these off to a brighter window. But for offerings and giving out gifts, reciting mantras and memorial rites, and matters discreet, protective, and calculated, its hours aren't held a hindrance.

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 whether the particular half of the day suits an undertaking. When choosing a muhurta, Naga is a marker to avoid for benefic matters and set aside for the ritual, memorial, and discreet instead. How favorable the day itself is for you personally is shown separately by Tara Bala, from your birth nakshatra. If a bright undertaking falls on this fixed karana, it's usually shifted past the new moon, to the nearest waxing day.