Pañcāṅga — Today's Five Limbs
The five limbs (pañca aṅga) of Vedic time-reckoning: vāra (weekday), tithi (lunar day), nakṣatra (lunar mansion), yoga (Sun–Moon angular sum), karaṇa (half-tithi). Pañcāṅga roots every classical Vedic timing decision — daśā activation, muhūrta selection, festival dating, jātaka birth-context.
About This Reading
What This Reading Is, And How It Works
The pañcāṅga — literally “five limbs” — is the Vedic almanac. Five quantities (weekday, lunar day, lunar mansion, yoga, and karaṇa) together anchor every traditional Indian timing decision: festival dates, auspicious moments, dasha activations, fasting days, and the everyday rhythm of dharmic life.
What This Reading Tells You
- Today’s vāra (weekday) and its ruling planet.
- The tithi (lunar day) and whether it falls in the waxing (śukla) or waning (kṛṣṇa) fortnight.
- The nakṣatra (lunar mansion) and yoga (Sun–Moon angular sum) for today.
- The current karaṇa (half-tithi), plus the Vikram and Śaka saṁvat years.
Classical Tradition
The pañcāṅga tradition is grounded in the Sūrya Siddhānta (classical astronomical treatise) and codified in works like the Muhūrta-Cintāmaṇi. Every classical timing decision — when to begin a journey, when to fast, when to install a deity, when to start a business — flows from these five readings.
How We Compute It
We compute the Sun and Moon’s sidereal longitudes from the Swiss Ephemeris, then derive each of the five limbs using the classical formulas. Tithi = floor(angular distance from Sun to Moon ÷ 12°). Nakṣatra = floor(Moon longitude ÷ 13°20′). Yoga = floor((Sun + Moon) ÷ 13°20′). Karaṇa = half-tithi. The Vikram and Śaka saṁvat years follow the standard regnal-era arithmetic.
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