Karana

What a Karana Is

A karana is half a tithi. Where a tithi spans twelve degrees of separation between the Moon and the Sun, a karana spans six — which gives sixty karanas in a lunar month.

Those sixty are covered by only eleven names. Seven of them are movable and cycle continuously through the month; four are fixed and occur exactly once each.

The Seven Movable Karanas

Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija and Vishti repeat in that order, eight times through the lunar month.

Most carry a favourable or neutral reading. Bava suits beginnings, Balava religious and scholarly matters, Kaulava anything social, Taitila and Vanija trade and money, Gara agriculture and building.

Vishti, or Bhadra

This is the one part of the karana reckoning most people ever encounter, and it is the reason karana appears in a panchang at all for ordinary use.

Vishti, also called Bhadra, is traditionally avoided for beginnings. It recurs eight times a month, lasting roughly half a tithi each time, so it is a common rather than a rare occurrence.

Its avoidance is genuine in traditional practice, and it is also frequently overstated. It concerns starting something new — a journey, a venture, a ceremony. It does not concern work already underway, daily routine, or anything unavoidable. And like every muhurat consideration, it is one factor among several rather than a prohibition on its own.

The Four Fixed Karanas

Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga and Kimstughna occur once per lunar month each, clustered around the new moon.

Shakuni is associated with medicine and remedial work. Chatushpada with cattle and with rites for ancestors. Naga is traditionally not favoured for beginnings. Kimstughna, which follows the new moon, is considered favourable for auspicious work.

How Much Weight Karana Carries

Less than the other four limbs, and it is worth being straightforward about that.

The nakshatra drives the Dasha system and the whole of Vedic timing. The tithi decides festivals and much of muhurat. The vara is fundamental. The yoga contributes to date selection. Karana, in practice, is consulted mainly to check whether Vishti is running.

That is a real use and a narrow one, and a panchang that lists karana without explaining this leaves people wondering what to do with the information.

Why It Changes During the Day

A karana lasts roughly half a tithi, which is nine to thirteen hours. The one shown here is the karana at sunrise, where the traditional day begins — and a different one will be running by evening.

If you are checking specifically whether Vishti falls on a day, a sunrise reading alone is not enough to rule it out. That is a case for a proper panchang table showing the transition times, or for asking someone who has one.