Steps to Fix Muhurthams

8/9/2019 Steps to Fix Muhurthams

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FIXING A MUHURTA- AN OUTLINE OF THE STEPS INVOLVED

Dr. Satya Prakash Cho!hary

Sometime back, immediately after a talk at an astrology meeting, a student who seemed to have

been learning the subject for a few years came to me with a doubt, just to see if her method of

fixing a muhurta needed any finishing touches. I looked into her notes and was shocked to say the

least. She had done a mix of one 'system' and another 'paddhathi' on which she had a miserly

sprinkling of few other jyotish principles! hat was her way of fixing a muhurta. It betrayed her

ignorance of the fundamentals of jyotish in its pure form. It is perhaps for reasons like this, that

genuine lovers of traditional jyotish are allergic to such methodologies. o man's methodology,

whatever its advantages, can replace or stand up to the ocean of "yotish . # wave just cannot

replace the ocean. $hile I had always been open to testing any methodology outside conventional

jyotish, I was always aware that the authors of such paddhathis%systems claimed unreasonable

things at times. I never took their criticism about traditional astrology seriously. &ut a beginner

takes them too seriously and misses out on a large and substantial part of the learning process.

Such rebel or nontraditional methodologies may perhaps be fine for discussion with a well

grounded astrologer. &ut it is a very good idea for a beginner to stick to traditional, so as to avoid

the common pitfalls. he average learner tries various methods with partial knowledge, hops from

one author to the other, manages to catch pieces of information from each place and person, and

eventually tries to make sense of those fragments. he result( )is knowledge of astrology is *uite

often a mass of ideasundigested, unassimilated and unharmonised running riot in his mind!

he process of selecting an auspicious moment to start any activity, is *uite complex and needs a

very good knowledge of "yotish. +erhaps it is here that a vedic astrologer's actual acid test is. #

large proportion of the selfstyled vedic astrologers are ignorant of even the basics of fixing a

muhurta. If one wants to learn pure jyotish first without any corruptions by the many so called

researches, paddhathis and systems, if one wants to see how much one knows or has understood

jyotish truly, before attempting to practice jyotish, one should really try his or her hand at

muhurta. "ataka and +rasna have both been through certain influences of other schools of thought

over the years. &ut uhurta is perhaps the only area which has maintained its vedic origins and

form intact over the thousands of years. oreover the original purpose for which the vedic seers

used a knowledge of astronomy, the main purpose for which vedanga jyotisa was evolved, is to

time the various rituals in tune with the cosmic influences, in order to go with the flow of the

cosmic currents. Since a good muhurta will ensure optimum outcome for the desired activity, the

principles behind muhurta, are largely useful in deciding the outcome of any moment, based on an

analysis of the *uality of the moment or *uality of the time. Since a natal chart is also a moment

in time, the same principles are actually at work in "ataka too. It is for this reason that I would

urge every sincere student of jyotish to learn muhurta well and then decide how much he really

knows jyotish. &ut many underestimate the value of uhurta as a subject in their eagerness to

start predicting.

here are many books on this subject in the market. &ut no book addresses the subject -//0 and

in a clear systematic and comprehensive manner. 1enerally in most books, the common topics are

dealt with and then the steps in evaluating a muhurta are given. Since muhurta deals with

hundreds of principles, one comes to crossroads many times in fixing an auspicious moment. he

most common *uestions that students ask are2 $hich component of the panchanga 3pancha 4

anga 5 five limbs%components6 is more important( $hat is the order of priority( $hich one should

be given preference( Is there a 7#I#I89 way of justifying the choice of one muhurta over


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the other( #nd what of the *uality( It is here that an astrologer's grasp of the subject comes

across unmistakably.

he various components have a degree of preference%priority. here are *uantitative as well as

*ualitative methods that are part and parcel of electing an auspicious moment. Since the subject is

vast, I will outline the process in a very very skeletal manner in this post first. /ater as timepermits, I will expand upon various areas for the students. In fact when I outlined the whole

subject with headings, side headings, key words, tables etc and left gaps for explanations to be

inserted later, the file came to four hundred pages. his post may not teach you muhurta really,

especially the beginner. &ut the student who has been around for a few years can check his

knowledge and see how much of what is given below, is already a part of his practice.

I will simplify and outline the steps in fixing a muhurta now. I can expand them in later posts

whenever possible. :ther learned members may also expand on the topics if they wish to. I am

dividing the process into various steps for convenience and clarity.

STEPS IN FIXING A MUHURTA 2

PRELIMINAR" ANAL"SIS#

$. G%&%ra' (or a&y )r)os% o& a&y *hart

here are many doshas that an astrologer seeks to avoid in the muhurta chart, irrespective of the

specific activity and individual chart, for which he is doing the job. #fter eliminating maximum

number of doshas stated in the list, one should check for the malefic combinations that prevail due

to the combinations of various components of the +anchanga. alefic combinations are avoided

while the presence of benefic combinations is preferred. # list of these is given later at the end.

+. S)%*,(,* to th% ,&!,,!a' *hart

;


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; F,&!,&/ th% 1ost as),*,os 1o1%&ts 8,th,& th% as*%&!a&t *hos%&5 A1sha *harts %t*

; M,s*%''a&%os5S)%*,a' *o&s,!%rat,o&s (or ar,os a*t,,t,%s ',k% 1arr,a/% %t*

ow I will outline and enumerate these steps below.

F,&!,&/ th% !ays ha,&/ th% s,ta0'% *o10,&at,o& o( th% (,% *o1)o&%&ts#

he first and the foremost re*uirement to fix a muhurta is the availability of the suitable five

components. =epending upon the activity we first check whether the five components of

panchanga, prevailing on the days free from malefic effects, suit the activity for which the muhurta

is desired. he process of evaluating those energies is part of the initial evaluation. It is a process

of choosing a good lunar day, weekday, arana.

he marks allotted are as follows according to the '+halita avaratna Samgraha'2

/unar day 5 ?,$eekday 5 @,arana 5 ?D7$+

; Sa/raha Cha&!ra 2Co&?&*t,o&s 8,th Moo&6

0.6 @a&t,tat,% Ea'at,o& o( th% As*%&!a&t


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his is a process of checking the placement of planets with respect to that ascendant to make sure

they add strength. -or that we have two main methods are *uantitative 3marks can be allotted6.

hey are2

; Pa&*h%st,ka %a'at,o&

In this step, we check whether five important planets in the muhurta chart are well placed. he

five important planets that should be happy are2 the lord of time 3kaladhipa6, ascendant lord,

"upiter, oon and Sun. hese planets are, in other words, like (,% 0r,*ks5)a&*h%st,ka that

support a wall and make it strong.

; V,1sho)aka %a'at,o&

his is different from the 8imshopaka bala of varga charts. his is more like rasi balam in that it

allots points based on the positions of various planets in houses%rasis in the rasi chart. 9ach planet

is decided to give positive, negative or neutral results depending upon its placement from the

lagna. his varies from activity to activity, as each activity needs a different kind of energy.

. E&sr,&/ th% Str%&/th a&! A))ro)r,at%&%ss o( Dasa7 a&tar!asa7 a&! S,/&,(,*ator o( th%

a*t,,ty

#fter evaluating the ascendant in the above two ways we then check whether the signification

house and the planet pertaining to the activity are happyF if possible, the dasa and the antara dasa

lords should also be well placed in the chart.

B. F,&!,&/ th% 1ost as),*,os 1o1%&ts 8,th,& th% as*%&!a&t *hos%&5 A1sha *harts %t*

#fter making sure that we have an auspicious lagna in hand we proceed to the other subtle

factors, which play an important role in the auspiciousness of a muhurta. -or this, we use varga or

divisional charts. ain points checked in this stage are2

; Pa)a sha!ar/a

; Pshkara1sa

;


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B. So'ar ,&/r%ss

A. A!h,ka 1asa

G.


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C@. Ga&!a&tas

C. Masa-shoo&ya t,th,s

BE. Masa shoo&ya Nakshatras

B?. Masa shoo&ya rash,s

BC. T,th, shoo&ya rash,s

BB. T,th, shoo&ya Nakshatras

BA. T,th, shoo&ya 'a/&a

BG. Tr,)shkara yo/a

BD. D8,)shkara yo/a

BH. Pa&*haka

B@. :aa&a

B. A!a' yo/a

AE. V,!a' yo/a

A?. A((',*t%! *o&st%''at,o&s

AC. Para t,th,s

AB. Ga'/raha t,th,s

AA. Da/!ha t,th,s

AG. Ch,!ra t,th,s

#s already stated earlier, expanding the above outlined steps, points and considerations, one may

end up with a four hundredpage file. Instead of doing that, we could expand upon selected topics

as re*uired. /earned members on this list could also take up various topics. I will end this post by

reiterating that knowledge of muhurta is a must to be a complete astrologer. # thorough

understanding of the principles of uhurta can actually help an astrologer appreciate the principles

of traditional predictive astrology 3"ataka6 better and thereby make a better astrologer. In my next

article I will introduce the five limbs%components of the panchanga%calendar, as also other

variables like ayana, masa, etc for the benefit of a beginner.

Posts*r,)t# #fter I posted this article on a discussion forum, a reader raised a *uestion on 0oga. It

is an interesting *uestion raised in good spirit. Since both the *uestion and the answer are *uite

useful to a student and practitioner, I am including them in the postscript. I will reproduce the

content of the letter without the other details.


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"Thank you very much for your post on the above-mentioned subject. There is however a small

clarification that I require:

Accordin to Atharvana !yotisha #hapter $ %erse &'

"In the matter of their potency for bestowin benefits for rituals performed durin their currencythe tithi ranks one-fold the nakshatra four-fold the %aara eiht-fold and the karana si(teen fold."

)e find here that the *oa is not iven any weiht ae. Also in books on +uhurata we find that

the yoa is hardly ever iven any consideration. ,ut in your post the yoa is iven the ma(imum

weiht ae of & points. +ay I know the rationale behind this

A couple of years ao there was a very ood article in the +artand /anchana 0 a very popular

/anchana in 1orth India 2 entitled " 3ya /anchan %aastav mein /anchana hai " 4ere too the

author questioned the relevance of the yoa as it was hardly ever used in the practice of selectin

a ood +uhurata.

*our views as well as those of the 5urus will be enlihtenin".

ow read the contents of my reply to the above.

J=ear .

I will answer your *uestion as briefly as possible, as I am in a hurry since it is onday morning.

0ou raised a very interesting *uestion by *uoting the )indi article. $hy then do we call it

'+#arana'dhyaya

It is true that some texts discuss 0oga in just a few verses as compared to akshatra or ithi. &ut

>arana generally gets even less space compared to 0oga. Space is not a criteria anyway. ost

texts 3such as uhurta alaprakasika etc6include the nine malefic naisargika yogas in

the list of C? evils or doshas to be avoided, while the remaining texts 3such as uhurta Sindhu,

+oorva >alamrtam etc6 deal with the two most malefic 0ogas. 9ven a text like +oorvakalamrtam

which hardly deals with >arana, 0oga etc, specifically refers to 8yatipata and 8aidhriti yogas as


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#)# doshas to be avoided. I could list the many references to 0oga in the standard texts. &ut

since your *uestion pertains to yoga as an KKintegral limb of the +anchanga, the treatment of the

five limbs in five seperate chapters named after the very limb 3anga6, as done by arada Samhita,

is the best proof that I can give you, apart from >alaprakasika's assurance of the five kinds of

blessings arising from a study of the five limbs.

#nd now to your doubt as to the rationale of assigning BC points to 0oga and the verse from

#tharvana "yotisa that you *uoted. If you observe closely, the number of points allotted to ithi,

8ara, akshatra and >arana are still the same in my post, as in #tharvana "yotisa. #dditionally

0oga, arana or 0oga. &ut when

a person does not know his birth details, or much about the other limbs of the panchanga, then

8ara or $eekday is considered. So whether they have their charts or not, even illiterate villagers

avoid uesdays and Saturdays generally for any activity. &ut an astrologer may choose a uesday

for a >roora and gra activity , after a close study of the chart and the +anchanga, since uesday

has an gra>rura 3#ggressive


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#s for the original *uestion of whether 0oga is to be used as an integral part of the +anchanga, it

has been used and S):/= be used as an important limb of the +anchanga, as it was meant to

be. #ny attempt to distort this fact cannot be justified, as the standard texts unambigiously

declare 0oga not only as an integral limb of the +anchangam, but also as a very important

consideration, since it can spoil the effects of an otherwise carefully chosen muhurta.

)ope this clarifies your doubts. #n interesting *uestion though!

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Steps to Fix Muhurthams