Karana and Bhadra (Vishti): How Half-Tithis Work and Why Bhadra Matters

A tithi is the time the Moon takes to gain 12 degrees on the Sun. A Karana is exactly half of that: 6 degrees of gap between the Moon and the Sun. Since a lunar month holds 30 tithis, it holds 60 Karanas, and every tithi is made of two of them, one after the other.

Tithis are not all the same length, because the Moon's speed changes through the month, so Karanas are not either. A tithi usually runs somewhere between about 19 and 26 hours, which puts a single Karana at roughly 9 to 13 hours. That is why the Karana on a Panchang changes about twice in a day, and why the time of the change matters more than the name printed for the day.

There are eleven Karana names, in two groups. Seven are movable (chara): Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Garaja, Vanija and Vishti. They repeat in that order, eight times in a row, which accounts for 56 half-tithis. Four are fixed (sthira) and occur once a month: Kimstughna, Shakuni, Chatushpada and Nagava.

The cycle is anchored at the new moon. The first half of Shukla Pratipada is always Kimstughna. The second half of Shukla Pratipada is Bava, the next half-tithi Balava, and so on down the seven. The last three half-tithis of the Krishna fortnight are the fixed ones: Shakuni in the second half of Chaturdashi, Chatushpada in the first half of Amavasya and Nagava in the second half of Amavasya. Because 56 is exactly 8 times 7, the repeating sequence closes neatly into those four fixed slots every month.

Vishti is the seventh name in the movable cycle, so it comes round every seventh half-tithi, eight times a month. Working through the numbering gives a fixed pattern that does not change from month to month. In the bright fortnight, Vishti is the second half of Chaturthi, the first half of Ashtami, the second half of Ekadashi and the first half of Purnima. In the dark fortnight it is the second half of Tritiya, the first half of Saptami, the second half of Dashami and the first half of Chaturdashi.

So Bhadra is always attached to a particular half of one of those eight tithis, and the start and end times move with the tithi. If you know that Ashtami is on a given day, you know before opening a Panchang that the first half of it will be Bhadra. The clock times, though, have to be calculated for your city.

• Shukla paksha: Chaturthi (2nd half), Ashtami (1st half), Ekadashi (2nd half), Purnima (1st half).
• Krishna paksha: Tritiya (2nd half), Saptami (1st half), Dashami (2nd half), Chaturdashi (1st half).

Vishti and Bhadra are two names for the same Karana. In the popular telling, Bhadra is a fierce goddess born of the Sun, sometimes described as the sister of Shani, and her association with force and obstruction is why the period of Vishti is treated with caution for gentle and auspicious beginnings.

There is a second use of the word that has nothing to do with Karanas. Some systems group the tithis Dwitiya, Saptami and Dwadashi as the Bhadra tithis, a classification used in other muhurta rules. If a source says Bhadra tithi, it is talking about that group, not about Vishti Karana. The day page on this site spells out the difference so the two are not confused.

Many traditions avoid starting auspicious work while Vishti Karana is running. Weddings, housewarmings, naming and sacred-thread ceremonies, the start of a journey and the opening of a business are the usual examples. The idea is that the period is suited to forceful, defensive or confrontational activity and ill-suited to gentle, celebratory ones.

Some texts go further and say Vishti is the right Karana for tasks that need force, such as dealing with opponents or clearing something away. How much weight any family gives this varies a great deal. A caution of this kind is advice about choosing a start time, not a statement that anything is going to go wrong.

The two festivals where Bhadra comes up most are Raksha Bandhan and Holika Dahan. Raksha Bandhan falls on Shravana Purnima, and since the first half of Purnima is Vishti, the early part of the Purnima tithi is often Bhadra. The common advice is to tie the rakhi after Bhadra ends, even if that is late in the day, or to find another suitable time.

Holika Dahan is a bonfire lit in the evening of Phalguna Purnima, again the first half of Purnima, so Bhadra can run into the evening. Many almanacs say the fire should not be lit during Bhadra and give the time after it ends. Some describe the opening part of the Bhadra window as the more severe and the closing part as milder, and some families use the closing part when no other time is available. These refinements differ between sources, so a family priest or local almanac is the right authority for the exact minute.

Classical muhurta literature adds a further layer called Bhadra Vaas, the dwelling place of Bhadra. It depends on the Moon's sign during the Vishti window. In the commonly quoted version, Bhadra is on earth when the Moon is in certain signs, in heaven when it is in others and in the underworld in the rest, and only the earthly one is treated as harmful. Different sources list the sign groups differently, and some say the effect is mild when Bhadra is not on earth.

This site does not compute Bhadra Vaas. The day page shows when Vishti Karana runs, in plain times, and leaves the question of where Bhadra is dwelling to the almanac you follow. If your family uses Bhadra Vaas to decide whether the caution applies, check it against a printed panchang for the day.

On the Dainik Panchang page, the Karana line lists every Karana change during the day, with the time each one ends, so you can see all of them instead of only the first. If Vishti runs during the Panchang day, a separate caution card shows each Vishti stretch with its start and end time. It says what many traditions avoid and states that this is not the same as the Bhadra group of tithis.

On the home page, the Today at a Glance chips flag Bhadra and a second Karana in the same way. The Marriage Muhurat calendar applies Karana filtering as well: Vishti, Shakuni, Chatushpada and Nagava are all removed as time ranges, so a marriage window is never shown inside them. Kimstughna, Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Garaja and Vanija are treated as acceptable. The other muhurat calendars on the site (Griha Pravesh, Vehicle and Property) do not apply a Karana filter, so a Vishti period can fall inside a time they suggest.

If you are fixing a time for something you want to start, look at the Karana chain on the day page and note where Vishti begins and ends. Prefer a start time outside it. If an important fixed event such as a festival rite falls in the window, ask your priest whether your tradition accepts the later part of Bhadra or wants the next available time.

Remember that the times shown are for the city you chose. A Karana boundary is an astronomical instant that is the same everywhere, but which civil date it falls on, and which sunrise names that day, depends on the city. A Bhadra window that crosses midnight is listed under the next date, so check the date as well as the clock time.

• Find Vishti in the Karana chain and write down its start and end.
• Choose your start time outside it, or check whether your tradition allows the tail of Bhadra.
• For Raksha Bandhan and Holika Dahan, check the post-Bhadra time your local almanac gives.
• Do not mix up Vishti Karana with the Bhadra group of tithis.
• Treat it as one input beside tithi, nakshatra, weekday and Rahu Kaal.

A Karana flag tells you where in the cycle the Moon and Sun are, and a tradition's view of that position. It does not tell you whether a plan will succeed, and it cannot replace an experienced priest for a ceremony with its own rules. Where traditions differ, the site shows the plain astronomical window and leaves the choice of rule to you.