Jyotisha Library
Muhurta · मुहूर्त
Electional astrology: choosing a favourable time to begin something.
Muhurta selects the starting moment for an action — travel, a purchase, a ceremony, a launch — using Panchang limbs, the Moon's condition and activity-specific rules, then checks the chosen moment against the person's own chart.
How it works in practice
- Start from the Panchang: tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana and weekday.
- Avoid inauspicious windows such as Rahu Kaal and blocked lunar days.
- Place strong planets on the angles for the chosen moment.
- Check that the moment does not clash with the person's running dasha or transits.
Strengths
- Practical and directly actionable — the output is a date and time.
- Rules are activity-specific, so they can be checked item by item.
Cautions
- A good moment supports a plan; it does not replace one.
- Regional almanac conventions differ; state which reckoning is used.
How it differs from other schools
vs Prashna
Muhurta chooses a future moment; Prashna interprets one that has already occurred.
Read Prashnavs Parashari
The chart is for the act, not the person, though the person's chart is still consulted.
Read ParashariTreatises in this school
Glossary
- Tithiतिथि
- Lunar day, from the Moon–Sun angular distance.
- Nakshatraनक्षत्र
- One of 27 lunar mansions the Moon travels through.
- Karana
- Half of a tithi; eleven types with different suitability.
- Rahu Kaal
- Daily window traditionally avoided for new beginnings.
- Choghadiya
- Eight-fold division of day and night rated for activity.
- Abhijit
- Short midday window generally treated as favourable.
Published rules from the knowledge base
Reviewed and released entries recorded under this school, each with its source and rights basis.
No Muhurta rules have been published yet. Entries appear here once a reviewer releases them.
Every summary on these pages is Astravya's own wording of a classical principle. Sanskrit verses are not reproduced unless the source wording is out of copyright or licensed, and each published rule records its chapter, verse and rights basis.