Saṃhitā and Muhūrta in the Nārada Purāṇa

Saṃhitā is the branch of Jyotisha (Vedic astronomy and astrology) that finds muhūrta, the auspicious time, for saṃskāras (life-cycle rites), yātrās (journeys and pilgrimages) and every important undertaking.

Chapter 56 of the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa gives a long teaching on Saṃhitā, focused on the muhūrta for marriage. It lists the twenty-one mahādoshas (great faults) that make a lagna (the rising sign at the chosen moment) unfit. It gives the rules for avoiding particular faults such as Bhṛgu-shashṭha, Kujāshṭama, Gaṇḍānta and Kartarī. And it explains when helpful planet positions soften or cancel these faults.

The Seven Purities of a Good Muhūrta

The Nārada Purāṇa teaches that a full and proper muhūrta needs seven kinds of śuddhi (purity):

  1. Lagna-śuddhi: the rising sign must be pure
  2. Tithi-śuddhi: the tithi (lunar day) must be pure
  3. Vāra-śuddhi: the weekday must be suitable
  4. Nakshatra-śuddhi: the nakshatra (lunar mansion) must be auspicious
  5. Yoga-śuddhi: the yoga (a period set by the combined positions of sun and moon) must be suitable
  6. Karaṇa-śuddhi: the karaṇa (half of a tithi) must be auspicious
  7. Freedom from the twenty-one mahādoshas

If even one of these seven purities is missing, the muhūrta is weakened.

The Twenty-One Mahādoshas

The chapter lists twenty-one great faults that make a muhūrta unfit for saṃskāras:

  1. Pañcāṅga-aśuddhi: impurity in any of the five parts of the almanac (tithi, vāra, nakshatra, yoga, karaṇa)
  2. Udayāsta-śuddhi-hāni: a fault in the rising and setting of the sun
  3. Sūrya-saṃkramaṇa: the sun’s passage into a new sign (at a solstice, equinox or any change of sign)
  4. Pāpa-shaḍvarga: harmful planets in the shaḍvarga (the six divisional charts)
  5. Shashṭha-Bhṛgu: Venus in the sixth house from the lagna (the Bhṛgu-shashṭha dosha)
  6. Ashṭama-Kuja: Mars in the eighth house from the lagna (Kujāshṭama)
  7. Gaṇḍānta: the meeting point of two tithis at the border of certain nakshatras
  8. Kartarī: harmful planets on both sides of the lagna, moving forward or backward
  9. Ripha: the Moon in the sixth, eighth or twelfth house from the lagna
  10. Shashṭhāshṭama-gata-Candra: the Moon in the sixth or eighth house
  11. Ashṭama-lagna (for the couple): the eighth sign rising in the couple’s combined chart
  12. Visha-ghaṭī: the “poison” period after certain nakshatras
  13. Durmuhūrta: the unfavourable muhūrta periods in each weekday
  14. Vāra-dosha: the faulty period within each weekday (different for each day)
  15. Khārtūrika: a particular unfavourable combination
  16. Samāṅghibha: a faulty arrangement of nakshatras
  17. Grahaṇa: an eclipse of the moon or sun
  18. Utpāta: an ill omen, such as a meteor or earthquake
  19. Krūra-graha-viddha-nakshatra: a nakshatra “pierced” by a harsh planet
  20. Mahāpāta: the mahāpāta yoga, when the sun and moon are in certain opposed positions
  21. Vaidhṛti: the vaidhṛti yoga

The Main Rules for Particular Faults

Pañcāṅga-Śuddhi

The pañcāṅga, the five-part almanac, is made up of tithi, vāra, nakshatra, yoga and karaṇa. All five must be pure. A lagna on a day with a pañcāṅga-dosha bears no fruit. Like milk mixed with poison, it must be given up even if every other condition is met.

Sūrya-Saṃkramaṇa

When the sun passes into a new rāśi (sign), the sixteen nāḍikās (a nāḍikā is about 24 minutes) before and the sixteen after the exact moment must be avoided for all śubha-kāryas (auspicious acts).

Bhṛgu-Shashṭha (Shashṭha-Śukra)

When Venus (Śukra, also called Bhṛgu) is in the sixth house from the lagna, this is the Bhṛgu-shashṭha dosha. Even if Venus is exalted or joined with helpful planets, this lagna must be given up.

Kujāshṭama (Ashṭama-Kuja)

Mars (Kuja) in the eighth house from the lagna is Kujāshṭama, a great dosha. There is one exception: if Mars is exalted and joined with three or more helpful planets, the lagna need not be given up.

Gaṇḍānta

Gaṇḍānta happens at the meeting of these signs:

  • Karka and Siṃha (Cancer and Leo)
  • Tulā and Dhanu (Libra and Sagittarius)
  • Mīna and Mesha (Pisces and Aries)

At these meeting points, the time of passing over is called gaṇḍānta. It is thought to be mṛtyu-prada, death-giving. Three ghaṭīs at the border of each meeting point make up the gaṇḍānta. There are also nakshatra-gaṇḍāntas, at the borders of Āśleshā and Maghā, Jyeshṭhā and Mūla, and Revatī and Aśvinī.

Kartarī Yoga

When harmful planets hem in the lagna on both sides, whether moving forward or backward, this is Kartarī yoga (“the scissors”). It is said to cut the throats of the couple (kaṇṭha-khaṇḍa). Such a lagna must be given up.

Visha-Ghaṭī

The four ghaṭikās right after certain nakshatras (different for each nakshatra) are called visha-nāḍīs, “poison periods”. All śubha-kāryas, including marriage, must avoid them.

Remedies and Exceptions

Even with all these faults, the chapter gives one powerful remedy:

When Bṛhaspati (Jupiter), Śukra (Venus) or Budha (Mercury) is in a kendra (the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th house) from the lagna, all doshas are destroyed and the lagna becomes auspicious.

Other remedies worth noting:

  • The janma-rāśy-udaya (the rising of one’s birth sign) and the janma-lagna-udaya (the rising of one’s birth lagna) are auspicious in themselves.
  • Vargottama Vṛshabha (Taurus) navāṃśas are also auspicious, even though they are usually counted as ordinary.

The chapter also warns that any lagna with a kunavāṃśa (a bad navāṃśa, the ninth division of a sign) must be given up, however many good points it has, like milk with poison.

Shaḍvarga

For marriage and all śubha-kāryas, the best arrangement is an auspicious shaḍvarga, the set of six divisional charts: rāśi, horā, drekkāṇa, navāṃśa, dvādaśāṃśa and shashṭhāṃśa. A lagna with a śubha (auspicious) shaḍvarga is called śreshṭha, the very best.

Sources

  • Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 56