Karaṇa (Pañcāṅga)
Karaṇa, “half of a lunar day”
Grammar: neuter noun, from the root kṛ (to do, to make). In the reckoning of time it names the half of a tithi.
Meaning: the half of a tithi (lunar day), one of the five limbs of the pañcāṅga, the almanac by which the times for rites are chosen. Some karaṇas move through the month in turn (cara, movable); four are fixed (sthira).
In the scriptures: in the reckoning of time (kāla-gaṇana) which Agnideva teaches, the movable karaṇas are found from the number of the tithi: take one from it, double it, and again take one. From the second half of kṛshṇa caturdaśī come the four fixed karaṇas: Śakuni, Catushpada, Kiṃstughna and Nāga. In the first half of śukla pratipat is the Kiṃstughna karaṇa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 122).
Among the rules for the time of the pratishṭhā (consecration) of a liṅga, Parameśvara says that it is done when Guru and Śukra have risen, in the first three karaṇas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 95).
The karaṇa in which the Sun’s saṅkrānti (entry into a rāśi) falls tells its fruit. If it falls in the karaṇas Kaulava, Śakuni or Kiṃstughna, the people are happy. If in Garaja, Vaṇij, Vishṭi or Bālava, the people are troubled by the faults of the king but keep their wealth. If in Catushpāt, Taitila or Nāga, there is famine and war among kings in the land, and doubt arises about the life of husband and wife (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 121).
In the rules for a march, one should not set out in Vaidhṛti, Vyatīpāta, Nāga, Śakuni, Catushpāda and Kiṃstughna (all six named there as “yogas”), nor in the tārās Vipat, Mṛtyu, Pratyari and Janma, nor in the Gaṇḍa yoga, nor on the riktā tithis (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 233).
Related terms: Pañcāṅga · Tithi · Yoga · Nakshatra · Saṅkrānti · Vishṭi
Other meanings
Karaṇa has more than one meaning in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Besides the meaning above, it names those listed here, each with where it is told.
- Karaṇa, the instrument: In grammar, karaṇa is that by which a thing is done, expressed by the third case, the tṛtīyā (Ch 351); it is of two kinds, outer (bāhya) and inner (āntara) (Ch 354). Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 351, 354
- Karaṇa in the kośa: The kośa gives karaṇa the meanings a field (kshetra), the body and the like. Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 362
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 95, 121–122, 233, 351, 354, 362