Paksha
Paksha, “a half of the lunar month”
Grammar: masculine noun; paksha, a wing or a side, hence one of the two halves of the lunar month.
Meaning: a fortnight of fifteen days. The śukla paksha is the bright half, when the moon waxes; the kṛshṇa paksha is the dark half, when it wanes.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the paksha its measure among the units of time, ties the two pakshas to the waxing and waning of Candra, and names them as stages on the paths the departed take.
A measure of time. Maitreya Maharshi, teaching Vidura the measures of time, says that four yāmas are the day of men and four the night, and day and night together make one day. Fifteen such days are a paksha. Within the paksha there is the division of śukla paksha, the bright half, and kṛshṇa paksha, the dark half (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 11). Śrī Śuka, describing the course of Sūrya and Candra, gives the three measures of a month: in the lunar measure two pakshas make a month; and Candra, whose speed is greater than Sūrya’s, passes in one day the distance Sūrya travels in a paksha (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 22).
Candra in the two pakshas. With his kalās filling in the śukla paksha, Candra makes the days of the devatās; with his kalās waning in the kṛshṇa paksha he makes the nights of the pitṛ-devatās (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 22). The people of Śālmala-dvīpa pray to Bhagavān Candra: “In the kṛshṇa and śukla pakshas Candra shares out food to the pitṛ-devatās with his rays. May that Candra, the king of all beings, be gracious to us” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 20). Afflicted with wasting by the śāpa of Daksha, Candra won Daksha’s favour and got back the kalās that had been cut away from him in the kṛshṇa paksha (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 6).
Among the parts of the year. In Ketumāla varsha the daughters of the Saṃvatsara Prajāpati are the presiding devatās of the nights. At the radiance of the Kālacakra, the great weapon of Śrī Hari, their garbhas perish and fall at the end of every year. The text explains: the garbhas are the parts of time, the nimesha, the hour, the day, the paksha and the month, and their falling is their merging into the year when it is complete (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 18).
On the paths of the departed. Nārada Maharshi teaches Yudhishṭhira that one devoted to pravṛtti goes after death by the Pitṛyāna to Candraloka, reaching in turn the smoke of the homa, the night, the kṛshṇa paksha and Candraloka, each named for its presiding devatā. The sādhaka devoted to nivṛtti reaches in order Agni, Sūrya, the day, the evening, the śukla paksha, the pūrṇimā, the uttarāyaṇa and the loka of Hiraṇyagarbha (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 15).
Related terms: Śukla paksha · Kṛshṇa paksha · Tithi · Māsa · Pitṛyāna · Devayāna
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 11; Skandha 5, Chapters 18, 20, 22; Skandha 6, Chapter 6; Skandha 7, Chapter 15