Astroज्योतिष

Today's teaching

“Wealth is the star for wealth; what will the stars do?”
— Kautilya, Arthashastra IX.4

Library · Teachers · Narasimha, son of Varadarya, of Poli-Pakkam (translated by N. P. Subramania Iyer, 1917) · a South Indian muhurta text; English 1917

The Kalaprakasika: choosing times for every part of life

The standard South Indian book of muhurta in plain English: studying the almanac, the rites of childhood and learning, marriage and matching, farming, treasure, building and house-warming, travel, illness and debts, the faults of time and what cancels them, the good and bad weekday yogas, and the daily periods — with its own warnings against charlatans. 6 chapters, 4,416 words.

  1. The book and the almanacWho wrote the Kalaprakasika and why, its English translation of 1917, the merit it gives to studying the five limbs of the almanac, its strong words against careless and dishonest astrologers, and the plan of the book.691 words
  2. The rites of childhood and learningKalaprakasika III–XII: the times for a child's first jewels and the seventh-day rite, naming, cradling, first feeding and first outing, ear-piercing, tonsure, beginning the alphabet, the sacred thread, starting education, the yearly renewal of the thread, initiation into a mantra, the study of the Vedas and the end of studentship.770 words
  3. MarriageKalaprakasika XIII–XVIII: the ten agreements of South Indian marriage matching with their rules and weights, the times for the wedding, the old readings from the time of a girl's puberty, and the rites of the first union and of pregnancy — the matching rules in full, the social judgements as history.764 words
  4. Fields, wealth and buildingsKalaprakasika XIX–XXVIII: the times for starting farm work, reaping and bringing home the first sheaf, laying up treasure, wearing new jewels, laying foundations and fixing doors, the opening of a new house, the crowning of a king (with the book's ideal of kingship), and installing a deity.614 words
  5. Journeys, illness and debtsKalaprakasika XXIX–XXXII: when to set out on a journey and the signs along the way, the nakshatra at the start of an illness, the times for beginning medical treatment, and the 'friendly moment' for paying debts — with the plain caution that no rule of time should delay treatment or a needed decision.640 words
  6. The faults of time and their remediesKalaprakasika XXXIII–XLV: the nine taras in three rounds, the ruinous 22nd star, the Moon in the 8th, the sun's ingresses, Gulika, Yamaganda, Ardhaprahara and Kala, and the short note on Rahu kalam; the combinations that cancel the faults; the good and bad yogas of each weekday; and the book's later chapters on periods, months and the year.937 words

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