Brihat Samhita

Brihat Samhita (बृहत्संहिता) is Varahamihira's Sanskrit compendium on celestial phenomena, traditional astrology and many aspects of everyday life.

Its subjects extend beyond the calendar to matters such as rainfall, plants, buildings and gems. The passages relevant to panchang.now are a small part of that wider work: they describe traditional qualities of nakshatras, tithis and karanas, and activities associated with them.

Nakshatras and their activity groups

The Nakshatra-karma-guna chapter lists 28 nakshatras, including Abhijit between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana. It also describes groups such as stable, movable, light and soft, connecting them with different kinds of activity.

These passages support the nakshatra guide and the worked example in how to interpret the Panchang. They explain why a classification depends on the proposed activity.

The daily dashboard uses 27 equal nakshatra divisions. The text's inclusion of Abhijit explains another counting convention; it does not add a twenty-eighth equal division to the dashboard.

Tithi and karana passages

The tithi discussion sets out the repeating groups Nanda, Bhadra, Vijaya, Rikta and Purna. Vijaya is also called Jaya in the site's tithi table.

The karana discussion associates Vanija with trade and excludes auspicious undertakings during Vishti. The karana guide explains the Bhadra name for Vishti and why it is separate from the Bhadra tithi group.

Where to begin reading

Start with one of those topics and keep its explanatory page alongside the text. For a timing question, identify both the traditional rule and the interval during which its condition applies. A classification by itself does not supply a complete ceremony-specific muhurta.

The site's Now verdict uses its stated time-window conventions. A citation to Brihat Samhita does not mean that the verdict applies every consideration discussed in the book.

Reference passages

• Nakshatras: Varahamihira, Brihat Samhita, Nakshatra-karma-guna, verses 4–11. This is chapter 98 in N. Chidambaram Iyer's English translation (1884), and chapter 97 in the Sanskrit edition consulted. The activity-group table follows the Sanskrit reading, including Punarvasu in the movable group.
• Tithis and karanas: chapter 99 in Iyer's translation, verse 2 for the tithi groups and verses 4–8 for karanas. Verse 7 contains the Vanija and Vishti descriptions.

Use the chapter title as well as its number when comparing editions. See the other books referenced on the site, or see these parts of the Panchang on today's Delhi Panchang.