What are Yoga and Karana in a Panchang?
Panchang Yoga, often called Nitya Yoga, is determined by adding the Sun's and Moon's sidereal longitudes and locating the result in one of 27 equal divisions. Karana is determined by their angular difference: each 6° advance of the Moon relative to the Sun completes one half-tithi. These are two different calculations for the same moment.
Read them in the daily Panchang alongside the date, place and reference time. A name printed beside “Yoga” is a calendar element here, rather than an exercise posture or a planetary combination in a birth chart. The word's context matters.
Start with matching coordinates and a reference time
Use Sun and Moon positions calculated for the same instant and coordinate convention. This guide uses sidereal, or Nirayana, longitudes measured around a 360° circle. A value must be normalized into 0° up to, but not including, 360° before finding its division.
For Yoga, add Moon and Sun. For Karana, subtract Sun from Moon, in that order. If the sum reaches 360°, subtract a full circle. If the difference is negative, add a full circle. These operations keep the direction on the same circle without inventing a negative Karana.
The IMD explanation of Panchang elements describes these angular definitions. The arithmetic below is our own teaching example, using invented positions rather than a claim about today's sky.
Calculate Nitya Yoga from the sum
Take Sun = 40° and Moon = 170°. Their sum is 210°. Each of 27 equal Yoga divisions spans 360° ÷ 27 = 13°20′, or 800 arcminutes.
Convert the sum: 210 × 60 = 12,600 arcminutes. Fifteen complete divisions occupy 15 × 800 = 12,000 arcminutes. Our position is in the next division, so the Yoga is number 16, Siddhi. Its interval begins at 200° and ends at 213°20′.
The next boundary lies 3°20′ ahead in the sum. That is an angular distance, not three hours and twenty minutes of clock time. To calculate the ending time, the positions must be advanced through time until their sum reaches the boundary.
A Nakshatra also uses 27 divisions of 13°20′ in the common equal-division model, but it uses the Moon's longitude alone. Equal widths do not mean the two labels are interchangeable. See the degrees and Nakshatra guide for that separate lookup.
Calculate Karana from the difference
Using the same invented positions, Moon − Sun = 170° − 40° = 130°. A tithi covers 12° of this difference. Ten complete tithis have passed, placing the example in the eleventh tithi, Shukla Ekadashi, from 120° to 132°.
Divide each tithi into two 6° intervals. Ekadashi's first half runs from 120° to 126°; the second runs from 126° to 132°. Our 130° falls in the second half. Counting from the first half after new moon, it is half-tithi number 22, whose Karana is Vishti.
“Half” refers to half the angular tithi interval. It does not promise twelve clock hours, or even identical clock durations for the two halves. The relative speed of the Sun and Moon is not a fixed rate throughout the month.
Why eleven Karana names cover sixty half-tithis
Thirty tithis contain sixty half-tithis. Their names are assigned by a sequence, not by repeating all eleven names in one loop. The first half is Kimstughna. Positions 2–57 repeat seven names eight times: Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija, Vishti. Positions 58–60 are Shakuni, Chatushpada and Naga.
| Half-tithi number | Moon − Sun difference | Karana |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0°–6° | Kimstughna |
| 2 | 6°–12° | Bava |
| 3 | 12°–18° | Balava |
| 4 | 18°–24° | Kaulava |
| 5 | 24°–30° | Taitila |
| 6 | 30°–36° | Gara |
| 7 | 36°–42° | Vanija |
| 8 | 42°–48° | Vishti |
| 57 | 336°–342° | Vishti |
| 58 | 342°–348° | Shakuni |
| 59 | 348°–354° | Chatushpada |
| 60 | 354°–360° | Naga |
Every interval includes its starting angle and excludes its ending angle. Exactly 6° therefore starts Bava; exactly 360° normalizes to 0° and starts the next cycle at Kimstughna. Vishti is also called Bhadra in Panchang usage. Recognize spelling variants such as Gara/Garaja or Vishti/Visti before treating them as different elements.
For half-tithi 22, the repeating portion started at number 2. Moving twenty places from that start lands at the seventh name after two complete seven-name loops: Vishti. This is why taking “22 modulo 11” would produce the wrong result.
Three examples, including a wrap through zero
| Sun | Moon | Normalized sum | Nitya Yoga (number) | Moon − Sun | Karana (half-tithi number) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40° | 170° | 210° | Siddhi (16) | 130° | Vishti (22) |
| 350° | 20° | 10° | Vishkambha (1) | 30° | Gara (6) |
| 170° | 190° | 0° | Vishkambha (1) | 20° | Kaulava (4) |
In the second row, 350° + 20° = 370°, which normalizes to 10°. The difference is 20° − 350° = −330°, which normalizes to 30°. These values produce the first Yoga and the sixth half-tithi, respectively. The third row has a sum of exactly 360°, so it starts Yoga 1 at 0°.
The Yoga number and the half-tithi number describe different grids. A high number in one column need not correspond to a high number in the other. Always keep the names attached to their column headings.
Read an end time with its date
“Siddhi until 14:20” means the calculated Yoga changes at that time under the report's settings. “Vishti until 15:05” describes a different boundary. Neither label must last until midnight, and one can change while the other remains active.
A Panchang can show the element at sunrise, at birth or at another selected instant. That reference point explains why a daily headline and an afternoon chart can show different names without either being wrong. Compare the reference times before comparing the labels.
A remaining angle alone is not enough to determine the exact ending time. The calculator needs positions over time and a boundary search. Keep the date and time zone when an ending time extends past midnight; the after-midnight guide explains that notation.
Keep the calculation and its interpretation distinct
A calendar label establishes a named interval. A traditional judgment about a proposed activity is another step. In our first example, Siddhi Yoga and Vishti Karana coexist. A favorable-sounding Yoga name does not remove the Karana from the calculation.
For a comparison, record the two longitudes, whether they are sidereal, the ayanamsa, the instant and the display precision. The sum used for Yoga changes when the sidereal reference changes. A shared longitude offset cancels in the Moon-minus-Sun difference, so not every setting affects both elements in the same way.
Use the tithi calculator to explore actual inputs, and the Panchang comparison guide when reports disagree. Reading these columns accurately is more useful than assigning a whole day a single verdict from one name.
Frequently asked questions
Is Panchang Yoga the same as a yoga in a Kundli?
No. Nitya Yoga is a Panchang element calculated from the Sun–Moon sidereal longitude sum. A Kundli yoga is a traditional planetary combination with its own rules.
Why does Karana use six degrees?
A tithi covers twelve degrees of the Moon's advance relative to the Sun. Dividing that angular interval into two gives six degrees per half-tithi, or Karana interval.
Are there eleven or sixty Karanas?
There are eleven names assigned across sixty half-tithi intervals in a lunar cycle. Seven names repeat eight times, and four names occupy fixed positions.
Does a Karana always last twelve hours?
No. Half a tithi means half its angular interval, not half a civil day. The clock duration depends on the relative movement of the Sun and Moon.
Can Yoga and Karana change at different times?
Yes. Yoga follows their longitude sum, while Karana follows their difference. They generally reach their respective boundaries at different moments.
Why is the Yoga at birth different from today's headline?
The headline may use sunrise as its reference, while the birth chart uses the birth instant. Check those reference times, the coordinate conventions and any intervening transition.