Tithis are Lunar Days. They do not correspond at all to Solar Days. They have nothing to do with the days we experience by the rising and setting Suns in our various cities. Our current Western calendar is based on solar days. We are used to thinking in this way.

The Moon however does not always rise at night, or day, or any time. Actually, the Lunar cycles are much more complex than that. The Sun takes much of our attention because it is so essential for life's operations. And it is so bright, you can't ignore it.

The Moon is the opposite, we can fully ignore it, and hardly know where it is ever, unless it makes a bit of a showing as a full Moon or something, and then we notice it is beauty. That is about it.

But the Moon does have cycles, which are very exact, and with modern astronomy we know exactly where it is going to be at all times. In fact, this has been known for a long time, thousands of years, more or less with rough accuracy.

So it is possible to correlate the steady movements of the Sun through the degrees of the Zodiac over the year it takes for us to circle it, and simultaneously we can track the exact degrees of the Moons apparent movement through the Zodiac over that same year, and we can track their relationship.

In fact, since the Zodiac is a 360 degree circle, and we circle the Sun once a year, therefore we say that "the Sun moves through the Zodiac in a year" or "takes a year".

Well, the Moon circles really fast around the Earth, and when we look at it, we see it is "in a certain Sign" all the time too, just like the Sun, and so we can watch the Moon "move through the Zodiac too" but it only takes about 27 days to go all the way around, and has been doing this, for apparently thousands of years as we've been watching it.

So, the Moon "rips ahead" of the Sun over and over throughout the year. If you chart the too together, the Moon goes all the way around every month, catching up to the Sun and passing it over and over every 27 days.

If we want a lunar month, we can take that 27 days or so that it is, and divide it into 30 sections, and 360 divided by 30 is 12, so this mean that every time the Moon gets 12º ahead of the Sun as it rips ahead around the Zodiac, it has moved one lunar day out of it is 30 "day" lunar month.

So I just defined a system of days and a way of telling when they start and end.

When the Moon moves 12 more degrees ahead of the Sun, starting from the point of exact conjunction when they meet every 27 days, then we say the next lunar day begins.

So, since it takes like less than 24 hours, well, if the two Planets are conjunct by Gods choice at 2 AM on Wednesday, well then when that occurs, your clock may say 2 AM, but on the other side of the world, that FIRST TITHI of that month begins the previous or next day at a different CLOCK TIME for them.

You see, the Lunar calendar is tied to TWO PLANETS interactions, and these take place WHEN THEY WANT and have nothing to do with what day it is where.

Our current calendar is particularly centered around our reality, our SOLAR DAY and night and SOLAR YEAR and so on.....a lunar calendar takes much more astronomy, math, calculation, astrology and overall intelligence to relate to...but it is much more representative of REPEATING PLANETARY patterns than the rather blunt and dumb solar calendar.

The Solar Calendar is like "the calendar for the masses" and the "luni, solar or Vedic is more for real Brahmins, who are simply more intelligent and trained".

But the world uses the solar of course, and That is fine.

So, Tithis actually start for the whole world at the exact same moment, but that is on a different day and time on different parts of the country or Earth because we all have our clocks set relative to our Sunlight day.

Then there's "which day is it" so we have invented the international dateline, which runs down the Pac. Ocean, and starts the new day in places like Australia, so That is why,

In relation to the Earth as a whole, the SUN and MOON CONJUNCTION event in the great sky, which happens every 27 days and starts the new lunar month off, takes place for all of us at the exact same moment (taking Geocentric calculations as usually do).

So then we relate that to local clocks for the benefit of the local clock staring person who went to know "when it happens for them" so they can follow the changes or whatever.

So since "Ekadashi" is actually when the Moon is in between 120 and 132º ahead of the Sun, and again at 300 and 312º, therefore these angles actually begin and end roundly 22 hours apart, they last that long, roughly one lunar day, and they start and stop in space at totally odd times in relation to any particular day on Earth.

So that is why they fall at different clock times in different cities, and this is why Panchangas or Vedic calendars, which give the start and stop times of these events must be calculated and printed for a locality, or be written down in Greenwich time or some such standard time frame to be translated by the reader upon need.

Whether or not these calendars and their related Muhurtha knowledge and so on have any value at all, and whether this endeavor has any real benefits to the calendar reader is a matter of faith and experience at this time in history it seems as it is a "science" relegated to Hindus and their followers in the West, who don't currently enjoy a vast base of proof for their beliefs other than personal experiences, though voluminous and convincing, remain somehow human, spiritual and not "materialistically scientifically convincing", and so hence, the application of these things and faith in them has not developed in the West to a great extent since that culture adopts only what increases personal material benefit or what is proven to them by "scientists" of their own rank and file, and not Hindus, for example. It was only a few years that David Carradine had to be put in a TV series instead of Bruce Lee because Lee "looked too oriental" and might offend the general American TV viewers. That was only 20 some odd years ago. We've come some ways, but not far enough, to overcome our prejudices as a whole society, towards "Hindu's" as being some kind of leper, beggar, poverty aboriginal tribal natives of some conquerable category...

The reason Ekadashi sometimes falls on Dvadashi is as follows:

Remember this point: A Tithi is less than 24 hours by a few hours.

New point to learn: Sunrise occurs at your location each day. The Vedas say: Whatever TITHI IS RUNNING at your local Sunrise, that is the Tithi you will say is running that day as you live your solar day.

So if "Ekadashi" is running when the Sun rises, even if it ends 5’ later than the Sunrise, still, you will say "Ekadashi is today" all day there in that place.

Fine. This is how you know when it is Ekadashi.

You will notice that every once in a while, the cycle gets such that Ekadashi begins RIGHT AFTER SUNRISE and ENDS BEFORE THE NEXT.

So, that month there WOULD BE NO EKADASHI for your city.

That would be a "lost Tithi". That happens.

However, it is not allowed to happen for Ekadashi since Veda says Ekadashi is the Tithi set aside for worship of Vishnu. So that cannot be lost, ever, in Vedic culture, as Vishnu is God.

So, therefore, it is followed on Dvadashi, the next day. So when it is a "Dvadashi" type Ekadashi, you can know that actually Ekadashi ran the previous day, from just after Sunrise to just before Sunrise on Dvadashi for your town, and you would be correct.

Lord Chaitanya personally approved this system of decision on this matter and ISKCON knows that, and tries to follow it. Same with Gaudiya Math.

There are other minor rules, for certain appearance days, which fall on or around Ekadashis. These details I do not have handy. They involve Varahas appearance day if I remember correctly and maybe certain other rules.

There are more rules to the Panchang, all very scientifically based and interesting. The lunar, solar or Vedic calendar has two forms mainly, one that uses the Full Moons and the other the New Moons as the starting of the Months, and there are inserted months, called Adhik Maas, which need to calculated, so it is all rather complex. Made more so by the fact that it is based on accurate astronomy, and hence to create one, one must be fairly adept at astronomy, have source books or software for planetary positions, and run all the calculations to calculate the various parts of the Panchang, and so on.

ISKCON has a place I believe in Sweden, where they produce calendars for all their temples worldwide localized to the various locals for the devotees to use.

My program does this, but does not list the holy days yet, but I plan to add them someday.

Mahadwadashi means "Great Dvadashi" and as far as I know it is simply the name for the Dvadashi where Ekadashi is honored, "regular Dvadashi" or the "12th lunar day" is called "Great 12th lunar day" when it gets to carry the Ekadashi celebrations because Ekadashi was "lost" that month as previously described.

When I talk of the movements of the Planets I'm generally referring to exactly what NASA uses and what astronomers use, what the world has come to know of the movements of the Planets, which is that the Earth and other rotate around the Sun. Other views are based on other realities or are just summaries and not science.

I am not religiously bothered by statements in the SB to otherwise, taking them for what their worth. The essence of Scripture is to know God, and that it does for me personally sufficiently. Details about science may or may not be correct there, whether it was "seen from another dimension" or whatever, really, I can't get interested in that anymore.

Nor do I care to say that NASA is "right". All's I know is that the old Jyotish books and the modern astronomy work well together. (Actually, I feel I know a lot more than this, but to dodge many different mental arguments and problems I'm going to cop out like this).

So, whenever I talk of the movements of the Planets, I'm referring to their longitudinal movements around the Zodiac belt as seen from the Earth, or Geocentric vision, which is all astrology is interested in. These things, "longitude" "Zodiac" etc., may not be as clear in your mind as they will need to be to settle down the Tithi stuff, and other astrological stuff.

In order to understand these things, basic astronomy/ astrology is necessary. There are many details. I could tell them, but they exist elsewhere already written. Things like: the Planets all more or less travel on the same ecliptic, the path of the Earth around the Sun, the other Planets mostly orbit also on the same plane, like a "Frisbee" they are all, all riding on say...they form a flat layer of rotating Planets in space more or less....and like....outside and beyond our Planets here in our little part of space there is a huge Zodiac belt that is aligned with the Planets orbiting the Sun, which is divided into 12 sections or Signs, and 27 Nakshatras or stars, "Vedic constellations" you could say, and so as seen from the Earth, all the Planets are APPARENTLY situated in front of, with their backdrop as, some part of the Zodiac at all times, meaning they are "in" one of the Signs and "in" one of the stars or Nakshatras.

Also, since they go different speeds, many times one Planet will "cross over" or "pass up" another when viewed against that Zodiac belt.

In actuality because they are on different "race tracks" they never collide, some of the Planets are in close and some far out, from the Sun, but to us they appear to meet or join or become "conjunct" in the Zodiac throughout their travels.

So, "when the Sun meets the Moon" each month is when their longitude against the Zodiac is the same, even though one may be higher or lower than the other. A true meeting of these two or true alignment is what happens when there is a lunar or solar eclipse. Then they are lined up with the Earth in both respects, but every month they align by longitude alone, and that is their conjunction astrologically, when the 1st Tithi of the civic Hindu month begins....the Vaishnavas doing the full Moon instead.

>In any case what does it really mean when you say that the Sun "enters" this or that constellation? Plus I thought that from the southern half of the Planet you would see a totally different sky; astrology working only for half a Planet (I know it is a stupid question, but it is just an intellectual provocation)?

No, the Earth and Planets are so small and so far away, that looking from the different parts of the Earth at say the Sun or any other Planet, the same spot in space will appear to be that Planets backdrop. So for everywhere on Earth the Sun and all Planets appear to move against the starry backdrop the same, so if because of our orbiting around the Sun, it APPEARS to us that the Sun is "backed up by" and thus "in" the Sign of Capricorn, well the moment it crosses that 1st part of Capricorn will be the same celestial moment for everyone, no matter if they are in the light or dark, north or south, halves of the Earth.

To understand "enters a constellation" you have to envision the Universe as science and apparently the old Jyotish books, understand it....as I've been describing. The belt of the Zodiac is on the outside; the Planets rotate around the Sun. If you look from the Earth at any Planet, you will see some Zodiac Sign behind it. That is the Sign it is in. Because of all the orbiting, this scene constantly changes. So we are viewing the Planets movements AGAINST THE ZODIAC BELT AS THEY ORBIT THE SUN...so it is geocentric viewing, of a dance around not the Earth, but the Sun, makes it interesting...

You did not get the Tithi 12º thing. It is like this. The Moon races around the Earth and APPEARS to us to be moving THROUGH THE ZODIAC at a rapid pace. Haven't you noticed how the Moon moves ahead through the sky each night? That is it is movement of roughly 13º per day becoming apparent to you.

So each day roughly, actually shorter than a day, it gets itself at some point 12º ahead of the Sun, which moves only 1 degree per day. At the exact moment, the Moon achieves this 12º more, the next Tithi begins, always, every day, like "clockwork".

As far as why different calendar makers would assign slightly different Tithis to the West coast, it is because of any of the following: They don't know what they're doing, they have faulty software, they don't know how to use it, they follow different rules, and many other possibilities.... ISKCON does know how to do this, at least they have in some places at some points, and I think today they probably do, but there's no guarantee.... things are kind of rocky.

Yes though, one or the other will be wrong or right. This is very easy to know from my software. I will print you an accurate listing of the Tithis for EUGENE because actually it has to be done for the city you are in, not "the West Coast" etc., this is yet another reason why they might be different. It can be different for SF and LA, two places "on the west coast" if they have enough difference in their longitudes to cause a different Tithi to rule the Sunrise. Yes, it is exact to the place where you are, That is the science of it, right or wrong.

So I've attached a section of the Eugene Panchang for the current period from my program, sorry it doesn't aligned.

I cut out the Yoga and Karan to make the 1st line for each day shorter.

1999 Panchang Times calculated for Eugene OR USA

Day Time Paksha Tithi Nakshatra Moon Sign Sun Sign

Currently in the Month of Falgun Krishna

Thu Mar 11 2 38 AM Krishna 9,Navami 19,Mula Dhanush Kumbha 06:36:54 Sunrise 9,Navami rules the day 3 24 PM 10,Dashami 49,Vanija 20,Purva Ashadha 11 26 PM 18,Variyan

What we have here above is the entry for Thursday March 11th. At Sunrise, which was at 6:36:54 AM that day in Eugene, the Tithi called Navami, which means ninth, if the month of Falgun Krishna, which means Falgun, the dark half, the half where the Moon is returning to the Sun, the waning course of the Moon, was passing, and it was the ninth of the 15 Tithis of that half of the Month, the second civil half since the civil calendar begins at new Moon, so then the brightening half or the waxing half of the Moon's course begins, which means it is moving away from the Sun towards opposite it, which is "Full Moon", and then it shall begin it is return to the Sun, which is the waning course, which is the 2nd set of fifteen Tithis each lunar month..

So in Eugene on Thursday Navami ruled the day. We see that at 3:24 PM in Eugene is when the next Tithi will begin.

Notice in the entries below, the following lines: 20,Purva Ashadha, 21,Uttara Ashadha, 22,Shravana.

These are 3 of the 27 Nakshatras or lunar mansions. The Moon stays in one per day roughly and so here over these three days we see it going through them.

Fri Mar 12 4 01 AM Krishna 10,Dashami 20,Purva Ashadha Dhanush Kumbha 06:35:06 Sunrise 10,Dashami rules the day 4 27 PM 11,Ekadashi 51,Bava 21,Uttara Ashadha 10 59 PM 19,Parigha Makara Saturn Mar 13 4 43 AM Krishna 11,Ekadashi 21,Uttara Ashadha Makara Kumbha 06:33:19 Sunrise 11,Ekadashi rules the day 4 46 PM 12,Dvadashi 53,Kaulava 22,Shravana 9 57 PM 20,Siva Sun Mar 14 4 38 AM Krishna 12,Dvadashi 22,Shravana Makara Kumbha 06:31:31 Sunrise 12,Dvadashi rules the day 4 18 PM 13,Trayodashi 55,Gara 23,Dhanishtha Meena 8 19 PM 21,Siddha

The idea of all this is this: If one knows the Nakshatras well, and the nature of the Yogas, karans, Tithis, and other parts of the Panchang, then one can supposedly use it to choose good and bad times for the various elections we make in life. It is like learning the "Tarot of the Calendar". The Panchang itself is fixed. We can tell you the Panchang for any year in the future already. It is based on the preset and predefined movements of the Planets. It is known.

But it is like one of those children's eye telescope things you look in and twist, and you see all the colored patterns of glass reflecting in the toys mirrors etc., the calendar is like that...so many possible combinations of the elements, and so it is like rolling dice...so to read the Panchang is a rare art that nobody hardly gets into anymore...it is described in great detail in some books, at least a great detail of hints are given...but very few are interested in this part these days actively...including myself...I don't have time for the study of time, so to speak....

The Meaning of the Panchang

The following is a string from a Calendar printout from Jyotish Studio, a leading software program. We shall use this string as the basis for our discussion regarding Panchang. Here it is:

9:56 A B, 7,10,5++

The A means AM The B means it is the bright half or the Moon's course It is the 7th Tithi (of the bright as stated) The Moon is in the 10th Nakshatra The next two symbols, which are two dashes or two plus's, or a mix, i.e. , or ++ or ,+ or +,

These indicate the Tarabala, which means Nakshatra relationships counting 1st from your Moon, then your Ascendant. They refer to the Transiting Moon's Nakshatra Minus the Natal Moon then Natal Ascendant Nakshatras, and that number arrived at is judged by the settings you make while entering this feature, which default to Dr. Ramans definitions. So, if it is said there that 9 is good, then a plus will show when the transiting Moon is 9 Nakshatras away from your natal Moon.

If your natal Moon and natal Ascendant are in the same Nakshatra, then these scores will of course be the same constantly and you will always get either plus or minus, which makes reading it easier. Of course, life in general is clearer for these people.

Then the Moon Sign number appears, in this example a 5, then the two dashes or plus's again appear, same scheme as before but this is Chandra Bala, which refers to counting Signs, That is the only difference.

So, the interpretation of these factors might be something like the following:

First, you just register that it is the bright half, or waxing Moon, so that is considered good for "growing" the Moon's beneficence. That is considered "positive" in general. Then you note the 7th Tithi. In classics different activities and moods are allotted as appropriate for the different Tithis.

Then you register the Moon is in the 10th Nakshatra. Then you look at some list you have handy, or, which one that is and what it is allotments are in the classics, as each Nakshatra has a different area of things it is good and bad for. For example, "sharp" Nakshatras are better for Mars activities, whereas soft Nakshatras are better for Moon or Venus activities, etc.

The Chandra Bala tells you in general how good is the Sign for your Moon and Ascendant. Like, for me, Virgo is 6th from Ascendant and 8th from my Moon, so the Chandra Bala for Virgo for me is wholly negative. So starting things when Moon is in Virgo or Virgo is rising is not "good" for me materially speaking, and therefore people who have these placements, Moon or Lagna in Virgo, will rub me somehow. This is a simple example, but it works. Try following it and you’ll see.

The Tara Bala is subtler. It changes WITHIN Chandra Bala's, since Tara Bala, being based on Nakshatras, which change a little more than twice per Sign. Therefore, it can change from good to bad, or vice versa, while a particular Chandra Bala is running. The Tithi is also only 12º of Moon travel wide, and is therefore like unto Tara Bala in how fast it changes. Tara Bala and Tithi change as the Moon moves either 13.20 or 12º, which are both therefore changing every day roughly. Whereas, Chandra Bala, meaning a whole Sign of movement of the Moon, changes every 2.5 days, roughly.

So it is important to know, which are "wider" in time, and, which are less. You can make a little scale.

You should always judge from wider down lastly to smaller.

For example, in picking Muhurthas, which is one thing you do with this calendar, you should 1st look at the transits of the slow Planets, make sure they are where you want them, or where you find them acceptable, and then you go down through the Planets from slowest to fastest. Then you lastly pick the Moon Sign, then the Tithi and Nakshatra, then the Lagna, since it is the fastest. In this order, you can "arrange things" the "way you want them". That is picking a Muhurtha.

So this calendar gives you the last things, except the Ascendant, for judging times of the day to do things. It is pretty esoteric in a sense. I don't think many people can or want to run their lives on such fine schedules, but that was the idea. In India still, strictly Brahminical families or temples pay close attention to the Panchang, and life is run according to it. I have experienced this somewhat while living at temples.

So basically, once you know how to read the little string of indicators, you can pick times more easily. That is the idea. You have to 1st have to know what you're looking for, and I haven't given all those clues here. For that, one is best off to study the original books on the matter, such as Muhurtha Chintamani and Dr. Raman’s Muhurtha book (very cheap, $7, I think from Deepak at JDR Ventures). Those books cover things like what the different Nakshatras are "good for" etc.

Festival Days by Month and Tithi

Below is a listing of the Tithi Numbers for each of the Holy Days of the Chaitanya Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, underneath the month. Note that the Vaishnavas follow a different system for the months than the secular public in India follows. The Vaishnavas say the month starts at the Full Moon, whereas the Government calendar uses the New Moon. The names are also names of Vishnu as opposed to the usual secular names for the months.

A really amazing man

Now I will tell you something, which should challenge your conception of reality, or strengthen it if you happen to be one of us who are already convinced about psychic powers and the presence of persons possessing them on this Planet.

I met a man known as "Yogi Karve" (kar, vay) at the conference. He is a very small and old Indian man who was brought from India by the organizers of the conference for the purpose of sharing his enlightenment with the attendees.

Let me relate to you a typical encounter with him, which has happened to numerous persons in India and now America. This account is totally true, there is not part of, which is exaggerated or fabricated. He could do this same thing in front of anyone; it is neither secret nor reserved for only the believers or anything like that. He could do it on camera or with reporters; it is totally natural to him.

A woman or man visits Mr. Karve, a real Yogi or Hindu Saint, in his room, wherever he happens to be traveling or living at the time. In this case, it was one of the cabins at the Ashram where we were all staying during the recent Vedic astrology conference. The visitor sits before Mr. Karve who greets them in a friendly way. He looks at the person, and then simply straight out tells them their birthday. This is the 1st shock. You meet someone who doesn't speak English at all, and before you say anything to him or his translator, he tells the translator your birthday in Hindi and he tells it to you in English. Then he tells you your birth time, which may be a few minutes different than what your birth certificate says or what your mother says, and you would be wise to believe him because his information is coming from beyond human error.

Then he can tell you so many things about your life, past, present and future. All this is done without you saying anything, and without calculations, computers, or books, or anything.

His life is an amazing story, and to see him now is amazing. He hardly eats; he goes in and out of a sleep like meditative state quite often, even while you're sitting right in front of him. He is a real Yogi, a person who lives for linking with divinity at all times. Nobody in America can do this, yet such things can be found in India in a small number of cases.

In my travels with my previous teacher back in the late seventies and eighties we visited a small number of different types of amazing psychics and seers. The techniques for acquiring these "mystic Sidhis" or "perfection's" are still known in India, and some rather austere and spiritually strong persons are still capable of carrying out these paths and attaining to these abilities. In Mr. Karve's case the ability came early in life, without any effort on his part. It is understood therefore that he earned this ability in a previous life and was granted it early on in this life.

In one instance, much earlier in his life, he told President Nehru, the 1st prime minister of India after independence from the British:

"Don't worry, your daughter will become Prime Minister, and she will have a son, who will also be Prime Minister, and he will have a wife, who will also become Prime Minister".

Nehru doubted astrologers, as there are many bad ones in India (just like here). But in this case, what he once laughed off later came true. Oddly enough, India Gandhi, though a woman, became the Prime Minister of India, and her son did also (Rajiv Gandhi) and now his wife, an Italian, may actually become Prime Minister.

Mr. Karve teaches that to get clairvoyant powers one must submit themselves to the Universal Lord, who is the source of all Gods, the Creation, all humans and all life. This Universal God is the common root of everything that be. It is the one God worshipped in many different names. At the conference Mr. Karve taught the students the Mantra he worships with, which is as follows:

Om Shree Vishva Darshan Devta Yay Namaha

Translated this means "Unto the one great universal being who is present within everything I offer my praises or worship".



Mr. Karve showed the students in attendance how he prays this Mantra many times in row each day, and how he does so by facing the four directions successfully while reciting the Mantra, hands folded in prayer before him, and how he also raises his hands above to the sky while reciting, and then to the Earth in the same way. In this way he offers his prayers in all the directions each day.

This is actually typical of strict Hindu practice or Sadhana, to have a Mantra or prayer, which reminds us of divinity and aligns us with divinity's will. There are various mantras and various schools, with significant differences between them, but the one thing they share is the aim of progress towards complete truth, emancipation of the eternal Soul within to it is highest possible destination either here or in a spiritual plane, and ultimately the chief aim is the attainment to happiness, to "be all we can be".