A karana is half a tithi — the time the Moon takes to gain 6° on the Sun. There are eleven karanas: seven that repeat through the month and four fixed ones that occur once each. Each tithi therefore contains two karanas, and the panchangam lists the one running at sunrise with its ending time.
The eleven karanas
The seven movable karanas — Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Garaja, Vanija and Vishti — cycle repeatedly through the lunar month, eight times over. The four fixed karanas — Shakuni, Chatushpada, Naga and Kimstughna — occur once each, in the sequence around Amavasya.
Vishti is the one that is singled out. It is also called Bhadra, and the period it occupies is conventionally avoided for auspicious beginnings, which makes it the karana most often actually consulted.
Where it is used
Karana is read chiefly for short undertakings — a journey, a purchase, the start of a small piece of work — rather than for the major samskaras, which are settled on the stronger angas. Its half-tithi resolution is what makes it useful for that: it divides the day more finely than the tithi does.
For most household purposes the practical use of the karana column is to check whether Vishti is running over the window you were considering, and to shift the start if it is.
Where the general rule stops
Karana is the least weighted of the five angas in most muhurtham practice. Avoiding Vishti is the common application; beyond that it is rarely the factor a date is chosen or rejected on.
Every timing on this page is computed for Hyderabad and Indian Standard Time. For a consequential date, confirm the window with the Purohit conducting the ceremony rather than acting on a published table.
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