Karaṇa (pañcāṅga)

In Indian astronomy, a karaṇa is a half of a tithi. It is the duration of time in which the difference of the longitudes of the Sun and the Moon is increased by 6 degrees. A lunar month has 30 tithi-s and so the number of karaṇa-s in a lunar month is 60. These sixty karaṇa-s are not individually named. Instead, the originators of the concept have chosen 11 names to be associated with the karaṇa-s which means several karaṇa-s will be associated with the same name. Of these 11 names, four are fixed or immovables (or sthira-s) in the sense that they are associated with four unique karaṇa-s in a lunar month. These constant names are Śakuni, Catuṣpāda, Nāga and Kimstughna. The remaining seven names are variable or movable (or, cara-s) in the sense that there are several karaṇa-s associated with each of them. These names are Bava, Bālava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vaṇij and Vṛṣṭi.