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Glossary

Krishna Paksha defined: the dark, waning fortnight from full Moon to new Moon, how this app detects it from the tithi and how it affects muhurat scores and daily notes.

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In short

Krishna Paksha is the dark half of the lunar month, the fortnight in which the Moon wanes from full back to new. This app marks tithis 16 to 30 as Krishna, takes a few points off a muhurat window that falls in it, and late in the fortnight adds a daily note that the time suits finishing rather than starting.

What the term means

Krishna means dark, and Krishna Paksha is the dark paksha: the fortnight from just after the full Moon to the new Moon. The Moon closes in on the Sun and its lit part shrinks each night. It holds the second fifteen tithis and ends with Amavasya.

Where the term comes from

Jyotisha Siddhanta Sara (Ch. II) names the waning half Krishna. In BPHS, Ch. 27 Sl. 10-11 make Paksha Bala run the other way for malefics, so they gain as the Moon thins. Ch. 46 Sl. 23-26 tie the Shodshottari dasha to a day birth in the dark half, or to an Ascendant in the Moon's Hora with a Krishna birth. Ch. 85 Sl. 1-4 list a birth in the dark half among circumstances the chapter calls inauspicious; this app does not turn that sloka into a rating of anyone's chart.

How this app uses it

  • The engine labels tithis 16 to 30 Krishna, from the Moon's sidereal distance from the Sun in 12-degree steps.
  • In muhurat scoring a Krishna window loses 4 points, a smaller weight than the 7 a Shukla window gains.
  • The daily reading checks for Krishna Paksha at tithi 27 or later. When both hold it adds a note that the near-dark Moon suits closure, quoting the tithi and the Moon's illumination.
  • The Shodshottari check reads the birth paksha with day or night and the Ascendant's Hora.

Pages that use this term

Related terms

Shukla Paksha, Purnima, Panchang and Chandra.

Now on yourself

Moon Phase and Tithi

The tithi, the paksha and how much of the Moon was lit on your birth date.

A birth time is optional. Without one this is read at local noon on your birth date - and the Moon moves about 13 degrees in a day, so add the time if you know it.

No place is asked for on this page, so the time is read as Indian Standard Time (IST). Born outside India? Run it on its own page, where you can add the place.

This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.

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