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In short
A paksha is half of a lunar month: Shukla Paksha, the waxing half from new Moon to full Moon, and Krishna Paksha, the waning half back to new Moon. This app reads the paksha from the tithi (1 to 15 Shukla, 16 to 30 Krishna) and uses it in the birth panchang, muhurat scoring and one alternate-dasha condition.
What the term means
Paksha means a fortnight, one half of the lunar month. The Shukla Paksha (bright half) runs from just after the new Moon to the full Moon, while the Moon waxes; the Krishna Paksha (dark half) runs from just after the full Moon back to the new Moon, while it wanes. Each half holds fifteen tithis.
Where the term comes from
Jyotisha Siddhanta Sara (Ch. II, p. 24) divides each month into these two parts, the brighter half ending at the full Moon "when the Sun and Moon face each other". BPHS uses the paksha in several places. Ch. 27 Sl. 10-11 turn the Moon's distance from the Sun into Paksha Bala, a strength that grows for benefics as the Moon fills and the reverse for malefics. Ch. 46 Sl. 23-26 recommend the Shodshottari dasha for a day birth in the dark half or a night birth in the bright half, and Ch. 78 Sl. 3-4 list the paksha among the birth details a query chart can recover. Saravali Ch. 5 Sl. 16-17 report the Yavanas' view of the Moon's strength across three ten-day bands of the month.
How this app uses it
- The engine derives the paksha from the tithi: tithis 1 to 15 are Shukla, 16 to 30 Krishna. It is reported wherever a tithi is, at a birth instant or at local sunrise.
- The birth panchang adds a one-line reading of the birth paksha.
- In muhurat scoring a window in the Shukla Paksha gains 7 points, with the stated reason that the waxing Moon supports new beginnings; one in the Krishna Paksha loses 4.
- The alternate-dasha check for Shodshottari reads the paksha at birth together with whether the birth was by day or by night.
A small illustration
The birth of 19 January 1985, 11:14 IST, New Delhi falls on tithi 29, so in the Krishna Paksha, and it is a day birth; the engine reports that this chart meets the Shodshottari condition. At sunrise in New Delhi on 13 October 2026 the tithi is 3, in the Shukla Paksha.
Pages that use this term
- Moon phase calculator - the tithi and paksha at your birth.
- Panchang calculator - the paksha at sunrise for a place and date.
- Alternate dashas calculator - where the paksha decides Shodshottari.
- The Moon in Vedic astrology - the waxing and waning Moon in the texts.
- Moon sign and nakshatra - why phase matters beside sign.
Related terms
Moon Phase and Tithi
The tithi, the paksha and how much of the Moon was lit on your birth date.
This date is sent only to compute the answer. Nothing is stored, no account is created, and no email is asked for.