OPENJYOTISH PRIMER, CHAPTER 7: MUHURTA AND CHOGHADIYA
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Original synthesis by the OpenJyotish contributors (AGPL-3.0, like the
program). Electional doctrine restated from the public-domain texts in
this folder; every score, slot and reason below is live engine output
for Bangalore on 2026-09-15 — reproduce with `jhora muhurta` and
`jhora choghadiya` before trusting a word.


1. ELECTION (CHOOSING THE MOMENT)
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Muhurta asks the reverse question of prediction: not "what will this
moment bring?" but "which moment should carry this undertaking?"
Eleven undertakings are scored separately in this program — general,
wedding, new job, housewarming, naming a child, first rice feeding,
teaching the alphabet, sacred thread, new vehicle, placing idols,
house construction — because each task favors different limbs: weddings
demand a strong 7th and Venus, house construction a strong 4th and
Mars, sacred thread a strong Jupiter and Sun.


2. THE FIVE LIMBS CHECKED
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Every evaluation examines the panchanga of the moment:

TITHI: bright-half tithis favor growth undertakings; Rikta tithis
(4th, 9th, 14th) and Amavasya/Purnima extremes are avoided for most
tasks. The engine grades tithi_ok per task.
VARA (weekday): each weekday has a lord whose nature must suit the
task — Tuesday (Mars) is bad for general beginnings, good for martial
ones. The engine grades weekday_ok per task.
NAKSHATRA: fixed (Rohini, the Uttaras, Hasta), movable and cruel stars
suit different works; Tara Bala (the Moon's nakshatra counted from the
native's birth star: Janma/Vipat/Pratyari/Nidhana inauspicious) and
Chandra Bala (Moon in 1st/3rd/6th/7th/10th/11th from the native's sign
is good) personalize the moment.
YOGA and KARANA: the 27 yogas and 11 karanas each carry task-specific
suitability the engine scores.
LAGNA of the moment: the ascendant at the elected time should be
strong, unafflicted, and well-connected to the task's houses.


3. PERIODS TO AVOID
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Rahu Kalam, Yama Gandam and Gulika Kalam — weekday-dependent inauspicious
stretches computed from sunrise — void any election they cover.
Abhijit (the victorious midday window around local noon) redeems
ordinary moments but never overrides a Kalam overlap. Durmuhurta and
Varjyam spans, where computed, are likewise excluded.


4. READING THE SCORE
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The engine returns 0 to 1 with reasons, never a bare verdict. Worked
example — general undertaking, 2026-09-15 10:30 IST, Bangalore:

Score 0.45: "weekday(Tuesday) bad; Yama Gandam!" Panchami Shukla
(tithi_ok), Swati nakshatra (nakshatra_ok), Scorpio lagna (lagna_ok) —
but Tuesday fails general tasks and 10:30 falls inside Yama Gandam.
Read it as the engine intends: three limbs pass, two fail, the two
that fail are disqualifying for beginnings. Move the same task to
15:30 and the score stays 0.45 — Yama Gandam passes but a Chora
Panchaka takes its place. Move it to Wednesday 10:30 and it rises
only to 0.6, Panchaka still objecting. Elections are won by clearing
every limb, never by fixing one.


5. CHOGHADIYA (DAY AND NIGHT WATCHES)
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The daylight (sunrise to sunset) and the night each divide into eight
watches ruled in Chaldaean order from the day lord. Tuesday daylight,
Bangalore 2026-09-15 (sunrise 06:08), computed:

Rog (Mars) Bad 06:08–07:40, Udveg (Sun) Bad 07:40–09:11,
Char (Venus) Neutral 09:11–10:43, Labh (Mercury) Good 10:43–12:14,
Amrit (Moon) Good 12:14–13:46, Kaal (Saturn) Bad 13:46–15:17,
Shubh (Jupiter) Good 15:17–16:49, Rog (Mars) Bad 16:49–18:21.

Rule of thumb: Labh, Amrit and Shubh for beginnings; Char for movement
and travel; Rog, Udveg and Kaal never. Night watches follow the same
order from the fifth lord of the day sequence. Choghadiya is the quick
answer, muhurta scoring the thorough one — when they disagree, the
full election wins.


6. WHERE THIS LIVES IN THE PROGRAM
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Muhurta tab (task picker, day table with scores and reasons),
`jhora muhurta --adjuncts` (daily table with Tara/Chandra Bala grades),
Choghadiya tab and `jhora choghadiya` (day/night watches), Dashboard
Rahu Kalam line, conversation anchor (adjuncts the AI reads), and the
verification note (AI muhurta claims are checked before display).
