Introduction
The Moon is the fastest-moving planet, crossing a sign in about two and a quarter days. So in muhurta work its position changes every day, and the pandit looks at where today's Moon stands from your birth sign. This is chandra bala.
"Birth sign" here means the sign the Moon occupied when you were born, your Moon sign. The count is not made from the lagna or the Sun sign.
Like tara bala, chandra bala is not a prediction. Tradition simply reads it with tara bala when choosing a day for a new beginning.
How to count chandra bala
- Take your birth Moon sign as 1.
- Count from there to the sign the Moon is in today.
- The number you reach is today's place of the Moon.
Example: your birth sign is Vrishabha (Taurus) and the Moon is in Kanya (Virgo) today. Vrishabha (1), Mithuna (2), Karka (3), Simha (4), Kanya (5). So the Moon is 5th from your birth sign.
The panchang always shows today's Moon sign. In ePandit, if your birth details are saved, the count is done for you.
The Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi's rule
The Gocara-prakaraṇa of the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi (verse 1) lists the favourable transit places of each planet. For the Moon, counted from the birth sign, these places are favourable:
1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th
The commentary adds that the 4th, 9th, 8th, 5th, 12th and 2nd are not counted favourable under this rule. But there is a softening: according to the commentary on verse 4, in Shukla paksha the Moon in the 2nd, 5th and 9th is also counted favourable, if certain other planets do not obstruct it. The Moon grows in Shukla paksha, and tradition treats the growing Moon more generously.
| Place | How tradition sees it |
|---|---|
| 1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11 | favourable |
| 2, 5, 9 | favourable in Shukla paksha |
| 4, 8, 12 | another day for a major new start |
Raman's view: where the texts differ
B. V. Raman, in his book Muhurtha, puts chandra bala simply: at the time of the muhurta the Moon should not be 6th, 8th or 12th from the birth sign.
Note that the two differ on the 6th place: in the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi's transit rule the Moon in the 6th is favourable, while Raman asks for it to be avoided. Differences like this are common between astrological texts, and we do not hide them. ePandit's card follows the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi, and your pandit may decide according to his own tradition.
The Moon in the 8th is popularly called "chandrashtama". In both views tradition keeps a major new start for another day. That is all; there is nothing to fear in it.
Read with tara bala
Chandra bala is never read alone in a muhurta. Raman notes that tara bala, chandra bala and panchaka are checked together in almost every election, and the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi adds the tithi, weekday, nakshatra, yoga, karana and lagna.
One more point from the Muhūrta-cintāmaṇi is worth remembering: in the lagna-shuddhi for all work, the Moon is preferred 3rd, 6th, 10th or 11th from the lagna. That is different from the birth-sign count; there the muhurta's own chart is being read.
A calm reading
- The Moon changes sign in about two and a quarter days. If today's place is not counted favourable, it will change within a day or two.
- Chandra bala is checked only for the day of a new beginning. Work, study, travel and worship go on as usual every day.
- For health, the doctor is always the first help. The time of an operation or treatment is the doctor's decision, not the Moon's.