Introduction
The panchang has five limbs: tithi, vaar, nakshatra, yoga and karana. The karana is the smallest: each tithi holds two karanas. A tithi is a 12° step of the Moon away from the Sun, so a karana is a 6° step. A lunar month has 30 tithis, and so 60 karana halves.
At festival time you hear the word "Bhadra" often, for example at Raksha Bandhan or Holika Dahan. That Bhadra is a karana, and this page explains it simply.
The 11 karanas: 4 fixed and 7 movable
There are 11 karanas in all.
The 4 fixed karanas come once a month each, always in the same place:
| Karana | When it comes |
|---|---|
| Kimstughna | first half of Shukla Pratipada |
| Shakuni | second half of Krishna Chaturdashi |
| Chatushpada | first half of Amavasya |
| Naga | second half of Amavasya |
The 7 movable karanas cycle through the other 56 halves in this order: Bava, Balava, Kaulava, Taitila, Gara, Vanija, Vishti. Bava starts from the second half of Shukla Pratipada, and the cycle of seven runs eight times a month.
B. V. Raman's A Manual of Hindu Astrology gives this calculation of the karana.
Vishti, also called Bhadra
The seventh movable karana is Vishti, popularly called Bhadra. Tradition does not start new things during Bhadra, such as a samskara, a griha pravesh or a new venture. The Dharmasindhu also names Bhadra among the times to leave aside in its discussion of the time for naamkaran. That is why many families tie rakhi, or light the Holika fire, after Bhadra has passed.
Following the cycle above, Bhadra comes eight times a month:
- Shukla paksha: second half of Chaturthi, first half of Ashtami, second half of Ekadashi, first half of Purnima
- Krishna paksha: second half of Tritiya, first half of Saptami, second half of Dashami, first half of Chaturdashi
Bhadra usually lasts some hours, about half a day. Some traditions also consider Bhadra's "vaas" (where it is said to reside); for that, ask your local panchang or pandit.
Keeping it calm
There is no need to fear Bhadra. It simply means: move the start of a samskara or a new beginning a little. Meals, work, study, travel and daily puja go on as normal during Bhadra.
A baby born during Bhadra gives no cause for worry either. The birth karana is one panchang detail; a chart is always read as a whole.
(Among the tithi groups there are also "Bhadrā" tithis, 2, 7 and 12. That is a different thing, and there is no rule to avoid those tithis.)
Karana in ePandit
ePandit's kundli shows the karana at the time of birth. This page is for understanding the karana; for the exact Bhadra times on a given day, also check your city's panchang.