Panchang for Friday, 16 April 2027
| Tithi | Dashami |
|---|---|
| Paksha | Shukla |
| Nakshatra | Ashlesha, pada 4 |
| Yoga | Ganda |
| Karana | Gara |
| Vara | Shukravara |
| Sunrise (Ujjain, IST) | 06:05 |
| Sunset (Ujjain, IST) | 18:48 |
Today's tithi is Dashami, in the Shukla paksha, the waxing half of the lunar month. The Moon moves through Ashlesha nakshatra, pada 4. The vara is Shukravara, and the panchang's remaining limbs are Ganda yoga and Gara karana.
Ashlesha nakshatra
Ashlesha is the ninth nakshatra, from 16°40' to 30°00' of Karka (Cancer), ruled by Mercury, and its name means the embrace or the coiling.
The stars are the small ring that forms the head of Hydra, the water serpent, low and faint under the belly of Cancer. The deity is the nagas, the serpents, and the symbol is a coiled snake, which the tradition uses for concentration rather than for menace: everything drawn into a single point and held there.
The gana is Rakshasa, meaning an intense and boundary pushing temperament rather than anything wicked, and the classical activity class is Tikshna, sharp. Ashlesha is also a gandanta nakshatra: its last quarter sits at the junction between a water sign and a fire sign, one of the three knots in the zodiac the tradition treats as needing care.
The growth this nakshatra describes is penetration, seeing what is under a surface, and the cost is that it is difficult to hold that focus without letting it become fixation. Naming the difference is the useful part, and where the line falls is a judgement each person makes for themselves.