Panchang for Tuesday, 27 April 2027

Tithi	Shashthi
Paksha	Krishna
Nakshatra	Purva Ashadha, pada 3
Yoga	Siddha
Karana	Vanija
Vara	Mangalavara
Sunrise (Ujjain, IST)	05:56
Sunset (Ujjain, IST)	18:52

Today's tithi is Shashthi, in the Krishna paksha, the waning half of the lunar month. The Moon moves through Purva Ashadha nakshatra, pada 3. The vara is Mangalavara, and the panchang's remaining limbs are Siddha yoga and Vanija karana.

What is Vanija karana?

Vanija is the sixth of the seven movable karanas, half of a tithi at six degrees of Moon to Sun separation, and its name means the merchant, which is exactly where the tradition places it.

Buying, selling, terms, ledgers and anything where value passes between two parties sit under Vanija in the classical lists, and the common lists connect it with Lakshmi. It is the most transactional of the eleven karanas, and the tradition is matter of fact about it: trade is a normal part of life and gets a slot like everything else.

Vanija falls immediately before Vishti in the repeating seven, which means it always occupies the half tithi just ahead of the one traditionally kept for maintenance. Panchang readers notice that ordering, because a stretch of the month that begins in trade tends to end in tidying up.

Read plainly, it is a prompt to be clear about the exchange. Every arrangement has one, even the ones nobody writes down, and knowing what each side is actually getting is useful whatever the sky is doing. The karana marks the subject, not the result.