Gandanta in Muhurta (Travel, Marriage), Pancha-Bhuta Hint for Tithis & Gandanta Rules Summary

BPHS Chapter 92 — The Opening Verse and the Three Gandantas

Opening shloka (Parashara): "Tithi-nakshatra-lagnanam gandantam trividham smritam. Janma-yatra-vivahadau bhavet tan nidhana-pradam."

Word by word:

• Tithi nakshatra lagnanam — for the tithi, for the nakshatra and for the lagna.
• Gandantam trividham — three kinds of Gandanta are mentioned: one for tithi, one for nakshatra, one for lagna.
• Janma — at the time of birth. Yatra — at the time of a journey. Vivaha — at the time of marriage. Adau — et cetera: any other important time.
• Bhavet tan nidhana-pradam — it becomes a giver of death.

"So basically, in other words, it is not auspicious. It is very inauspicious to have either tithi or nakshatra or lagna in Gandanta."

Natal chart and Muhurta both

• Janma means the natal chart.
• Yatra and vivaha are travel and marriage — that is Muhurta.
• So the rule covers the birth chart and the electional chart alike.

"So this is applicable to Muhurta as well as Janma Chakra."

• Parashara does not say whose nakshatra. By default it is the Moon's nakshatra.

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Why These Borders — Rashi Sandhi versus Gandanta

A student asks whether these borders fall on rashi boundaries. PVNR answers by comparison with the lagna.

• The end of any tithi that is not one of these three is "not that bad". It is like Rashi Sandhi.
• Lagna at the end of Taurus or the beginning of Gemini: Rashi Sandhi. Not so auspicious, but not Gandanta.
• Lagna at the border of Cancer and Leo: the border between water and fire. That is Gandanta. "That is how we did it earlier."
• Parashara applies the same idea to tithis.

The pancha-bhuta link is a hint, not a stated rule

• There are five kinds of tithis. PVNR infers that they must map to the five elements — fire, air, ether, earth, water — so that the Purna → Nanda border is an elemental border like water → fire.
• He does not give the mapping and says plainly that it is not known.

"There must be some classification of the tithis also. We do not know that. Maybe we can do some research and find that out later, but obviously that is the hint here."

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Key Rules Summary

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What the Recording Does Not Contain

The transcript stops about a quarter of an hour into a two-hour class. Not captured:

• The rest of the Nakshatra Gandanta discussion.
• Parashara's definition of Lagna Gandanta.
• The results of each Gandanta and the Shanti (remedy) procedure.
• The eclipse-birth chapter of the previous class, which was never recorded.

The next class (lesson 93) opens by saying that all three — Tithi, Nakshatra and Lagna Gandanta — were finished in this class, and moves on to Chapter 93, Abhukta Mula.