Nakshatra Gandanta — Three Water-Fire Borders (Revati-Ashwini, Ashlesha-Magha, Jyeshtha-Mula) & Half-Degree Measure

Nakshatra Gandanta

"This we know quite well."

Shloka: "Revati-dasrayoh sarpa-maghayoh shakra-mulayoh sandhau nakshatra-gandantam; evam nadi-chatushtayam."

• The students mix up Shakra with Shukra (Venus) and with chakra. PVNR: Shakra is a name of Indra — "some simple names of gods you should know."
• Evam nadi-chatushtayam — as in the previous case, four nadis: 2 ghatikas (48 minutes) before the joint and 2 ghatikas after.

Measured in time, not in degrees

• Moon within 30 minutes of clock time of leaving Revati for Ashwini: inside 2 ghatikas, so it is Gandanta.

"This is measured in terms of the time rather than in terms of the degrees and minutes."

The approximate conversion to arc:

• Moon takes about one day for one nakshatra: about 24 hours for 13°20'.
• One ghatika (24 minutes) is 1/60 of that: about 13 arc-minutes.
• Two ghatikas: about 26 arc-minutes — roughly half a degree.

"We are not even talking about a degree here. This particular Gandanta defined by Parasara is just for half a degree."

• About 30 arc-minutes on either side. You can also look at the time directly.

Muhurta example

• A student had missed the first verse. PVNR repeats: this is for birth charts and Muhurta charts both.
• Moon at 29°40' Cancer in a Muhurta: the fag end of Ashlesha, within the last 2 ghatikas. "So it is a problem."
• The recording ends here.

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Lagna Gandanta — Only a Passing Reference Survives

The recording ends before Parashara's definition of Lagna Gandanta. The half-degree width given below is not in the surviving recording and is unverified.

What the recording does contain (said while explaining Tithi Gandanta):

• Lagna Gandanta is one of the three kinds named in the opening verse.
• Lagna at the border of Cancer and Leo is Gandanta, because it is the border of water and fire.
• Lagna at the border of Taurus and Gemini is only Rashi Sandhi.

Not in the recording:

• Which borders Parashara lists for the lagna, and the width he gives. The earlier version of these notes inferred "the last half-degree of Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces and the first half-degree of Leo, Sagittarius, Aries" by extending the Moon's figure. PVNR does not say this in the surviving part. The half-degree figure was worked out for the Moon's speed; the lagna moves far faster.

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