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yajvan
22 July 2007, 09:31 AM
Hari Om
~~~~~~

Namaste,

On Several occasions Rahu Kalam was mentioned…How would one calculate this time and why do you care?

Why do you care?
Rahu is the natural badaka in all horoscopes. During this Rahu Kalam time Rahu is given the opportunity to exercise this badaka influence. If we know the time for this, we just choose activates of lesser impact e.g. no major decisions or expectations during this time. Now, the one action I have performed during this time is a yajya for Rahu. He owns this time and hence a yajya for Rahu makes sense in terms of the right muhurta for this action.

Recall the term graha - that which binds, or holds. Now if we consider one definition for Rahu , other then one of the nodes for the moon, Rahu = to seize , to take hold of suddenly or forcibly; grasp; to grasp mentally; to take possession of by force or at will; to take possession or control . So for Rahu Kalam it is the time rahu seizes the opportunity for influence.

How to calculate
Rahu Kalam is a portion of the day (or night), a particular segment. Here is the schedule, and then we will add an example.
Sundays - 8th portion from the sun rise
Mondays - 2nd portion from the sun rise
Tuesdays - 7th portion from the sun rise
Wednesday -5th portion from the sun rise
Thursday - 6th portion from the sun rise
Friday - 4th portion from the sun rise
Saturday -3rd portion from the sun rise

What do we mean by 'portion'? If we divide the day up in equal portions, then rahu owns this part. So, the division is from sunrise to sunset and, divided up into 8 equal portions, Then sunset to sunrise, same 1/8th portion division.

Why 8? Rahu is the 8th Graha in the charakaraka system ( there's fixed or sthirakaraka's and 7 planets only are considered, ruled by Siva, Chara with 8 planets , rules by Visnu, and Naisargika or natural karaka system rules by Brahma). This again is the information from the tradition that you could search for some time and never find out why 7,8 or 9 graha's are used.

Observations
We take the day from Sunrise to Sunset and divide that time by eight. Each 'portion' is 1/8th, yes? We then look for the portions defined above for each day and we have identified the time. A quick calculation ( back of the napkin as they say ) is Sunrise = 6 AM and Sun Set = 6 PM. Divide by 8 and each 1/8th portion is equal to 1 1/2 hrs. So each Rahu Kalam portion would = 1 1/2 hrs.

Lets now use an actual sunrise and sunset...

Practical Example
Look at Mahatma Ghandhi's birth chart , as a reference point that we have used in the past. The sunrise on his day of birth was 5:51:10 AM. Sunset was 17:45:40. This is for 2 Oct 1869 and the day is Sunday, Like this Day of this posting. So, 17:45:40 - 5:51:10 = 11:54.30 hours of daylight ( correct?) 11:54:30 divided by 8 = 1:29:19 hours for each 1/8th period

1/8th Portions Starting @ sunrise -- Start time
1--------------------------------5:51:10 AM
2--------------------------------7:20:29 AM
3--------------------------------8:49:48 AM
4-------------------------------10:19:06 AM
5-------------------------------11:48:25 AM
6--------------------------------1:17:44 PM
7--------------------------------2:47:03 PM
8--------------------------------4:16:21 PM Rahu Kalam Starts for daylight portion of the day
1--------------------------------5:45:40 PM
2--------------------------------7:14:59 PM
3--------------------------------8:44:18 PM
4--------------------------------10:13:36 PM
5--------------------------------11:42:55 PM
8---------------------------------1:12:14 AM
7---------------------------------2:41:33 AM
8---------------------------------4:10:51 AM Rahu Kalm starts for the night portion


It's most interesting to me that on Sunday, Rahukalam is the farthest away from the time period owned by the sun . Sun owns light, atman, the sunrise on Sunday, and Rahu (as darkness) is as far away from light ( the extreme pole) as possible.

Hope this helps... written at sunrise, Sunday Morning, the hora of the sun.
Sukla Ashtami ( the 8th) tithi, owned by Siva; Chandra in Swati Nakshatra , owned by Rahu.

pranams,

Sarjil200
06 May 2010, 02:47 AM
Wo. Rahukal happens also in the night? I didn't notice that.
Also, does that mean that Yamaghantam and Vishaghati also happens at night too?


1/8th Portions Starting @ sunrise -- Start time
1--------------------------------5:51:10 AM
2--------------------------------7:20:29 AM
3--------------------------------8:49:48 AM
4-------------------------------10:19:06 AM
5-------------------------------11:48:25 AM
6--------------------------------1:17:44 PM
7--------------------------------2:47:03 PM
8--------------------------------4:16:21 PM Rahu Kalam Starts for daylight portion of the day
1--------------------------------5:45:40 PM
2--------------------------------7:14:59 PM
3--------------------------------8:44:18 PM
4--------------------------------10:13:36 PM
5--------------------------------11:42:55 PM
8---------------------------------1:12:14 AM
7---------------------------------2:41:33 AM
8---------------------------------4:10:51 AM Rahu Kalm starts for the night portion

Stephen
06 May 2010, 12:22 PM
>Rahu is the natural badaka in all horoscopes.

What is badaka?

NayaSurya
07 May 2010, 08:35 AM
I copy your post and then plug in my own information- I hope I did this correctly.



Nayindhe birth chart:

The sunrise on day of birth was 6:47. Sunset was 20:19. This is for 19th of August 1971 and the day is Thursday. So, 20:19 - 06:47 = 13:32 hours of daylight ( correct?) 13:32 divided by 8 = 1:41:30 hours for each 1/8th period

1/8th Portions Starting @ sunrise -- Start time
1--------------------------------6:47 AM
2--------------------------------8:28:30 AM
3--------------------------------10:10:0 AM
4-------------------------------11:51:30 AM
5-------------------------------1:33:0 PM
6--------------------------------3:14:30 PM Rahu Kalam Starts for daylight portion of the day
7--------------------------------4:56:0 PM
8--------------------------------6:37:30 PM
1--------------------------------8:19:0 PM
2-------------------------------- 9:37:30 PM
3--------------------------------10:56:00 PM
4--------------------------------12:14:30 AM
5--------------------------------1:33:00 AM
6--------------------------------2:51:30 AM Rahu Kalm starts for the night portion
7---------------------------------4:10:00 AM
8---------------------------------5:28:30 AM




Thank you so much for providing this information.


Did I do this correctly?

Because of our very long days here, I had to reformulate the evening to adjust this time. Otherwise my ending time on second period would have overlapped?


I think this is very odd for me to have this time. The first time is exactly to the minute...the exact time that my children get off the bus from school, it's is a very low time of the day where I must help with 8 children's homework and help with studies, make a snack and hear about all their adventures and struggles...For one person, this is an overload and the noise is so great.... It's very much a difficult point in my day.



Have always been interested in the charts of our lives so this is an aspect I can greatly appreciate, Thank you Yajvan for always being so wise and helpful<3



Here is my chart thingy:P

557

saidevo
07 May 2010, 09:54 AM
The key point is to remember that the rAhu kAlam time in Monday is from 7:30 am to 9:00 am--1 1/2 hours. Brahmins of South India use a textual formula to remember the rAhu kAlam times:

"Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Slowly"

Mother=Monday, Saw=Saturday, Wearing=Wednesday, The=Thusrday,
Turban=Tuesday, Slowly=Sunday

Just remember that for Monday the rAhu kAlam is between 7:30 and 9:00 am and keep adding 1 1/2 hours for the other days.

also refer to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahukaalam

yajvan
07 May 2010, 10:09 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté



>Rahu is the natural badaka in all horoscopes.

What is badaka?

bādhaka is defined as opposing , hindering , injuring , prejudicing . It is the natural obstuctor.

praṇām

yajvan
08 May 2010, 06:08 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté saidevo,


The key point is to remember that the rAhu kAlam time in Monday is from 7:30 am to 9:00 am--1 1/2 hours.

Yes, what you offer is directionally correct and I use this rule of thumb often. Yet if we were being specific then this rule needs to be considered - 1/8th portion of the day. As I wrote:
What do we mean by 'portion'? If we divide the day up in equal portions, then rahu owns this part. So, the division is from sunrise to sunset and, divided up into 8 equal portions, Then sunset to sunrise, same 1/8th portion division.

These portions change from deep summer to deep winter.

praṇām

Sarjil200
12 July 2011, 01:07 AM
Hi,
1) Those who use things like google-calendar and yahoo-calendar; is there any calendar that shows Rahukal, Yamaghanta, Vishaghati ,etc?
2) Sometimes Vishaghati and Gulika (Kuligai) seem to have common time-spans. Does that mean the periods are "mild" asupicious / "mild" inasuspicious?

Sarjil200
19 July 2011, 03:06 AM
Any reply?