करण Karaṇa

A karana is half a tithi — an even finer slice of the lunar day, used in muhurta work to pick the right moment within the day. If the tithi is the lunar day, the karana is its half-day: the same Sun–Moon rhythm cut into finer steps, so timing can be chosen not only to the day but to the part of it. There are eleven karanas — seven that cycle round and round through the month and four fixed ones that fall near the new Moon. Most simply carry the character of their moment, but one, Vishti — better known as Bhadra — is singled out as unfavourable and deliberately avoided for weddings, journeys and other auspicious beginnings. For everyday reading the karana rarely matters; for choosing a precise electional moment (a muhurta) it becomes one of the details a careful astrologer checks, sidestepping the Bhadra windows to settle on a cleaner slice of the day.