Nitya Yogas

The twenty-seven nitya yogas are a division of the Hindu calendar based on the combined longitudes of the Sun and Moon, each spanning thirteen degrees and twenty minutes of that total, the same arc as a nakshatra, but reckoned from the sum of the two luminaries rather than the Moon alone. Each has a name (Vishkambha, Priti, Ayushman, Saubhagya and so on), and a character used in electional astrology.

These "yogas" are unrelated to the planetary-combination yogas of natal astrology and to the discipline of yoga; the word here names one of the five limbs of the panchanga, the almanac used to judge the quality of a day.

Some of the twenty-seven nitya yogas are held auspicious and others inauspicious, a few, such as Vyatipata and Vaidhriti, are counted among the more unfavourable and are avoided for important undertakings. The nitya yoga of a moment is read together with the tithi, karana, nakshatra and weekday in choosing a muhurta.

The atlas gives each nitya yoga its name, its place in the cycle, and its favourable or unfavourable character. It belongs, with the tithi and karana, to the panchanga treated in the calendar and Vedic material.