Gaṇḍakāla

By Swami Harshananda

Gaṇḍakāla literally means ‘inauspicious time’.

In astrology, the birth of a baby at certain times, which are considered as inauspicious, forebodes evil to its parents. One such inauspicious time is called ‘gaṇḍakāla’.

For instance, the first three ghaṭikās^[1] when the three nakṣatras Aśvinī,^[2] Makha^[3] and Mulā^[4] are present are inauspicious. If it occurs in the night and the baby is born at that time it forebodes evil for the mother.

References[edit]

↑ 1 ghatikā = 24 minutes
↑ Aśvinī is the stars beta and gamma, arietis.
↑ Makha is the stars alpha, eta, gamma, zeta, mu and epsilon leonis.
↑ Mulā is the stars lambda and upsilon scorpii.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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[1] 1 ghatikā = 24 minutes

[2] Aśvinī is the stars beta and gamma, arietis.

[3] Makha is the stars alpha, eta, gamma, zeta, mu and epsilon leonis.

[4] Mulā is the stars lambda and upsilon scorpii.

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