Kalaprakasika (1917, p. 193) says some flaws of a day do not last all day. Vishti karana, the yogas Vyatipata and Vaidhriti, your birth star and the 5th star from it, and Tuesday stop counting after midday. The flaw of Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday stops after nightfall. The book also says the day-time of those three weekdays is the flawed part (p. 168). So the tradition reads these as half-day flaws, not whole-day ones.
☕ A flaw with a clock on it
A panchangam marks some days with a flaw (dosha): an adverse karana, an adverse yoga, or a weekday the muhurtha books do not favour. Kalaprakasika lists them in its chapter on adverse yogas (p. 168). Its nine adverse nithya yogas are Vyaghata, Parigha, Vajra, Vyatipata, Vaidhriti, Ganda, Atiganda, Shoola, Vishkambha. The yoga and karana articles explain those limbs.
In the next chapter, on what cancels a flaw, the book puts a time limit on some of them (p. 193). Vishti, Vyatipata and Vaidhriti, the birth star and the 5th star from it, and Tuesday do not count after midday. Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday do not count after nightfall. The book does not say how it measures midday. It also says no weekday is flawed when its lord is strong in the chart of the moment.
The rule cuts both ways. A flaw that wears off in the afternoon is still a flaw in the morning. And Ekargala, a pattern of the Sun's and Moon's stars, counts only by day (p. 169). Nava Panchangam does not use this rule in its day score. This page explains it as the books give it. The score does count Vishti and the nine yogas, at whatever hour they run, and it has no separate penalty for any weekday.
What wears off, and when
- Weekday: Tuesday
- Karana: Vishti
- Yogas: Vyatipata, Vaidhriti
- Stars: your birth star, and the 5th star counted from it
- After nightfall: the flaw of Sunday, Tuesday, Saturday (p. 193)
- Only by day, to begin with: Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday are flawed in their day-time (p. 168)
- Only by day: Ekargala, a sun-and-moon pattern (p. 169)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Tuesday afternoon acceptable for a muhurtha?
Kalaprakasika says Tuesday's flaw does not hold after midday, and after nightfall (p. 193). The rest of the day still has to pass: the star, tithi, rising sign and the other checks. The book removes one flaw, not all of them.
When does midday begin?
The book does not define it. Local noon, halfway between sunrise and sunset, is one plain reading; an astrologer may use their own.
Does Vishti karana matter less in the evening?
The book says its adverse quality does not prevail after midday (p. 193). It also says benefic planets in the quadrants of the chart dispel the flaw of Vishti, and of the Rikta tithis.
Does the app's day score lift these flaws in the afternoon?
No. The score counts Vishti and the nine adverse yogas whenever they run, morning or evening. This page explains the book's lift; it is not part of the score.
Are there flaws that count only by day?
Yes. Ekargala counts only by day (p. 169), and so do the day-times of Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday (p. 168). Ekargala is explained in the lesser doshas article.
From the source
The book's list of adverse yogas, the app's list, and what this page leaves out.
📋 The nine yogas: the book's list is the app's list
Kalaprakasika names nine adverse nithya yogas on p. 168: Vyaghata, Parigha, Vajra, Vyatipata, Vaidhriti, Ganda, Atiganda, Shoola, Vishkambha. The day score marks the same nine as adverse. On the same page the book names Vishti and the four fixed karanas (Chatushpada, Naga, Kimstughna, Shakuni) as unsuited to good works; the score weighs Vishti and, more lightly, the four fixed karanas. Of the nine yogas, the book lifts only Vyatipata and Vaidhriti after midday.
🌇 Why a half-day flaw is a different idea
The rules of rahu kalam and yamagandam already fix a flaw to part of the day. These rules do the reverse: they take a flaw that belongs to the whole day (a weekday, or a karana or yoga that may run for hours) and say it stops at a point in the day. So the same Vishti can count in the morning and not in the afternoon. Other ways a flaw is set aside are collected in the parihara article.
✂️ What this page leaves out
On pp. 168–169 the book also names two star-quarter yogas that count only by day; their names and glosses are outcome words, so this page leaves them out. It also leaves out the book's gloss on what the fixed karanas suit.