Kala bala scores a planet by the time of birth. Night planets gain towards midnight, day planets towards noon. Benefics gain as the Moon waxes, malefics as it wanes. Each third of the day and night favours one planet. The lords of the year, month, weekday and hora get 15, 30, 45 and 60 virupas. Ayana bala follows the planet's declination, and a planet that wins a planetary war takes strength from the loser.
☕ The clock and the calendar
Nathonnata bala looks at how far birth is from midnight (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, vv. 8–9, p. 268). The Moon, Mars and Saturn are full at midnight and empty at noon; the Sun, Jupiter and Venus the reverse. Mercury always gets the full 60.
Tribhaga bala splits the day and the night into three parts each and gives 60 virupas to the lord of the part (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, v. 12, pp. 269–270); Jupiter gets 60 at any hour. The six parts are in the card “Thirds of the day and night” below. Paksha bala, from the Moon's phase, has its own page.
Four lords get a fixed share (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, v. 13, p. 270): the lords of the year, the month, the weekday and the hora of birth, with each share in “The four lords' shares” further down. The book's note counts the 24 horas as hours of the clock from sunrise. This hora is not the panchang's horai, which divides the daytime and the night into twelve parts each.
Ayana bala grows with the planet's declination, north for some planets and south for others (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, vv. 15–17, p. 277). The Sun's is doubled: his motional strength (cheshta bala) is the same figure, so it counts twice in his total (Sripati Paddhati (tr. V. Subrahmanya Sastri), ch. III, vv. 16½–20, pp. 48–52). When two of the planets from Mars to Saturn are at war, the winner adds the difference of their totals and the loser loses it (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra (Santhanam–Kapoor ed.), ch. 27, v. 20, p. 284).
The verse works ayana bala through a table of steps that cannot be fully recovered; the translator's note gives a form by declination. What Nava follows: the note's declination form for ayana bala, and the note's clock hours from sunrise for the hora lord.
Which planet each part of the day favours
- Day, first ⅓ → Mercury
- Day, second ⅓ → Sun
- Day, last ⅓ → Saturn
- Night, first ⅓ → Moon
- Night, second ⅓ → Venus
- Night, last ⅓ → Mars
- Mix-up: the hora lord here is the panchang's horai. The panchang's horai splits daytime and night into twelfths; this one counts hours of the clock from sunrise.
- Mix-up: every planet gets something from the four lords. Only a planet that is one of those lords gains its share; a planet that is lord of two, say the month and the weekday, gains both.
- Mix-up: planetary war is part of every chart's time strength. It applies only when two of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn are at war.
Frequently asked questions
Where is kala bala in Nava?
It is the Time column of the shadbala table on the horoscope page, in rupas.
Why is the Sun's ayana bala doubled?
The verse says so, and Sripati's worked tables show the doubling is his motional strength (cheshta bala) taking the same figure, not a second doubling inside it. The Moon's paksha bala is doubled the same way.
Which planets are strong at night?
The Moon, Mars and Saturn. The Sun, Jupiter and Venus are strong by day, and Mercury at both.
Deep dive: the lords' shares, the Moon's phase and what this builds on
The table “The four lords' shares”, then the Moon's phase, and what this builds on.
👑 The four lords' shares
| Lord | Share |
|---|---|
| Lord of the year | 15 virupas |
| Lord of the month | 30 virupas |
| Lord of the weekday | 45 virupas |
| Lord of the hora | 60 virupas |
🌓 Paksha bala
The Moon's distance from the Sun sets a share for every planet, and the Moon's own share counts twice, once more as her motional strength (cheshta bala). The table and the bands are on the Moon’s strength (paksha bala).
🧭 What this builds on
This is the time part of shadbala. The panchang's horai is a different measure.