How Jyotish measures time
Jyotish counts the day in its own units. A ghaṭī is one sixtieth of a day and night, 24 minutes. A pala is one sixtieth of a ghaṭī, 24 seconds, and a vipala one sixtieth of a pala. Under them all is the prāṇa, one breath of about 4 seconds: six breaths make a pala, so a day and night holds 21,600 breaths.
| Unit | Metric system | Divisions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day and night अहोरात्र | 24 hours | 60 ghaṭī |
| 1 muhūrta मुहूर्त | 48 minutes | 2 ghaṭī |
| 1 ghaṭī घटी | 24 minutes | 60 pala |
| 1 pala पल | 24 seconds | 60 vipala = 6 prāṇa |
| 1 prāṇa, one breath प्राण | 4 seconds | 10 vipala |
| 1 vipala विपल | 0.4 seconds | — |
Five clocks, one start
The lagna is the degree of the zodiac rising in the east. The classical texts add four more that are not seen in the sky but counted. At sunrise all five stand on the Sun's degree. Then each moves at its own fixed pace, one rashi for every so much of Jyotish time: five ghaṭī, one horā, one ghaṭī, fifteen pala.
Drag the ruler, or press play. The gold hand is the real lagna, the sky. The other four are counted, and each row shows the count.
Where each one stands
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The green bands are the moments the shastra allows for a human birth: prāṇapada standing trine to the lagna. The gold marks are a finer D9-Moon window inside them. Model: 21 March 2026, longitude 75.78° E, latitude on the slider; all four counted hands start from the Sun.