Panchang in Sevan, Gegharkunik, Armenia Tue 21 Aug 1973

Krishna’s birth is celebrated at nishitha, the midnight muhurta. Ashtami runs from 03:16 on Tue 21 Aug to 01:23 on Wed 22 Aug, so it touches only Tuesday night’s nishitha (00:42 Wed–01:24 Wed). Every reading takes that day.

Janmashtami: every date in Sevan

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 264°–276° is the 23rd, Krishna Ashtami. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 06:16 here. Saptami ended at 03:16, before it. Ashtami ends at 01:23 Wed, when the lead reaches 276°. The lead passed 180° at the full moon of 14 Aug, so the Moon is waning: Krishna paksha.

The night of Mon 20 Aug ran from sunset 19:51 Mon to sunrise 06:16, 10 h 25 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 41 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 06:16 to 19:49, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 41 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 19:49 to 06:17 Wed, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 18 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The fixed stars divide the Moon's path into 27 nakshatras of 13°20′, each in 4 padas of 3°20′. Krittika spans 26°40′–40°00′; the Moon entered its pada 2 at 30°. It leaves at 23:24, for Rohini.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 124.4° + 30° = 154.4°. The sum, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, gives the yoga: 146°40′–160°00′ is the 12th, Dhruva. It ends at 15:16, then Vyaghata.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Ashtami is Balava and the second Kaulava. Balava runs until 14:22, when the lead reaches 270°; Kaulava until 01:23 Wed.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 06:16 to 06:17 Wed, so the hours after midnight still belong to Mangalawara.

An amanta month runs from new moon to new moon and takes its name from the rashi the Sun is in at the new moon that begins it: Karka gives Shravana. The Sun enters Simha on 16 Aug, inside the month. The next new moon, 28 Aug, finds it in Simha and begins Bhadrapada.

A purnimanta month runs from full moon to full moon, so its waning half comes first. It shares its name with the amanta month that its second half falls in: the new moon of 28 Aug, with the Sun in Simha, begins Bhadrapada. Until then this Krishna paksha reads Bhadrapada here, and Shravana in the amanta count.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 3 Apr 1973, 15:45 Tue. Since then the Sun has moved 134.3° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2030; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1895.