What Is Nitya Yoga in Astrology? All 27 Explained
Quick answer
The 27 nitya yogas are constantly confused with the 27 nakshatras. They share only the number. A nakshatra is a fixed segment of sky holding the Moon alone; a nitya yoga is a band of the Sun and Moon's combined longitude and is not a place in the sky at all. Nine of the 27 are avoided for beginnings.
A nitya yoga is one of 27 equal divisions of the combined sidereal longitude of the Sun and Moon — add the two together and divide by 13°20′. It is the yoga limb of the panchanga, alongside the tithi, vara, nakshatra and karana. Every day has one, lasting roughly 21 to 25 hours. Nitya and nithya are the same word, transliterated two ways; both spellings appear throughout the literature.
They are not the nakshatras
The earlier version of this page said the 27 nitya yogas are “based on the 27 constellations that inhabit the ecliptic”. That is wrong, and it is the most common error on this subject, so it is worth stating flatly: the nitya yogas are not the nakshatras and have no correspondence to them.
- A nakshatra is a fixed 13°20′ segment of the ecliptic. Your birth nakshatra is wherever the Moon alone stood.
- A nitya yoga is a 13°20′ band of the sum of two longitudes. It is not a place in the sky at all; nothing sits in Shukla the way the Moon sits in Rohini.
Both come to 27 because both divide 360° by 13°20′. That shared arithmetic is the whole of the resemblance, and it is why the two get run together. Two people born on the same day can share a nitya yoga while their Moons sit in different nakshatras entirely.
The calculation, and the one it is confused with
Take the Sun’s sidereal longitude, add the Moon’s, and divide by 13°20′. The count of completed arcs tells you which yoga is running. If the total passes 360°, subtract 360° and continue.
Note that it is the sum. The difference between the Moon and the Sun gives the tithi, the lunar day. Sum and difference are separate limbs of the same almanac, and sources that describe the yoga as the “angular relationship” or “distance” between the two have described the tithi by mistake. Any panchanga for a date, time and place lists both, so there is no need to work either out by hand.
All twenty-seven
Spans are of the combined Sun–Moon longitude. Spellings vary by transliteration; common variants are given in brackets.
| # | Yoga | Combined longitude | Muhurta standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vishkambha (Vishkamba) | 0°00′ – 13°20′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 2 | Priti (Preeti, Preethi) | 13°20′ – 26°40′ | Favourable |
| 3 | Ayushman (Ayushmath) | 26°40′ – 40°00′ | Favourable |
| 4 | Saubhagya | 40°00′ – 53°20′ | Favourable |
| 5 | Shobhana (Sobhana) | 53°20′ – 66°40′ | Favourable |
| 6 | Atiganda | 66°40′ – 80°00′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 7 | Sukarma (Sukarman) | 80°00′ – 93°20′ | Favourable |
| 8 | Dhriti (Dhruti) | 93°20′ – 106°40′ | Favourable |
| 9 | Shula (Soola) | 106°40′ – 120°00′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 10 | Ganda | 120°00′ – 133°20′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 11 | Vriddhi (Vridhi) | 133°20′ – 146°40′ | Favourable |
| 12 | Dhruva | 146°40′ – 160°00′ | Favourable |
| 13 | Vyaghata (Vyaghat) | 160°00′ – 173°20′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 14 | Harshana (Harshan) | 173°20′ – 186°40′ | Favourable |
| 15 | Vajra | 186°40′ – 200°00′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 16 | Siddhi | 200°00′ – 213°20′ | Favourable |
| 17 | Vyatipata (Vyatipat) | 213°20′ – 226°40′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 18 | Variyan (Variyana) | 226°40′ – 240°00′ | Favourable |
| 19 | Parigha | 240°00′ – 253°20′ | Avoid for beginnings |
| 20 | Shiva | 253°20′ – 266°40′ | Favourable |
| 21 | Siddha | 266°40′ – 280°00′ | Favourable |
| 22 | Sadhya | 280°00′ – 293°20′ | Favourable |
| 23 | Shubha (Subha) | 293°20′ – 306°40′ | Favourable |
| 24 | Shukla | 306°40′ – 320°00′ | Favourable |
| 25 | Brahma | 320°00′ – 333°20′ | Favourable |
| 26 | Indra | 333°20′ – 346°40′ | Favourable |
| 27 | Vaidhriti (Vaidhrita, Vaidhruti) | 346°40′ – 360°00′ | Avoid for beginnings |
Which ones are avoided, and for what
Nine are treated as unfavourable in muhurta: Vishkambha, Atiganda, Shula, Ganda, Vyaghata, Vajra, Vyatipata, Parigha, Vaidhriti. Vyatipata and Vaidhriti are the two taken most seriously; the other seven are ordinary avoidances. The previous version of this page listed only six and left out Vajra, Parigha and Vaidhriti — including the one that is usually considered the worst of them.
What “unfavourable” means here is narrow and specific. These are judgements about electing a time to begin something — a marriage, a housewarming, a journey, a contract. They do not suspend ordinary life, they say nothing about work already underway, and for reflective or corrective activity an “inauspicious” yoga and the purpose may point the same way. A practitioner weighs the yoga together with the tithi, nakshatra, karana and weekday, never on its own.
Read natally, with one large caveat
The birth-yoga literature does read the nitya yoga of the day you were born, and attributes a temperament to each. Those readings are part of the tradition and worth knowing.
But a nitya yoga lasts about a day, which means everyone born anywhere on earth in that window shares yours — roughly one person in twenty-seven. It cannot carry a personality on its own, and a source that builds a full character portrait out of it is claiming more than the technique supports. It is a tint on the day. Read it after the lagna, the Moon’s nakshatra and the actual condition of the planets.
The same caution applies to the previous version of this page in a second way. It said those born under Vishkambha “possess predictive or prognosticating abilities”, and then listed Vishkambha among the yogas that bring “difficulties and setbacks”. Both claims cannot stand, and the contradiction is a good illustration of what happens when trait lists are assembled without checking them against each other.
A note on names
Several nitya yogas share a name with an unrelated chart yoga, which is a real source of confusion. Saubhagya is the fourth nitya yoga, but “Saubhagya Yoga” is also used for a wealth combination formed from the ninth, second and eleventh lords. Indra is the twenty-sixth, and “Indra Yoga” is separately used for a fame-and-success combination in the birth chart. When a source discusses a yoga “in the birth chart” and never mentions the Sun and Moon together, it is almost certainly describing a chart yoga rather than a panchanga one. More definitions are collected in the astrology guides.
Common questions
How do I find my nitya yoga?
Look up a panchanga for your date, time and place of birth and read the yoga entry. Every full panchanga lists it. Do not use your nakshatra to work it out — they are unrelated measures.
Is a nitya yoga the same as a birth-chart yoga?
No. Chart yogas — Raja, Dhana, Pancha Mahapurusha and the rest — are formed by planets occupying particular houses and signs in your chart. Nitya yogas are divisions of the calendar. They belong to different parts of Jyotish and answer different questions.
What happens if I was born under an inauspicious nitya yoga?
By itself, nothing that can be read with confidence. The nine unfavourable yogas are avoidances for starting things, drawn from muhurta. Transferring that to a birth and reading it as a life sentence is a category error, and one that gets sold hard.
How long does a nitya yoga last?
Between about 21 and 25 hours. The Sun moves roughly 1° a day and the Moon roughly 13°, so their sum advances about 14° a day — a little more than one 13°20′ arc. The Moon’s speed is not constant, which is why the duration varies.
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Dreams are not medical, legal, or financial advice. The Dream Symbolist offers symbolic interpretation to support reflection, not diagnosis.