Yoga (in the panchang)
In the panchang, a yoga is one of 27 periods set by the combined sidereal longitudes of the Sun and Moon. Each lasts roughly a day, and nine, including Vyatipata and Vaidhriti, are avoided for new beginnings.
Also known as: Nitya yoga, Yogam, Panchang yoga
Add the Sun’s sidereal longitude to the Moon’s and divide the total into 27 slices of 13°20′. Each slice is a yoga, named in order from Vishkambha to Vaidhriti. Because both bodies keep moving, the sum advances about 14° a day, so a yoga lasts roughly 20 to 25 hours and often changes during the day.
Most yogas are favourable, with names like Priti (affection), Saubhagya (good fortune) and Siddhi (success). Nine are traditionally avoided for auspicious starts: Vishkambha, Atiganda, Shula, Ganda, Vyaghata, Vajra, Vyatipata, Parigha and Vaidhriti. Classical texts treat only the opening portion of some of these as harmful, but Vyatipata and Vaidhriti are avoided whole. Our Muhurat finder follows that rule for most activities and leaves out all nine in full for weddings.
This yoga has nothing to do with yoga practice, or with the planetary yogas of a birth chart such as Gajakesari or Raj yoga. It is simply a daily timing element, the fourth limb of the panchang.