The same action begun at two different moments meets two different skies. A short introduction to electional astrology.
In Jyotish, timing is not superstition; it is the applied half of the discipline. Natal astrology reads the moment you were born. Muhurta chooses the moment for everything after.
The elements of a muhurta
A good muhurta balances five components of the panchanga — the tithi, the vara (weekday), the nakshatra, the yoga and the karana — and then checks the resulting chart for the lagna's strength and the placement of the Moon.
Different undertakings ask for different qualities. A marriage wants a fixed nakshatra and a strong seventh house. A business launch wants a movable or dual nakshatra, a strong tenth, and Mercury unafflicted. Griha pravesham wants the Moon in an auspicious position from the natal Moon of the head of the household.
What to avoid
Rahu kalam and yamagandam each day; the eighth house from the lagna occupied by malefics; a debilitated Moon; the ashtama chandra for the person concerned; and the days of a solar or lunar eclipse for any new beginning.
Where muhurta is worth the trouble
Marriage, the first entry into a house, the start of a business, a surgical procedure that can be scheduled, the beginning of a course of study, and the first wearing of a gemstone. For daily activity, keeping clear of rahu kalam is sufficient.
And where it is not
No muhurta will carry a decision that was wrong to begin with. It gives a favourable sky to a sound intention — that is the whole of its claim, and it is claim enough.