Muhurta for Starting a Business

The opening of a business — vyavasaya arambha — is regarded in muhurta as the birth of an enterprise: the chart of the moment shows what it will live on and what it will meet. For that reason one looks here not so much at the ritual purity of the day as at the strength of the houses of income and activity.

This distinguishes the branch from wedding or ritual muhurta, where a large part of the rules are prohibitions. Here there are few prohibitions but more demands on the chart itself: the business must have strong indicators of income, work and clients, or a flawless panchanga gives nothing.

What is examined in the chart of the moment

The key houses are the tenth (the business and its standing), the eleventh (income), the second (savings and working capital) and the seventh (partners and customers). The lords of these houses should be strong and unafflicted, and the lagna should stand in a sign matching the character of the business: fixed signs for manufacture and trade in property, movable ones for brokerage, transport and everything quick, dual ones for consulting, teaching and work with information.

Mercury answers for calculation, documents and negotiation, Jupiter for growth and reputation, Venus for customers and presentation. A strong Mercury aspected by Jupiter in the chart of an opening is a combination that the classical handbooks of muhurta call one of the best for a trading business.

Beside these one reads what is usually avoided. The sixth house in business means not only debts and expenses but competitors and hired staff, so its lord should be weaker than the lord of the lagna: a strong sixth house with a weak lagna is associated with a business that works for its creditors and employees. The eighth house of the moment is left empty — it answers for the lifespan of the enterprise and for other people's money — and the twelfth is read as overheads.

The lagna and the character of the business

Choosing the lagna is the most substantial part of this muhurta. The sign rising at the moment of opening sets the manner in which the business will live. Fixed signs — Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius — give a slow start and a long run: they suit manufacture, letting, anything meant to last years. Movable signs — Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn — give a quick start, frequent change and dependence on outside circumstances: they suit trade, transport, brokerage. Dual signs — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces — give flexibility and multiplicity: they suit consulting, teaching, several lines of work at once.

The lord of the lagna must be unafflicted and not placed in the sixth, eighth or twelfth house. Benefics are set in the kendras and trikonas — the first, fourth, fifth, ninth and tenth houses — and malefics moved into the third, sixth and eleventh, where they work for the business rather than against it.

Auspicious guidelines

Nakshatras: Ashwini, Rohini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Pushya, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Anuradha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati. Tithis: 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13. Weekdays: Wednesday and Thursday first of all, then Monday and Friday. A waxing Moon is preferable to a waning one.

For a business meant to last, the stable nakshatras from that list are preferred — Rohini, Uttara Phalguni, Uttara Ashadha, Uttara Bhadrapada; for trade and quick turnover the swift ones — Ashwini, Pushya, Hasta. Pushya counts as the best nakshatra for acquisitions and beginnings in general, and its combination with Thursday (guru pushya) is still taken in practice for launching a trading venture.

The rikta tithis — the 4th, 9th and 14th lunar days — are excluded, as are ashtami and chaturdashi. Of the yogas, Vyatipata, Vaidhriti, Parigha, Vyaghata, Shula, Ganda, Atiganda and Vajra are not used. Rahu kala, yamaganda and gulika kala are reckoned from local sunrise for the city where the business opens.

Matching the owner's chart

Chandra bala is checked: the transiting Moon must not stand in the fourth, eighth or twelfth house from the owner's natal Moon. Tara bala is checked: the nakshatra of the day must not fall into janma, vipat, pratyari or vadha. If several partners open the business, the check is made for each, and where they disagree preference goes to the one who invests most and answers for the venture.

The periods are examined separately. A business begun in a dasha or antardasha of planets connected with the tenth and eleventh houses of the natal chart runs noticeably more smoothly; one begun in a heavy period of the lord of the sixth or eighth house takes more effort for the same result. Both calculations rest on the natal Moon and need a correct birth time: if it is approximate, it makes sense to go through rectification first.

What is avoided

A retrograde or combust Mercury, the karana vishti, amavasya, eclipses, gandanta, rahu kala, an eighth house of the moment occupied by malefics. A business is not opened when the Moon passes the eighth or twelfth from the owner's natal Moon.

The waning Moon of the last quarter is not used — that phase is left for closing debts and finishing matters. Days when the lord of the lagna is combust or retrograde are not taken: in muhurta this is associated with a business that cannot get on its feet for a long time and keeps returning to the beginning.

Alone or with partners

The seventh house of the chart of the moment is read differently depending on how the business is arranged. For retail and services it means customers, and a strong seventh house is a good thing: there will be plenty of them. For a business with co-owners it means the partners, and here the balance matters more: if the seventh house and its lord are noticeably stronger than the lagna, the weight in the enterprise shifts over time towards the partner. For an equal partnership one looks for a moment where the lagna and the seventh house are comparable.

If there are several partners and only one date, it is sensible to check the chandra bala of each and choose a day acceptable to all rather than one ideal for a single person and forbidden for the rest.

What counts as the beginning

Registration, the first contract, the first sale and the opening of premises are different events, and they all happen on different days. The beginning is usually taken to be the first act that brings income: the first deal or the first sale. If registration is appointed by a state body, the muhurta is applied to the first deal and not to the date in the register.

This rule works nearly always: the date in the register is not chosen by the entrepreneur, but the first sale is. If premises are opening, the moment is taken to be the first customer served, not the cutting of a ribbon.

The order of work

• decide which act counts as the beginning of the business and choose the date for that;
• establish the character of the business and the suitable type of lagna;
• discard vishti, amavasya, eclipses, gandanta, rikta tithis, spoiled yogas and days of retrograde Mercury;
• check the remaining days against the owner's chandra bala and tara bala;
• within the day find a stretch with a strong lagna, strong tenth and eleventh houses and a weak lord of the sixth, outside rahu kala.

What muhurta does not do

It does not replace the idea, the arithmetic and the demand. A business with weak economics is saved by no date, and a good idea does not perish because of an unlucky day. The sensible measure is this: if the decision has been taken and the preparation done, choosing the day adds a little following wind; if the decision is doubtful, the date decides nothing.

The general rules of date selection are set out in the date selection section, the calendar indicators in the calendar, and the nearest related cases in the texts on launching a project and signing a contract.