The Extraction of Determinations for Lunar Days

...after sunrise, the duration of the moon-phase day term: parva; referring to the New or Full Moon is calculated in hours Sanskrit: ghatikā; a traditional unit of time equal to 24 minutes. These hours are combined and divided into two: one half is assigned to the previous day and the other half to the following day. This is the established tradition for understanding the ritual timing. One should combine the duration of the first day of the fortnight Sanskrit: pratipadā and add half of it to the moon-phase. If the duration is shorter, that shorter portion is applied. This is the method for deciding the junction of time Sanskrit: sandhi-nirṇaya.

According to the followers of the Taittiriya school A prominent branch of the Black Yajurveda, the sacrifice Sanskrit: yāga must be performed upon the sighting of the moon. For those who do not maintain the three perpetual sacred Vedic fires Sanskrit: niragnika, the domestic cooked offering Sanskrit: smārta-sthālīpāka is performed. However, the Pinda-pitri-yajna A ritual offering of ancestral rice balls (pindas) to deceased paternal ancestors for the followers of the Katyayana school is performed during the first watch Sanskrit: yāma; a period of three hours of the day. For the followers of the Ashvalayana school, it is performed during the remainder of the moon-phase on a "divided" lunar day Sanskrit: khaṇḍa-tithi; a day where a lunar phase begins and ends such that it splits across two solar days on the favorable preceding day.

The ritual of adding fuel to the sacred fire Sanskrit: anvādhāna is then performed. After conducting a simple ancestral rite Sanskrit: śrāddha, one should prepare the sacrificial cooking on the following day at the end of the moon-phase reading uncertain?. The Pinda-pitri-yajna should be performed in the afternoon Sanskrit: aparāhṇa. This concludes the instruction on this matter.

Thus ends the determination regarding the New Moon Sanskrit: amāvasyā. Now, regarding the decision on eclipses: In the case of a solar eclipse Sanskrit: sūrya-grahaṇa, one should not eat for four watches twelve hours preceding the watch in which the eclipse occurs. For a lunar eclipse Sanskrit: candra-grahaṇa, the fasting period is three watches nine hours. However, for children, the elderly, and the sick, fasting is only forbidden for a single watch three hours before the eclipse begins.

If the eclipse occurs at sunrise, one should not eat during the day. This is the opinion of Madhava. Regarding an eclipse where the celestial body sets while still eclipsed grastasta Sanskrit: grastāsta; describing a celestial body that sets before the eclipse has finished, or is seen released...