What is Pancha Pakshi Shastra?
Pancha Pakshi Shastra is a timing system from the Tamil Siddha tradition. Five birds — Vulture, Owl, Crow, Cock and Peacock — pass through five states over every day and night. Each person has a birth bird, and what that bird is doing at a given moment shows how favourable the moment is for beginning something.
The five activities
- Ruling: the bird at its strongest. The best time to start anything important.
- Eating: a strong state, good for gain and nourishing work.
- Walking: a middling state, fine for routine and travel.
- Sleeping: a weak state; avoid new beginnings.
- Dying: the weakest state; inauspicious for important work.
Yamas and sub-periods
The Pancha Pakshi day runs from sunrise to the next sunrise. Sunrise to sunset is divided into five day yamas, and sunset to the next sunrise into five night yamas. Within each yama the five birds take turns ruling a sub-period. The sub-periods are not equal: their length depends on the activity, on the paksha (Shukla or Krishna) and on whether it is day or night.
Ruling and dying bird of the day
Every day has a ruling bird and a dying bird. The ruling bird changes at sunset; the dying bird holds for the whole day. Both follow the weekday and the paksha.
How to read the tables
Pick your birth bird. For each sub-period, the relation (Self, Friend or Enemy), your bird's activity and the sub-period's activity combine into the effect and a rating from 1 to 10 — the higher the rating, the more favourable the window. Don't know your bird? Find it with the Pancha Pakshi Bird Calculator.
