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Question – 87
What is meant by Kshaya tithi? How did it happen in the phase that followed Trayodasi Amavasya?
Answer:
The tithi at sunrise is counted as the tithi of the day. A ‘kshaya tithi’ is that which starts after the sunrise and ends before the next sunrise – by which that tithi is lost in counting. To give an example, suppose the tithi at sunrise is Dwitīya, then the tithi of the day is taken as Dwitīya only. Sometime after sunrise, Tritīya arrives but may end before the next sunrise when Caturthī has already started. By this the previous day had Dwitīya and the next day has Caturthī, and in between Tritīya is dropped from counting. Tritiya in this case is known as Kshaya tithi.
This phenomenon of kṣhaya tithi occurs due to variation in the speed of the moon. It would be faster at perihelion, by which a tithi (12 degree) gets ended between two sun rises. By this, three tithi-s are seen within two sunrises. Like the Kshaya māsa event, the Kshaya tithi would be followed or preceded by an extended tithi, known as Tri-dina sprukh that stretches beyond two sun rises. This occurs when the moon is at aphelion. Within a month the moon crosses both the perigee and apogee in its orbit around the earth by which the Kshaya tithi and Tri-dina sprukh occur in succession. At times Kshaya tithi is accompanied with Tithi-dvayam. But whenever a Kshaya tithi occurs, either a Tithi-dvayam or a Tri-dina sprukh is certain to occur a few days before or after the Kshaya tithi, in the same paksha (phase of the moon).
Particularly after Bodhayana Amavasya, which by itself is a case of early occurrence of a tithi, not matching with day and night, an extended tithi or Tithi-dvayam would occur within Pancami (the first 5 tithi-s). Strangely Vyasa was seeing only Kshaya tithi-s and no automatic adjustment by way of extended tithi-s. This means the moon was faster than normal.
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