What does yoga mean in a panchang?
Calendar yoga comes from adding the Sun's and Moon's positions. Here, yoga is a panchang measure rather than exercise or a birth-chart combination.
STEP 1
Add the two positions
Use the Sun's and Moon's sidereal, or nirayana, longitudes from the same table for the same moment. Add them together. If the total is 360° or more, subtract 360°; exactly 360° becomes 0°. Both positions must use the same zodiac convention.
STEP 2
Divide into 27 parts
Each part spans 13°20′, or 800 arcminutes. These minutes measure angles, not clock time. Converting the total to arcminutes lets you divide by 800 without rounding 13°20′ to a decimal. There are 27 parts in the full circle.
STEP 3
Work an example
Sun at 100° plus Moon at 150° gives 250°, or 15,000′. Dividing by 800 gives 18 complete parts and a remainder of 600′. The current yoga is therefore number 19. Exactly 240° starts that same interval; exactly 360° starts number 1 again.
STEP 4
Use the panchang entry
Look up the interval's name in the panchang's yoga list, then check its stated ending time and time zone. The angular remainder tells you progress through the interval; it is not a number of minutes left on the clock.