What is Paksha?
A paksha is a lunar fortnight of about 15 days. Each lunar month has two: the waxing Shukla Paksha and the waning Krishna Paksha.
Paksha explained
The moon's cycle is divided into two halves, each called a paksha (literally "wing" or "side"). Each paksha spans 15 tithis and lasts roughly 15 days.
Shukla Paksha is the bright, waxing half β from the new moon to the full moon, as the moon grows. Krishna Paksha is the dark, waning half β from the full moon to the new moon, as the moon diminishes.
The two pakshas give the lunar month its rhythm of growth and release, light and dark β a cycle the calendar repeats twelve times a year.
Spiritual significance
The two pakshas mirror an inner rhythm: the waxing half favours growth, new ventures and outward action, while the waning half favours release, introspection and inner work. The Gita itself speaks of a "bright path" and a "dark path" of the soul.
Why it matters in daily life
Knowing the paksha tells you the moon's phase at a glance and helps place festivals: most celebratory festivals fall in Shukla Paksha, while many fasts and ancestral observances fall in Krishna Paksha.
The Bhagavad Gita connection
In Chapter 8, Krishna describes the bright and dark fortnights as symbols of two cosmic paths the soul may travel β making the paksha not just a lunar fact but a spiritual map.
βThe bright and the dark paths of the world are considered eternal; by one a soul departs not to return, by the other one returns again.β
Related festivals & observances
See Paksha in today's Panchang
Now that you understand it, see it live in today's Panchang for your city β and ask Krishna what today is inviting you toward.