How yoga is calculated

Add the Sun's longitude to the Moon's and divide the total into 27 arcs of 13 degrees 20 minutes. The arc is the yoga.

This is the least understood of the five limbs, and almost all of the confusion comes from the name. Yoga here does not mean an aspect, a relationship or a combination between the two bodies. It is arithmetic: add the longitudes, divide, read off the name.

The 27 run from Vishkambha to Vaidhriti, in a fixed order, and the arc size is the same 13 degrees 20 minutes used for nakshatra — which is why the two are often confused.

Why it moves faster than you expect

Because it is a sum, both bodies contribute. The Moon covers about 13 degrees a day and the Sun about one, so the sum advances around 14 degrees daily. A yoga therefore lasts a little under a day, slightly less than a nakshatra.

Doubly sensitive to ayanamsha

Tithi ignores the ayanamsha because it is a difference and the offset cancels. Yoga is a sum, so the offset does not cancel — it is applied twice. An ayanamsha discrepancy that shifts a nakshatra boundary by some amount will shift a yoga boundary by roughly double.

That is worth knowing before comparing yoga columns between two almanacs and concluding one of them is broken.

Where it is printed

The Pambu prints it. The tear-off daily calendars often leave it off the front, along with karana, because the sheet has no room. If your wall calendar does not show yoga, that is a layout decision and not a disagreement.