The Muhūrtas are traditionally calculated[citation needed] by assuming sunrise at 06:00 am on the vernal equinox, which is the Vedic New Year.
Yet it is clear that one or more prominent features of the correlate constellations, from which the later Muhūrtas draw their respective names, falls within the celestial longitude of the same, drawn from the polar axis.
Vijay Shrikrishna Jakatdar points to two specific Ṛg Veda passages that employ the term, III.33.5, and III.53.8:[10] रमध्वं मे वचसे सोम्याय रतावरीरुप मुहूर्तमेवैः पर सिन्धुमछा बर्हती मनीषावस्युरह्वे कुशिकस्य सूनुः Linger a little at my friendly bidding rest, Holy Ones, a moment in your journey.
[11] and रूपं-रूपं मघवा बोभवीति मायाः कर्ण्वानस्तन्वं परि सवाम तरिर्यद दिवः परि मुहूर्तमागात सवैर्मन्त्रैरन्र्तुपा रतावा Maghavan weareth every shape at pleasure, effecting magic changes in his body, Holy One, drinker out of season, coming thrice, in a moment, through fit prayers, from heaven.
It is a common practice in Hinduism to perform or avoid activities like important religious ceremonies on the basis of the quality of a particular Muhūrta.
Jakatdar suggests a shift in the contemporary temperament regarding the traditional approach to calculating such events, to accommodate the ever increasing complexity of modern life.
[13] There is also the case of samayik, which is part of the initiation rite for the Svetambar mendicants or those who pursue a perpetual state of heightened meditative awareness.