Daśamīदशमी(Dashami)
The tenth tithi; devatā Yama (Dharma), Pūrṇā-class, classical register of righteous action and Vijayā-daśamī victory.
Daśamī
Daśamī (दशमी, also written Dashami) is the tenth of the thirty tithis, occurring in both Śukla-pakṣa and Kṛṣṇa-pakṣa. Its presiding devatā is Yama — the same deity who presides over the nakshatra Bharaṇī — addressed here in his Dharma-rāja register as the upholder of cosmic order and the witness to right action. In the five-class auspiciousness scheme of the Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi, Daśamī belongs to the Pūrṇā class (tithis 5, 10, 15) — the full, complete register, among the classically most favourable tithis.
Classical grounding
Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi and the Nirṇaya Sindhu identify Yama as Daśamī's devatā, addressed in the tithi context under the name Dharma or Dharma-rāja — the aspect of Yama concerned with the upholding of right order rather than with the deity's death-register function that figures more directly on Bharaṇī. The Vijaya Daśamī observance on Āśvina-Śukla-Daśamī is the major annual festival — the day that closes the Śāradīya Navarātri cycle with classical narratives of Rāma's victory over Rāvaṇa and Durgā's victory over Mahiṣāsura. The Pūrṇā auspiciousness classification places Daśamī among the six most favourable tithis for completion and consummation work.
Significations
What Daśamī classically governs:
- Vijaya Daśamī (Daśaharā) — the annual victory festival that closes Śāradīya Navarātri, classically celebrated for both Rāma's and Durgā's victories
- Formal victory and confirmed success — Daśamī's classical register is the victory that has already been won rather than the contested pursuit of Jayā-class tithis
- Completion-oriented undertakings — the tithi favours the finishing of what was begun rather than the initiation of the new
- Ritual observances for Yama in his Dharma-rāja register, where questions of right order and dharmic accounting are at stake
- Educational milestones — Vidyārambha rituals for beginning formal study are classically observed on Vijaya Daśamī
- Classical muhūrta names Daśamī favourable for most auspicious undertakings — travel, marriage ceremonies, contract signing, first offerings
Pakṣa-level reading
In Śukla-pakṣa, Daśamī carries the waxing register and the major Vijaya Daśamī observance (Āśvina-Śukla). The Śukla-Daśamī half- tithis carry the movable karaṇas Taitila and Gara, both generally favourable. In Kṛṣṇa-pakṣa, Daśamī carries the waning register — still Pūrṇā-class and favourable, but oriented toward the completion of prior undertakings rather than toward the celebration of confirmed victory. The Kṛṣṇa-Daśamī half-tithis carry Vaṇij and Viṣṭi — and Viṣṭi (the Bhadrā karaṇa, distinct from the Bhadrā-class tithi naming) in the second half introduces muhūrta caution for that half-window despite the tithi's overall favourable class.
Muhūrta-relevance
Daśamī is classically among the most favourable tithis for auspicious undertakings. The tithi's association with confirmed victory and with the upholding of dharmic order makes it particularly suited for investitures, formal recognitions, and ceremonial closings of long-duration work. The Kṛṣṇa-Daśamī Viṣṭi karaṇa in the second half reduces the favourable muhūrta window for general auspicious work. Vijaya Daśamī specifically is named in classical muhūrta as one of the three sārva-siddhi ("universally effective") days of the lunar year — a day when the classical avoidances that apply on ordinary tithis are suspended.