The Vara in general is the solar principal of the day representing the vital energy of the day. Remember the day begins at sunrise. Each planet rules one weekday. Sun rules Sunday. Moon rules Monday. Mars rules Tuesday. Mercury rules Wednesday. Jupiter rules Thursday. Venus rules Friday. Saturn rules Saturday. It is best to perform actions on the day ruled by the planet that rules or is most like the action you are undertaking.
Also, it is good to bear in mind that Tuesday and Saturday are ruled by malefic planets and therefore are unfavorable for most good actions. Sun is also a malefic, but Sunday is better than Tuesday and Saturday. Thursday and Friday are ruled by benefic planets and therefore are favorable for most actions in general as well as having the specific actions they are best for. Monday and Wednesday are generally favorable days, but it is important to remember that Mercury becomes malefic when associating with malefic planets. In that case Wednesday would not be so favorable. The Moon is generally benefic when waxing and malefic when waning, but the Tithi will address whether or not a particular Monday is auspicious or not.
It is important to remember that the auspiciousness of activities on any particular day also depends on the position of the planet ruling the day, even if the planet is naturally benefic. For instance, Fridays while Venus is debilitated in Scorpio is not the optimal Friday for an auspicious action related to Venus. The Fridays while Venus is in Taurus, Libra or Pisces are the most favorable because those are the signs where Venus has dignity. However, it is often not realistic to postpone an event until the day ruler is in its own or exalted sign, but it should be easy enough with the faster moving planets to avoid the month when a planet is the sign of debilitation, or at least the week around its deep debilitation if one cannot wait for a month.
With the slower moving planets, we often don’t have a choice of the sign. Jupiter stays in a sign for one year and Saturn or two and half years. We can’t wait a whole year for Jupiter to get out of Capricorn or two and half years for Saturn to get out of Aries if we want to elect an event related to those planets. For elections on Thursdays and Saturdays during those years, we’d also want to avoid their deepest debilitation. The time period we avoid in this case will be about a month – more if it stations near deep debilitation.
Favorable & Unfavorable Actions for Each Vara
Sunday is favorable for rituals, meditation, and worship of the Divine Father. It is also a favorable day for honoring parents, authority, gurus and tradition. It is good for setting goals for the week and inner examination. Sunday is unfavorable for marriage, conception, business ventures, and outward expansion.
Monday is favorable for rituals of a devotional nature, contemplation, meditation, worship of the Divine Mother. It is good for affairs relating to the public, women, gaining popularity, and can bring business or financial gains through friends and social contact. It is also good for marriage, conception, and medical treatment.
Tuesday is more favorable in the afternoon than in the morning. It is good for releasing bottled up Mars energy through sports, physical activity, and competitive ventures – provided we are not being reckless. It is good for mechanical work, making repairs, research, math and science. It is good for the worship of the Rudra, Kali, or Durga. Tuesday is unfavorable for travel, legal affairs, and marriage.
Wednesday is favorable for all types of communications, educational activities, commerce, business and making money. It is good for making medications and healing practices, particularly those using herbs. It is good for meditation, psychology, healing the mind, and the worship of Vishnu. Mercury’s mutable nature makes it less favorable for initiating something lasting, but its capacity for discrimination is good for planning it.
Thursday is the most favorable day in general. It is the best day for initiating expansive and lasting ventures. It is favorable for study, meditation, religious rituals, ceremonies, and the worship of guru, tradition, or the Divine in general and Ganesha specifically. It is favorable for career advancement, financial gain, legal matters, healing practices, marriage, conception, and the affairs of children. It is good for social interaction, reconciliation, enjoyment and gift giving.
Friday is favorable for marriage, romance, enjoyment and entertainment. It is good for artistic ventures, business ventures, and the affairs of women. It is good for purchasing vehicles, clothing, decorations, gems, and precious items. It is good for devotional practices, occult study and worship of the blissful form of Divine Mother.
Saturday is favorable for self-discipline, yoga, fasting, ascetic practices, meditation, retreat, spending time alone, and the worship of Kali and the wrathful forms of Shiva. It is favorable for performing service and structuring our time wisely. It is unfavorable for business matters, social actions, marriage, conception, and health.