Kalpa (time unit)
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A kalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning an aeon, or a long period of time in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.
[edit] Hinduism
In Hinduism, it is equal to 4,320 million years, a "day of Brahma" or one thousand Yugas, measuring the duration of the world; a "month of Brahma" is supposed to contain thirty such Kalpas, or 129.6 billion years. According to the Mahabharata, 12 months of Brahma constitute his year, and 100 such years the life cycle of the universe. Fifty years of Brahma's are supposed to have elapsed, and we are now in the shvetavaraha-kalpa of the fifty-first; at the end of a Kalpa the world is annihilated. Each kalpa is further divided into 14 manvantara (each lasting 306,720,000 years).
[edit] Buddhism
In Buddhism, there are four different lengths of kalpas. A regular kalpa is approximately 16 million years long, and a small kalpa is 1000 regular kalpas, or 16 billion years. Further, a medium kalpa is 320 billion years, the equivalent of 20 small kalpas. A great kalpa is 4 medium kalpas, or 1.28 trillion years. [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Epstein, Ronald (2003). Buddhism A to Z. Burlingame, California, United States.: The Buddhist Text Translation Society. ISBN 0-88139-353-3.
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