Hindu units of time

The Hindu religious scriptures such as the Vedas and Puraṇas describe a massive range of units of Kala measurements, spanning right from Paramaṇu (time length of about 17 microseconds) to the Maha-Manvantara (311.04 trillion years). According to these texts, the creation and destruction of the universe is a cyclic process, which repeats itself forever. Each cycle starts with the birth and expansion (lifetime) of the universe equaling 311.04 trillion years, followed by its complete annihilation (which also prevails for the same duration).The current Universe was created in Padma kalpa, the last day Kalpa of 50 th year of Bramha.This is 10.51 billion years ago. This figure is close to the modern estimated age of the universe in ≈ 13.79 billion years.

Ancient Hindu units of measurement are still prevalent among the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist communities. They are used as a base for doing certain type of astrological calculations, performing religious rituals, etc.

Time units

Hindu measurements in logarithmic scale (approx.).

Various units of time are used across the Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata, Suryasidhanta etc. Especially, Nimesha's multiple, it varies to 3, 10, 15, 18, 20, 27, 30, 45, 48, 60. At the lower end, these are pretty consistent. The Complete Hindu metrics of time (Kāla Vyavahāra) can be summarized as below.

Sidereal metrics

Unit Definition Equivalence (Approx.)
Truti त्रुटि 0.031 µs
Renu रेणु 60 Truti 1.86 µs
Lava लव 60 Renu 0.11 ms
Līkṣaka लीक्षक 60 Lava 6.696 ms
Lipta लिप्ता 60 Leekshaka 0.401 s
Vipala विपल
Pala पल 60 Lipta 24.1056 s
Vighaṭi विघटि
Vinādī विनाडी
Ghaṭi घटि 60 Vighaṭi 24 min
Nādī नाडी
Danda दण्ड
Muhūrta मुहूर्त 2 Ghaṭi 48 min
Nakṣatra Ahorātram (Sidereal Day) नक्षत्र अहोरात्रम् 60 Ghaṭī 24 h
30 Muhūrta 24 h
Alternate system
Unit Definition Equivalence (Approx.)
Truti 35.5 µs
Tatpara 100 Truti 3.55 ms
Nimesha 30 Tatpara 106.7 ms
Kāṣṭhā 30 Nimesha 3.2 s
Kalā 30 Kāṣṭhā 1.6 min
Muhūrta 30 Kalā 48 min
Nakṣatra Ahorātram (Sidereal Day) 30 Muhūrta 24 h

Small units of time used in the Vedas

Unit Definition Equivalence (Approx.)
Paramāṇu 26.3 µs
Aṇu 2 Paramāṇu 57.7 µs
Trasareṇu 3 Aṇu 158 µs
Truṭi 3 Trasareṇu 474 µs
Vedha 100 Truṭi 47.4 ms
Lava 3 Vedha 0.14 s
Nimeṣa 3 Lava 0.43 s
Kṣaṇa 3 Nimesha 1.28 s
Kāṣṭhā 5 Kṣaṇa 6.4 s
Laghu 15 Kāṣṭhā 1.6 min
Danda 15 Laghu 24 min
Muhūrta 2 Danda 48 min
Ahorātram (Day) 30 Muhūrta 24 h
Masa (Month) 30 Ahorātram 30 days
Ritu (Season) 2 Masa 2 months
Ayana 3 Rutu 6 months
Samvatsara (Year) 2 Ayana 360 days
Ahorātram of Deva

Lunar metrics

Tropical metrics

Name Definition Equivalence
Yama याम ¼ th of a day (light) or night 3 hours
Sāvana Ahorātram सावन अहोरात्रम् 8 Yamas 1 Solar day

Reckoning of time among other entities

Among the Pitṛs (forefather)

Among the Devas

The life span of any Hindu deva spans nearly (or more than) 4.5 million years. Statistically, we can also look it as:

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa Time measurement section of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa Book I Chapter III explains the above as follows:

For Brahma

(2 Kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion human years)

One day of Brahma is divided into 10,000 parts called charaṇas. The charaṇas are divided as follows:

The Four Yugas
4 charaṇas (1,728,000 solar years) Satya Yuga
3 charaṇas (1,296,000 solar years) Treta Yuga
2 charaṇas (864,000 solar years) Dvapara Yuga
1 charaṇas (432,000 solar years) Kali Yuga
Source:

The cycle repeats itself, so altogether there are 1,000 cycles of Mahā-Yuga in one day of Brahma.

  • One cycle of the above four Yugas is one Mahā-Yuga (4.32 million solar years)
  • as is confirmed by the Gītā Śloka 8.17 (statement) "sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te 'ho-rātra-vido janāḥ", meaning, a day of brahma is of 1000 Mahā-Yuga. Thus a day of Brahma, Kalpa, is of duration: 4.32 billion solar years. Two Kalpas constitute a day and night (Adhi Sandhi) of Brahma.
  • A Manvantara consists of 71 Mahā-Yuga (306,720,000 solar years). Each Manvantara is ruled by a Manu.
  • After each Manvantara follows one Saṃdhi Kāla of the same duration as a Kṛta Yuga (1,728,000 = 4 Charaṇas). (It is said that during a Saṃdhi Kāla, the entire earth is submerged in water.)
  • A Kalpa consists of a period of 4.32 Billion solar years followed by 14 Manvataras and Saṃdhi Kalas.
  • A day of Brahma equals
(14 times 71 Mahā-Yuga) + (15 × 4 Charaṇas)
= 994 Mahā-Yuga + (15 * 4800)
= 994 Mahā-Yuga + (72,000 years)[deva years] / 6 = 12,000[deva years] viz. one maha yuga.
= 994 Mahā-Yuga + 6 Mahā-Yuga
= 1,000 Mahā-Yuga

The Surya Siddhanta definition of timescales

The Surya Siddhanta [Chapter 14 Mānādhyāyah (मानाध्यायः)], documents a comprehensive model of nine divisions of time called māna (मान) which span from very small time units (Prāņa [प्राण] - 4 seconds) to very large time scales (Para [पर] - 311.04 Trillion solar years).

The current date

Currently, 50 years of Brahma have elapsed. The last Kalpa at the end of 50th year is called Padma Kalpa. The current universe was created in the beginning of Padma Kalpa, ie 10.51 billion years ago. This is the first 'day' of the 51st year.[4] This Brahma's day, Kalpa, is named as ShvetaVaraha Kalpa. Within this Day, six Manvantaras have already elapsed[5] and this is the seventh Manvantara, named as – Vaivasvatha Manvantara (or Sraddhadeva Manvantara). Within the Vaivasvatha Manvantara, 27 Mahayugas[5] (4 Yugas together is a Mahayuga), and the Krita,[6] Treta and Dwapara Yugas of the 28th Mahayuga have elapsed. This Kaliyuga is in the 28th Mahayuga. This Kaliyuga began in the year 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian Calendar.[7] Since 50 years of Brahma have already elapsed, this is the second Parardha, also called as Dvithiya Parardha.

The time elapsed since the current Brahma has taken over the task of creation can be calculated as

432000 × 10 × 1000 × 2 = 8.64 billion years (2 Kalpa (day and night) )
8.64 × 109 × 30 × 12 = 3.1104 Trillion Years (1 year of Brahma)
3.1104 × 1012 × 50 = 155.52 Trillion Years (50 years of Brahma)

(6 × 71 × 4320000 ) + 7 × 1.728 × 10^6 = 1852416000 years elapsed in first six Manvataras, and Sandhi Kalas in the current Kalpa

27 × 4320000 = 116640000 years elapsed in first 27 Mahayugas of the current Manvantara

1.728 × 10^6 + 1.296 × 10^6 + 864000 = 3888000 years elapsed in current Mahayuga

3102 + 2015 = 5117 years elapsed in current Kaliyuga.

So the total time elapsed since current Brahma is

155520000000000 + 1852416000 + 116640000 + 3888000 + 5115 = 155,521,972,949,117 years < as of 2015 AD >

The current Kali Yuga began at midnight 17 February / 18 February in 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.[8] As per the information above about Yuga periods, only 5,117 years are passed out of 432,000 years of current Kali Yuga, and hence another 426,883 years are left to complete this 28th Kali Yuga of Vaivaswatha Manvantara.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Burgess, Ebenezer Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta: A text-book of Hindu astronomy, with notes and an appendix Originally published: Journal of the American Oriental Society 6 (1860) 141–498 Chapter 14, Verse 12
  2. ↑ Burgess, Chapter 14, Verse 10
  3. ↑ Burgess, Ebenezer Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta: A text-book of Hindu astronomy, with notes and an appendix Originally published: Journal of the American Oriental Society 6 (1860) 141–498 , Chapter 14, Verse 9
  4. ↑ Burgess, Chapter 1, Verse 21
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Burgess, Chapter 1, Verse 22
  6. ↑ Burgess, Chapter 1, Verse 23
  7. ↑ Burgess, p17
  8. ↑ Burgess, Ebenezer Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta: A text-book of Hindu astronomy, with notes and an appendix Originally published: Journal of the American Oriental Society 6 (1860) 141–498 , p17"

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