Vedic Unit-of-Time (Wiki)
Vedic Unit-of-Time (Wiki)
Vedic Unit-of-Time (Wiki)
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(film).
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Hindu measurements in logarithmic scale based on seconds
Units:[citation needed]
Relation to SI
Unit Definition
units
Truti त्रुिट Base unit ≈ 0.30 µs
Lipta िलप्ता
64.8 Leekshaka ≈ 4.2 s
Vipala िवपल
Pala पल
Vinādī िवनाडी
Ghaṭi घिट
Danda दण्ड
Lunar metrics
Consists of the following:[6]
Tropical metrics
Consists of the following:[8]
Sāvana सावन
8 Yamas 1 Solar day
Ahorātram अहोरात्रम्
Cosmic metrics
The below table contains calculations of cosmic units of time and the
time dilation experienced by different entities, namely Humans, Pitris
:
(forefathers), Devas (gods), Manu (progenitor of humanity), and
Brahma (creator god). Calculations use a traditional 360-day year
(twelve 30-day months) and a standard 24-hour day for all entities.
Dvāpara-
sum total 864,000 yr 28,800 yr
yuga
dvāpara-
yuga- 1 ⁄
10
sandhyā dvāpara-
72,000 yr 2,400 yr
dvāpara- yuga
yuga- length
sandhyāṃśa
2 kali-
dvāpara-
yuga 720,000 yr 24,000 yr
yuga
lengths
Time dilation
Hindu texts specify that the start and end of each of the Yugas are
marked by astronomical alignments. This cycle's Treta Yuga began with
5 planets residing in the "Aries" constellation. This cycle's Dwapara
Yuga ended with the "Saptarshi" constellation (Ursa major) residing in
the "Magha" constellation. The current Kali Yuga will end with the Sun,
Moon and Jupiter residing in the "Pushya" sector.[17][better source needed]
Human
:
Main article: Yuga Cycle
Elapsed yuga
A Kali Yuga lasts for 432,000 years and is the 4th of 4 Yugas as well as
the current Yuga, with Sandhyās that last for 36,000 years:[e]
= 2020 + 3102 - 1
= 5121 years
A Chatur Yuga (a.k.a. Maha Yuga) lasts for 4.32 million years, where the
current is the 28th of 71:[e]
Pitri
The lifespan of the Pitris (forefathers) lasts for 100 of their years.[8]
Deva
The lifespan of the Devas (gods) lasts for 100 of their years.[8]
Manu
Elapsed manvantara
A Manvantara lasts for 306.72 million years, where the current (ruled by
Vaivasvatha Manu) is the 7th of 14:[e]
Started in past:
Ends in:
Brahma
The lifespan of Brahma (creator god) lasts for 100 of his years. His 12-
hour day or Kalpa (a.k.a. day of Brahma) is followed by a 12-hour night
or Pralaya (a.k.a. night of Brahma) of equal length. At the start of his
days, he is re-born and creates the planets and the first living entities.
:
At the end of his days, he and his creations are unmanifest (partial
dissolution). His 100-year life is called a Mahā-Kalpa, which is followed
by a Mahā-Pralaya (full dissolution) of equal duration, where the bases
of the universe, Prakriti, is manifest at the start and unmanifest at the
end of a Mahā-Kalpa.[13][24][25]
1 day (12 hrs: Kalpa) of Brahma = 4.32 billion solar years (1,000
Mahā-Yugas) (14 Manvantaras + 15 Sandhyās)
1 Day (24 hrs: Kalpa + Pralaya) of Brahma = 8.64 billion solar years
30 Days (1 month) of Brahma = 259.2 billion solar years
12 months (1 year) of Brahma = 3.1104 trillion solar years
50 years (Parārdha) of Brahma = 155.52 trillion solar years
100 years (lifespan: 2 Parārdha) of Brahma = 311.04 trillion solar
years
Elapsed kalpa
A day of Brahma (Kalpa) lasts for 4.32 billion years, where the current
(Shveta-Varaha) is the 1st of 30 in his 1st month of his 51st year: [e]
Started in past:
Ends in:
Started in past:
Ends in:
Avatar
The Puranas describe Vishnu avatars that come during specific yugas,
but may not occur in every Yuga Cycle.
Krishna's departure marked the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of
:
Kali Yuga according to Puranic sources.[c] In the 28th Yuga Cycle,
Krishna appeared as His original self, which only happens once in a
Kalpa (day of Brahma).[citation needed]
Yuga avatars
Krita (Satya) Treta Dvapara
Matsya
Kurma
Varaha
Narasimha
Vamana
Parashurama
Rama
Krishna
See also
Age of the universe
Hindu cosmology
Hindu astronomy
Hindu calendar
Indian mathematics
Indian science and technology
Indian weights and measures
Jyotish
List of numbers in Hindu scriptures
Time in India
:
Universe
Vedanga Jyotisha
Vedas
Yojana
Tamil units of measurement
Tamil months
Notes
1. ^ a b Calculations use a traditional 360-day year (twelve 30-day
months) and a standard 24-hour day for all entities:
* Brahma: creator god.
* Manu: progenitor of mankind.
* Devas: gods, celestials or divine.
* Pitris: forefathers or ancestors.
* Humans: year equals Sun's northern and southern movements in
Earth's sky (a.k.a. solar or tropical year).
2. A human year is divided into twelve equal months, measured by
the sun's six month movements in the north BG 8.24 and south BG
8.25, as indicated in Bhagavad-gita.
3. ^ a b The Bhagavata Purana (1.18.6),[9] Vishnu Purana (5.38.8),[10]
and Brahma Purana (2.103.8)[11] state that the day Krishna left the
earth was the day that the Dvapara Yuga ended and the Kali Yuga
began
4. Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Book I, Ch. III
5. ^ a b c d e Calculations as of midnight on 17/18 February 2020 CE.
Note, the number of years from 1 BCE to 1 CE is 1 year and not 2
years since there is no year zero.
6. Each Kali-yuga-sandhi lasts for 36,000 solar (100 divine) years:
* Sandhyā: 3102 BCE – 32,899 CE
:
* Sandhyāṃśa: 392,899 CE – 428,899 CE
References
1. Gupta, Dr. S. V. (2010). "Ch. 1.2.4 Time Measurements". In Hull,
Prof. Robert; Osgood, Jr., Prof. Richard M.; Parisi, Prof. Jurgen;
Warlimont, Prof. Hans (eds.). Units of Measurement: Past, Present
and Future. International System of Units. Springer Series in
Materials Science: 122. Springer. p. 3. ISBN 9783642007378.
2. Dick Teresi. Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern
Science—from the Babylonians to the Maya. SimonandSchuster.
p. 174.
3. Gupta 2010, p. 8.
4. "Vedic Time System - वेद Veda". veda.wikidot.com. Retrieved 4
December 2019.
5. Gupta 2010, p. 5.
6. Gupta 2010, p. 5-6.
7. Kumar, Ashwini (2005). Vaastu: The Art And Science Of Living.
Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 50. ISBN 81-207-2569-7.
8. ^ a b c Gupta 2010, p. 6.
9. "Skanda I, Ch. 18: Curse of the Brahmana, Sloka 6". Bhagavata
Purana. Part I. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.
1950. p. 137. “On the very day, and at the very moment the Lord
[Krishna] left the earth, on that very day this Kali, the source of
irreligiousness, (in this world), entered here.”
10. Wilson, H. H. (1895). "Book V, Ch. 38: Arjuna burns the dead, etc.,
Sloka 8". The Vishnu Purana. S.P.C.K. Press. p. 61. “The Parijata
tree proceeded to heaven, and on the same day that Hari
[Krishna] departed from the earth the dark-bodied Kali age
descended.”
:
11. "Ch. 103, Episode of Krsna concluded, Sloka 8". Brahma Purana.
Part II. Motilal Banarsidass. 1955. p. 515. “It was on the day on
which Krishna left the Earth and went to heaven that the Kali age,
with time for its body set in.”
12. ^ a b c Krishnamurthy, Prof. V. (2019). "Ch. 20: The Cosmic Flow of
Time as per Scriptures". Meet the Ancient Scriptures of Hinduism.
Notion Press. ISBN 9781684669387. “Each manvantara is
preceded and followed by a period of 1,728,000 (= 4K) years
when the entire earthly universe (bhu-loka) will submerge under
water. The period of this deluge is known as manvantara-sandhya
(sandhya meaning, twilight). ... According to the traditional time-
keeping ... Thus in Brahma's calendar the present time may be
coded as his 51st year - first month - first day - 7th manvantara -
28th maha-yuga - 4th yuga or kaliyuga.”
13. ^ a b c Gupta 2010, pp. 7-8.
14. Godwin 2011, p. 301: Vishnu Purana, translated by the great
Sanskritist Horace Hayman Wilson: One Pararddha, or half
[Brahma's] existence, has expired, terminating with the Maha
Kalpa called Padma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahma) termed Varaha
is the first of the second period of Brahma's existence. ... The
Hindu astronomers agree that the Kali Yuga began at midnight
between February 17 and 18, 3102 BCE. Consequently it is due to
end about 427,000 CE, whereupon a new Golden Age will dawn.
15. Burgess, Ebenezer (1860). "Ch. I, Of the Mean Motions of the
Planets". Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta: A text-book of Hindu
astronomy, with notes and an appendix. Journal of the American
Oriental Society. pp. 10-12 (1.21-24), 17.
16. Matchett, Freda; Yano, Michio (2003). "Part II, Ch. 6: The Puranas
/ Part III, Ch. 18: Calendar, Astrology, and Astronomy". In Flood,
Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell
:
Publishing. pp. 139–140, 390 (Kali yuga epoch).
ISBN 0631215352.
17. Bharatbarsha – A Living Legend.
18. ^ a b Gupta 2010, p. 7.
19. Godwin, Joscelyn (2011). Atlantis and the Cycles of Time:
Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations. Inner Traditions.
p. 300-301. ISBN 9781594778575.
20. Merriam-Webster (1999). "Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of
World Religions". In Doniger, Wendy; Hawley, John Stratton (eds.).
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. pp. 445
(Hinduism), 1159 (Yuga). ISBN 0877790442. “
* HINDUISM: Myths of time and eternity: ... Each yuga is preceded
by an intermediate "dawn" and "dusk." The Krita yuga lasts 4,000
god-years, with a dawn and dusk of 400 god-years each, or a
total of 4,800 god-years; Treta a total of 3,600 god-years;
Dvapara 2,400 god-years; and Kali (the current yuga) 1,200 god-
years. A mahayuga thus lasts 12,000 god-years ... Since each
god-year lasts 360 human years, a mahayuga is 4,320,000 years
long in human time. Two thousand mahayugas form one kalpa
(eon) [and pralaya], which is itself but one day in the life of
Brahma, whose full life lasts 100 years; the present is the midpoint
of his life. Each kalpa is followed by an equally long period of
abeyance (pralaya), in which the universe is asleep. Seemingly the
universe will come to an end at the end of Brahma's life, but
Brahmas too are innumerable, and a new universe is reborn with
each new Brahma.
* YUGA: Each yuga is progressively shorter than the preceding
one, corresponding to a decline in the moral and physical state of
humanity. Four such yugas ... make up a mahayuga ("great yuga")
... The first yuga (Krita) was an age of perfection, lasting 1,728,000
:
years. The fourth and most degenerate yuga (Kali) began in 3102
BCE and will last 432,000 years. At the close of the Kali yuga, the
world will be destroyed by fire and flood, to be re-created as the
cycle resumes. In a partially competing vision of time, Vishnu's
10th and final Avatar, Kalki, is described as bringing the present
cosmic cycle to a close by destroying the evil forces that rule the
Kali yuga and ushering in an immediate return to the idyllic Krita
yuga.”
21. Hans Kng (31 October 2006). Tracing The Way: Spiritual
Dimensions of the World Religions. A&C Black. p. 50.
ISBN 9780826494238.
22. "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 3.11.19". Bhaktivedanta
Vedabase. Retrieved 10 July 2020. “
catvāri trīṇi dve caikaṁ kṛtādiṣu yathā-kramam ।
saṅkhyātāni sahasrāṇi dvi-guṇāni śatāni ca ॥ 19 ॥
(19) The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of
the years of the demigods; the duration of the Tretā millennium
equals 3,600 years of the demigods; the duration of the Dvāpara
millennium equals 2,400 years; and that of the Kali millennium is
1,200 years of the demigods. PURPORT: As aforementioned, one
year of the demigods is equal to 360 years of the human beings.
The duration of the Satya-yuga is therefore 4,800 × 360, or
1,728,000 years. The duration of the Tretā-yuga is 3,600 × 360, or
1,296,000 years. The duration of the Dvāpara-yuga is 2,400 ×
360, or 864,000 years. And the last, the Kali-yuga, is 1,200 × 360,
or 432,000 years.”
23. Doniger, Wendy; Hawley, John Stratton, eds. (1999). "Merriam-
Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions". Merriam-Webster.
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. p. 691 (Manu).
ISBN 0877790442. “a day in the life of Brahma is divided into 14
:
periods called manvantaras ("Manu intervals"), each of which lasts
for 306,720,000 years. In every second cycle [(new kalpa after
pralaya)] the world is recreated, and a new Manu appears to
become the father of the next human race. The present age is
considered to be the seventh Manu cycle.”
24. ^ a b Penprase, Bryan E. (2017). The Power of Stars (2nd ed.).
Springer. p. 182. ISBN 9783319525976.
25. Johnson, W.J. (2009). A Dictionary of Hinduism. Oxford
University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-19-861025-0.
26. "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 9.10.51". Bhaktivedanta
Vedabase. Retrieved 18 May 2020. “Lord Rāmacandra became
King during Tretā-yuga, but because of His good government, the
age was like Satya-yuga. Everyone was religious and completely
happy.”
27. Knapp, Stephen. "Lord Rama: Fact or Fiction". Stephen Knapp
and His Books on Vedic Culture, Eastern Philosophy and
Spirituality. Retrieved 17 May 2020. “In the Vayu Purana (70.47-
48) [published by Motilal Banarsidass] there is a description of the
length of Ravana’s life. It explains that when Ravana’s merit of
penance began to decline, he met Lord Rama, the son of
Dasarath, in a battle wherein Ravana and his followers were killed
in the 24th Treta-yuga. ... The Matsya Purana (47/240,243-246) is
another source that also gives more detail of various avataras and
says Bhagawan Rama appeared at the end of the 24th Treta-
yuga.”
28. Mani, Vettam (1975). "RAKTAJA". A Comprehensive Dictionary
with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. Puranic
Encyclopedia. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 630(b). ISBN 0842608222.
“In Padma Purana (Chapter 14). Devendra raised a legal objection
to the above injunction of Vishnu as follows: "You, who incarnated
:
yourself as Rama in the twentyseventh yuga of the last
Manvantara for the purpose of killing Ravana, killed my son Bali.
Therefore I do not wish to procreate Nara as my son." To this
objection of Indra, Vishnu assured him that as a penalty for the
mistake of killing Bali, he would be a companion of Nara (Arjuna)
who would be born as Indra's son.”
External links
Scientific Explanation of Hindu Time Units
Translation of the Surya Siddhanta (1861)
Exegesis of Hindu Cosmological Time Cycles
Surya Siddhanta, Chapter I with Commentary and Illustrations
Vedic Time Converter
: