The Vedic kālagaņanā (chronology) is the natural system just like the vedas, it does not depend on any mundane event like the birth of a person, coronation of a king or the military success of an emperor. But it depends only on the movements of various heavenly bodies in the cosmos, or in other words, on astronomical science. Modern view of time: The smallest unit of time is second. Every second repeats itself every 60 SECONDS. (60seconds = 1 minute). Every minute repeats itself every 60 MINUTES. (60 minutes = 1 hour). Every hour repeats itself every 24 HOURS. (24 hours = 1 day). Every day repeats itself every 365 DAYS. (365 days = 1 year). Every year repeats itself in: ? ? ? ? YEARS ? The modern time scale ends here, there should be repeat of years in a certain period of time. Thus there is an insufficiency in the modern time calculation. Whereas in the Vedic system, Years are named and there are 60 names. Once the 60 names are finished, the next year starts with the first name again. This goes on in a cyclic manner. Beyond this level there are 4 epochs or Yugas, namely, Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali yuga. Let’s take a derailed look what veda and other scriptures says about the time: In the Vedas, Time is equated with the Kala (Consciousness Time) is the source of the divisions of time. It unites procession recession and stasis. “Kalo gatinivrtti sthiti: samdadhati” (Sankhayana Aranyaka 7.20). Time, according to Surya Siddhanta, has both its virtual and practical divisions; the former is called murta (embodied), the latter amurta (virtual or Unembodied). The Vedic cosmological time cycles are described in verses 11–23 of Chapter 1, Surya Siddhanta: [Verse 11] That which begins with respirations (prāna) is called real; that which begins with atoms (truti) is unreal. Six respirations make a vinādi, sixty of these a nādi. (12). And sixty nādis make a sidereal day and night. Of thirty of these sidereal days is composed a month; a civil month (sāvana) consists of as many sunrises. (13). A lunar month, of as many lunar days (tithi); a solar (sāura) month is determined by the entrance of the Sun into a sign of the zodiac; twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the devas or demi-gods. (14). The day and night of the devas and of the asuras are mutually opposed to one another. Six times sixty of them are a year of the devas, and likewise of the asuras. (15). Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a chaturyuga (chatur=Four; yuga=Ages); of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two solar years. (16) The difference of the krtayuga and the other yugas, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Dharma in each, is as follows : (17). The tenth part of a chaturyuga, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the krta and the other yugas: the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight. (18). One and seventy chaturyugas make a manvantara (Patriarchate of one Manu); at its end is a twilight which has the number of years of a krtayuga, and which is a pralaya (catastrophic end of creation). (19). In a kalpa (æon) are reckoned fourteen such Manus with their respective twilights; at the commencement of the kalpa is a fifteenth dawn, having the length of a krtayuga. (20). The kalpa, thus composed of a thousand chaturyugas, and which brings about the destruction of all that exists, is a day of Brahma; his night is of the same length. (21). His extreme age is a hundred, according to this valuation of a day and a night. The half of his life is past; of the remainder, this is the first kalpa. (22). And of this kalpa, six Manus are past, with their respective twilights; and of the Patriarch Manu son of Vivasvant, twenty-seven chaturyugas are past; (23). Of the present, the twenty-eighth chaturyuga, the krtayuga is past; from this point,reckoning up the time, one should compute together the whole number. When computed, this astronomical time cycle would give the following results: The average length of the tropical year as 365.2421756 days, which is only 1.4 seconds shorter than the modern value of 365.2421904 days (J2000). The average length of the sidereal year, the actual length of the Earth's revolution around the Sun, as 365.2563627 days, which is virtually the same as the modern value of 365.25636305 days (J2000). This remained the most accurate estimate for the length of the sidereal year anywhere in the world for over a thousand years. An alternate system described in the Vishnu Purana Time measurement section of the Vishnu Purana Book I Chapter III is as follows: * 10 blinks of the eye = 1 Kásht́há * 35 Kásht́hás = 1 Kalá * 20 Kalás = 1 Muhúrtta * 30 Muhúrttas = 1 day (24 hours) * 30 days = 1 month * 6 months = 1 Ayana * 2 Ayanas = 1 year or one day (day + night) of the gods Smallest Unit of Time: Vedic astronomy give a very detailed division of the Time upto the lowest sub division level of prāņa (respiration), a time lapse of four seconds. The lowest sub divisions prāņa is the same part of the day as the minute is of the circle, so that a respiration of time is equivalent to a minute of apparent revolution of the heavenly bodies above the earth. The astronomical division of sidereal time are:
Units of time: Concept of Hour: Deleting the leading letter ‘a’ and the trailing ‘tra’ from ‘ahorātra’, one is left with the word horā, and from this horā, another system of measuring time, the ‘Horā System’, introduced in this country by the celebrated astronomer Varāha Mihira, by dividing a day and night into 24 horās. Many believe that from this Horā System the entire world has adopted the present practice of dividing a day and night into 24 hours and moreover, from Sanskrit horā, English hour, Latin hora and Greek ora (ωρα) have been derived. Concept of Seven Days in a Week: Why seven days make a week? And wherefrom the names of these seven days have come? Every Indian will be pleased to know that it is also a gift of India to the entire world. We have seen earlier that, 60 ghaţis or daņdas make one day and night or ahorātra. Indian astronomers dedicated each ghaţi of the day to a planet as its lord and derived the name of the day as per the lord of the first ghaţi of the day. The sun or Ravi being the most powerful among the planets, as well as the giver and sustainer of life, has been honoured to be the lord of first ghaţi of the first day of the week. Hence it is named Ravivāra or Sunday. Second and third ghaţis of Ravivāra are Mars and Jupiter respectively. Proceeding in this manner, Saturn is the lord of the 60th ghaţi of Ravivāra and the moon or Soma becomes the lord of the first ghaţi of the following day and hence it is named Somavāra or Monday (Moonday). Concept of Fortnight, Month and Year: Units of time larger than day and week are fortnight and month. The Rig-veda says, “aruņo arocano māsakŗņmāsānām cārddhamāsānām ca kartā bhavati” the moon is the creator of months and fortnights. In Sanskrit the moon is called candramas and the word māsa has been derived from the parting syllable ‘mas’ of candramas. * A tithi (or thithi ) or lunar day is defined as the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the moon and the Sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately 19 to approximately 26 hours. * a paksa (also paksha) or lunar fortnight consists of 15 tithis * a masa or lunar month (approximately 29.5 days) is divided into 2 pakshas: the one between new moon and full moon (waxing) is called gaura (bright) or shukla paksha; the one between full moon and new moon (waning) krishna (dark) paksha * a ritu (or season) is 2 masa * an ayanam is 3 rituhs * a year is 2 Aayanas Concept of Year (Samvatsara): Samvatsara is a Sanskrit term for "year". In Vedic tradition, there are 60 Samvatsaras, each of which has a name. Once all 60 samvatsaras are over, the cycle starts over again. The sixty Samvatsaras are divided into 3 groups of 20 Samvatsaras each. The first 20 from Prabhava to Vyaya are attributed to Brahma. The next 20 from Sarvajit to Parabhava to Vishnu & the last 20 to Shiva. The 60 Samvatsaras are: Concept of Yuga: The units of time larger than a year are called yugas. The word yuga has been derived from yoga and yoga from samyoga, or conjunction of heavenly bodies. So one finds the origin of every unit of yuga to a specific conjunction of the heavenly bodies in the sky. In Indian astronomy, starting from a mere 5 year yuga to a vast Mahāyuga of 4,320,000 years are in vogue. Every 5 year, a conjunction of the sun and the moon occurs at the asterism Dhanişthā in the zodiacal sign Makara (Capricorn). Mahayuga (Chaturyuga): Beyond this level there are 4 epochs or yugas, namely, Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. All these four yugas together is called a chatur yuga, which means "four epochs"or also termed maha yuga that means "great epochs". Together a chatur yuga constitutes 4,320,000 human years and the lengths of each chatur yuga follow a ratio of (4:3:2:1. The Vishnu Purana Time measurement section of the Vishnu Purana Book I Chapter III explains the above as follows: * 2 Ayanas (six month periods, see above) = 1 human year or 1 day of the devas * 4,000 + 400 + 400 = 4,800 divine years (= 1,728,000 human years) = 1 Krita Yuga * 3,000 + 300 + 300 = 3,600 divine years (= 1,296,000 human years) = 1 Tretá Yuga * 2,000 + 200 + 200 = 2,400 divine years (= 864,000 human years) = 1 Dwápara Yuga * 1,000 + 100 + 100 = 1,200 divine years (= 432,000 human years) = 1 Kali Yuga * 12,000 divine year = 4 Yugas (= 4,320,000 human years) = 1 Mahayuga (also called divine yuga) Kalpa — A Cosmic Day of Brahmā 1000 Mahayugas = 1 kalpa = 1 day (day only) of Brahma (Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma) Manvantara: A cosmic days includes 14 Period or Manvantaras to 306 720 000 solar years. The next day, a cosmic unity is a Manvantara, there are fourteen pieces. A Manu mastered such a period. We live in the 7th Manvantara. Manvantara the first 6 have gone, 7 more will come. In particular, their names are: 1. Svaayambhuva — son of the self-born (here began the creation), 2. Svaarochisha — son of the Self Shining, 3. Uttama — Son of the Most High, 4. Taamasa — Son of Darkness, 5. Raivata — son of wealth, 6. Chaakshusha — son of the vision (this was the Quirlung instead of the milk ocean), 7. Vaivasvata — Vaivasvata is the son of the Sun God. * 30 days of Brahma = 1 month of Brahma (259.2 billion human years) * 12 months of Brahma = 1 year of Brahma (3.1104 trillion human years) * 50 years of Brahma = 1 Pararddha * 2 parardhas = 100 years of Brahma = 1 Para = 1 Mahakalpa (the lifespan of Brahma)(311.04 trillion human years) Pralaya: “All the beings of this universe including chaturmukha brahma and other gods are ruled by time. they are created, live and are destroyed by one supreme and powerful being , who has no birth or death.” This destruction is of four types: (1) Nitya Pralaya (2) Naimittika Pralaya (3) Maha Pralaya and (4) Aatyantika Pralaya. Nitya Pralaya is the sleep or by an extension thereof, Death. Naimittika Pralaya is the end of a single day of Brahma, when the three worlds (Bhuh:, Bhuvaha: and Suvaha disintegrate. Maha Pralaya is the great deluge at the end of the age of one Brahma ,which consists of 100 Brahmic Years (365 Times 2,000 ChaturYugas). Aatyantika Pralaya is "the final deliverance or the attainment of Salvation by a Jivan and after that the Jivan is never again in the clutches of Karma nor bound by the tight ropes of Samsara.It is therefore a variable time span conditioned by the practise of the different kind of Yogas or Prapatti.
