Hindu time calculations.

sadgurupAdukA jayathI
With the arrival of the new (vikruthi) year, it seems as if people are contemplating the indications that lie for the year ahead! It seems to be a popular topic as I have been asked about the upcoming year and its charecteristics, predictions, more context of the year cycles etc by different members of this group during different conversations over the last 2 or 3 days. In this post I will mention a little bit about the qualities and the features of this year and also shed a bit of light on the hindu idea of time and creation. Be warned that the topic is vast and technical, and I am only shedding minor light on this here as it is beyond my abilities to go into greater detail.

First things first! Prior to looking at the year at hand it is apt to see the context. So we will start (like with everything) at the begenning.
According to our dharmA (the vEdic cosmology), creation is cyclic in nature. ''srishti: sthUlikaranam'' - i.e. creation is merely grossification (of something that already 'exists', albeit in a subtle and imperceptible, formless form). With this concept in mind we will need to see the idea of creation. Thus we have a creation for which there is no begenning (anAdhI) and to which there is no end (anantaH). One which 'appears' and 'disappears', one which is 'revealed' and 'veiled' periodically in a cyclic manner. As we all know, the hindu creator is known as Brahma. This Brahma is the one tasked with srishtI or the act of making tangible and manifest the universe(s). The exact method of bringing forth this phenomenal world is another tangent and one beyond the scope of this discussion and for fear of moving away from the main topic at hand and of elaborating this post to a great degree, I will refrain from digression.

This Brahma is, though the creator, still bound by the limits of time. The allocated life span of Brahma is 100 BrahmA years. To understand the immense nature of the time scale of BrahmA, we need to go from the ground up - i.e. from our own human perspective!

The full life span allotted to the human (in kali yugA) is 100 years. Some ancient texts of AyurvEdA and certain schools hold this to be 120 years and this is known as pUrnAyu or full/whole life span. The older systems of calculating time were based on the lunar progressions and thus one human year (samvatsarA) can be understood as 12 lunar months (mAsAs). A lunar month consists of approximately 29.5 days and is divided into 2 pakshAs or segments - the shukla pakshA (waxing/bright half) and the krishna pakshA (waning/dark half). Each pakshA consists of 15 thithIs (prathipad or prathamI to amAvasyA or pUrnimA). A thithI or lunar day can be defined as the time taken for the longitudinal angle between the moon and the sun to increase by 12 degrees. Thus there are roughly 360 days in a lunar year.

The solar measurements as elucidated to stunning detail in the sUrya siddhAntA, is slightly different. Around the time of its publication (some say around 2 century AD), the Romans and the Babylonians were already using a Julian or sun based calendar. The day is composed of 24 hours and each hour is further divided into 60 equal parts called minutes. The minute itself is further divided into 60 equal parts called seconds. The second, thus was the smallest division of time. In the sUrya siddhAntA however, an even more minute division of time is shown.
Counting from a respriration (prAnA), we have the following. 6 respirations make a vinAdi and 60 vinAdIs make one nAdi. In tamil this is known as nAzhigai. 60 such nAdis make one sidereal day(i.e day and night = 24hrs). There are also other systems of calculation of time -
One paramAnus (the interval of blinking) = 4 seconds (approx).
One vighatI = 6 paramAnus (i.e. 24 seconds approx)
One ghatI = 60 vighatIs (i.e. 24 minutes approx)
One muhUrtA = 2 ghatIs (i.e. 48 minutes approx)
One nakshatra ahOratram (one sidereal day) = 30 muhUrtAs (i.e. 1440 minutes or 24 hrs)

30 days = 1 month
6 months = 1 ayanA (there are 2 ayanAs in the year - uttarAyanA (northerly) and dakshinAyanA (southerly))
2 ayanAs = 1 year.

The purAnAs and the vEdA offer an even more minute understanding of time. Though we do not use such miniscule measures on a daily basis, they are revealed in the scriptures. Starting from a trasarEnu (extremely subtle) which is said to be the combination of 6 celestial atoms! The time that is needed to integrate 6 such trasarEnus is known as truti ( 1/1687.5th of a second!!) These measures are way smaller than even a nimEshA or the time taken for a blink of an eye. As 100 trutis make one vEdhA. 3 vEdhAs make one lavA. 3 lavAs make one nimEshA or the blink of an eye!And so on to make the full period of a day. Anyway, I digress.....

One human year that is made of 2 ayanAs is equal to one day(incl night) of the dEvAs or the celestial beings. That is, one ayanA is the day and the second ayanA is the night. The time of the dEvAs(celestials) and the asurAs (their 'darker' cousins) is mutually oppossed - i.e. day for dEvAs is night for asurAs and night for dEvAs is day for asurAs.
30 such dEvA days make one dEvA month (much like our own!). So we have now on this time scale - 30 human years = one dEvA month. 12 such dEvA months make one dEvA year or divine year. Which if we calculate, is equal to (30X12 = 360 human years). The life span of the dEvAs is 100 dEvA years. Which in human time is 360 X 100 or 36,000 human years.

Next in order, we can see the description of yugAs (roughly translated as epochs?). The hindu system reveals that there are 4 yugAs, which proceed in a cyclic fashion. They are
satya yugA or krita yugA
trEtA yugA
dwApara yugA
kali yugA
These four yugAs are not equal - i.e. their duration is varied. The first yugA known as satya yugA is the longest period and as it proceeds the time span of each yugA gets lesser and lesser. We will next see how many years these yugAs are composed of -
satya yugA = 4800 dEvA varshAs or dEvA years = 17,28,000 human years.
trEtA yugA = 3600 dEvA years = 12,96,000 human years.
dwApara yugA = 2400 dEvA years = 8,64,000 human years.
kali yugA = 1200 dEvA years = 4,32,000 human years.
One cycle of these four yugAs is known as one chaturyugA or mahAyugA. Thus, we see that
one chaturyugA = 12,000 divine years = 43,20,000 human years!

In the bagawad gItA, we see the statement ''"sahasra-yuga paryantam ahar-yad brahmano viduh", - which reveals that 1000 mahAyugAs/ chaturyugAs is one day of brahmA. In more simpler (if such a thing is possible!) terms - we have seen above that 4.32 million human years makes one chaturyugA. So with 1000 such chaturyugAs we will have 4.32 billion human years (432 thousand crore) to be one day of brahmA. This period is known as kalpA. brahmA's night is also of the same duration as his day. So we can see that 2 kalpAs (i.e. 864 thousand crore human years) is one sidereal day of brahmA.
2 kalpAs = 1 day (and night) of brahmA = 2,40,00,000 dEvA years = 2,40,00,000 X 360 human years
30 brahmA days = 1 brahmA month = 259.2 billion human years.
12 brahmA months = 1 brahmA year = 3.1104 trillion human years.
brahmAs full life span is 100 brahmA years. This period of 100 brahmA years is divided into 2 parArdhAs of 50 brahmA years each.
100 brahmA years (the life span of brahmA) = 311.04 trillion human years!!

Now coming back to the time called kalpA, which is one day of brahmA - the creation/manifestation of the universe begins at the dawn of brahmAs day and culminates at the start of brahmAs night. The universe is veiled or dissolved during the period of his night. So for one kalpA the world is manifest and for the same period (1 kalpA) the universe lies dissolved. The next morning of brahmA He goes about the business of creating/revealing the universes again.....and so on for 100 brahmA years.

1 kalpA = 1 day of brahmA = 1000 chaturyugAs = 1,20,00,000 dEvA years = 4.32 billion human years.
This day of brahmA is divided into 10,000 parts known as charanAs and we can see that satya yugA has 4 charanAs, trEtA has 3, dwAparA has 2 and kali has 1 charanA.
71 chaturyugAs (or cycles of the above mentioned 4 yugAs) = 1 manvantarA .
Each manvantrA is ruled by a manU. During his 1 day brahmA creates 14 such manUs, who rule the 14 manvantrAs in each kalpA.
At the end of each manvantrA (71 chaturyugAs) we have something known as sandhi kAlA. This period of time known as sandhi kAlA is of the same duration as on satya yugA (4800 dEvA varshAs or dEvA years = 17,28,000 human years). During this period of time, the earth lies submerged in water and is brought forth yet again at the end of the sandhi kAlA. There is also something else known as Adi sandhi which is also equal to 17,28,000 human years which occurs at the begenning of the kalpA.

So we now have the kalpA which consists of - 1X Adi sandhi + 14 manvantrAs + 14 sandhIs
kalpA = 14 manvantarAs + 15 sandhIs (each composed of 4 charanAs)
kalpA = 994 chaturyugAs + 60 charanAs = 994 chaturyugAs + 6 X 10 charanAs (note each chaturyugA has 10 charanAs)
kalpA = 994 chaturyugAs + 6 chaturyugAs = 1000 chaturyugAs.

Now that the vast context of time is set, we can proceed to see our present position in this frame. Those of you who have paid some attention to the mantrA in the samkalpA (shubhE shObanE.....) will be able to realise what those terms like shwEtavarAha kalpE etc mean!!
Our current brahmA is 50 years old (50 brahmA years) already. Meaning 50 brahmA years out of his allotted 100 have already elapsed. We are currently in the first day of his 51st year. (refer - dwitIya parArdhE, meaning 2nd parArdhA where we have already seen 1 parArdha = 50 brahmA years). The current day of brahmA (i.e. current kalpA) is known as shwEtavarAha kalpA (refer - shwEtavarAha kalpE). Within this one day of brahmA, the rule of 6 manUs has already elapsed (we saw before that each kalpA has 14 manUs, who each rule for a period known as manvantrA), and we are now in the period of rule of the 7th manU who is known as vaivasvathA. So this seventh manvantrA is known as vaivasvatha manvantrA (refer . vaivasvatha manvantrE) . Within this particular manvantrA the period equal to 27 chaturyugAs (i.e. full cycles of all 4 yugAs) has already elapsed and in the 28th chaturyugA the satya, trEtA and dwApara yugAs have also elapsed. Thus we are currently in the kali yugA period of the 28th chaturyugA (refer. ashtAvimshadadimE kaliyugE). According to the experts in such calculations this current kali yugA began in the year 3012 BC (in the julian system of numbering), on the midnight of the 18th of febraury.

Thus we have that 5112 years have already passed in the current kali yugA and the 5113 rd year in kali has just been born. And if we were to do the sums to calculate the age of the current brahmA in human years :
3.1104 trillion human years = 1 brahmA year
155.52 trillion human years = 50 brahmA years (which have elapsed)
1.973 billion human years = 6 manvantrAs already past including the relevant sandhi kAlAs of this current kalpA/day.
116.640000 million human years = 27 chaturyugAs that have also elapsed in the current manvantrA.
3.888 million human years = the 3 yugAs that have already elapsed in the current chaturyugA (the 28th).
5112 human years = the time elapsed since the birth of the current kali yugA.
So the current age of the present brahmA = 155.52 trillion human years!!

In case your head is reeling from all this complicated math, I leave you with something to cheer you up.
According to our sAstrAs, there is simply no end to the worlds. We are in effect immortal - really! And as we saw before 1 kali yugA has 4,32,000 human years and we are only a mere 5112 years gone into it. So there are 4,26,888 human years before even a temporary end of the world while we switch to the next yugA in the current manvantrA. Even our current manU (the 7th one of 14 such manUs), has only exhausted 27 and with the end of this current yugA, will have exhausted 28 chaturyugAs out of his allotted 71 - so that leaves us 43 more chaturyugAs under the same manU vaivasvathA, before a long sandhI period where the earth will stay submerged in water until the birth of the next manvantrA. Then we have 7 more manUs to go only within this day (kalpA) of brahmA!! After a similarly long night of brahmA, we will proceed to the 2nd day of our current brahmAs 51st year.....and then the 3rd day and so on. Finally,after almost another 155.52 trillion human years this present brahmAs time of 100 years will be up. That means nothing to you and me, as after this brahmA there will simply be another brahmA who will also live 100 brahmA years and we'll be back again to enjoy the fruits of our accumulated karmA!!
The next time you wish for eternity - please think! It really is a long long time!

Yuga dharma.

Sri gurubhyo namaha.

Post or two on the Ramayana - Done.
Post or two on the Mahabharatha - Done.
No more Mahakavyas. What next?

Realise a lack of more in terms of what are itihasa kavyas (historic epics) which are elevated to the level of the two mentioned above. Ulysses? No. Better stick to what I know.

Yes! A post digging for scraps from the both!
So, here goes.

Rama (the hero of the Ramayana) is one among the avatars (incarnations) of Vishnu. Krishna (the hero of the Mahabharatha) too is one among the avatars of Vishnu. Both incarnations occurred at different epochs. Ramas incarnation is set in the Treta yuga and Krishnas incarnation is towards the end of the Dwapara yuga. These epochs or yugas are huge periods of time and the intrinsic nature of these yugas give us an insight into the peoples and their psyches, their inner and outer troubles, the environment, their 'state', etc as a collective. And believe me, they are certainly varied times. Rama walked this earth in a human form somewhat (quite somewhat) earlier than Krishna and observing the parallels in the lives of these two individuals, who really are the same person, who lived in different times is a wonderful exercise. Not only does it provide the contextual difference in terms of their respective characters or their respective message to the world at large, it also gives us the influence of the actual yuga dharma or the nature of the flow of things in the different yugas.

As with everything, it is easy to look at the obvious differences than the not so obvious ' oneness'. A look at the differences then-

Rama is renowned for being the eka patni vratan or the one who is married only once and remains loyal to that one wife. Legends associated with Rama glorify this aspect of his character. Krishna on the other hand had more wives than there are days in peoples lives! Some legends hold that Krishna had 16,108 wives (this number has an esoteric significance which is not the intent of this post to hover on) and even if we ignore that view for the time being, he still had more wives than one. Krishna was married to Rukmini, Sathyabhama, Jambhavathi, Kalindi and Mitrabinda (these are all detailed in the many stories of Krishna, his life and exploits!). Even still Krishna is always associated with Radha primarily - who was his lover(oh, the taboo) and not one he married! Legends associated with Krishna glorify this aspect of his as the playboy who stole the hearts of many.

The adharma in the times of Rama is personified as the demon king Ravana who out of his lust and desire for Sita forcibly abducts her from the hermitage in the forest to his kingdom. It is this act of Ravana that served to be the catalyst for Rama to invade and attack Lanka the kingdom of Ravana. In the times of Krishna though things look different. Krishna encouraged (aided and abetted) his friend and devotee Arjuna to come to Dwaraka to seduce and steal his sister Shubadra!! Not only that, Arjuna did this job of seducing the princess Shubadra by living in Dwaraka in the guise of an ochre clad sanyasi.

The warfare in the days of Rama was governed by the rules pertaining to warfare and there was not much of the back hand and adharmic fights fought then. Rama's decision to fight with Ravana was justified and Rama did not use his sly cunning to win the war. The war was won by dharma and truth. In Krishna's time, the stories of the Mahabharatha make it evident; warfare was altogether a different affair. Most of the opponents (great heroes each one) that were defeated or slain by the Pandavas were felled by unfair means. In the slaying of Jayadratha Krishna played an important part in the unfair fight by covering the sun temporarily. Radheya (Karna), Drona, Duryodhana were all killed in unfair fights. One of the chapters of the epic also records this transition from dharma to adharma by makeing a note of the fact that the first ten days of the war (when the Kauravas fought under the leadership of the great Bheeshma) were ones of dharma. Then with the fall of Bheeshma and with the captaincy of Drona things took a turn for the wicked. Since then all the duels and the general war was dominated by adharma and underhand fighting. Krishna at the end of the war comments that the Kaurava greats could never have been defeated in a fair fight, never mind being killed, and that it was the nature of the yuga (the transition from dwapara to kali) that is seen from the sudden departure from the accepted code of warfare and dharma.

Rama spent his whole life trying to play down the fact that he was God - really! He was the personification of humility and the paragon of the virtues of the good Hindu. Always respectful towards his elders, sensitive to the needs of his subjects, aware of his duties as a son, king, husband etc. Even when the great Vasishtha began to preach the liberating wisdom to Rama in the end (yoga vashishta) it is remarkably clear that Rama is portrayed as human. Krishna on the other hand lived out his entire life (complete with all its glorious mischief making) to convey that he was God. Right from torturing his poor mother (Yasodha) by his pranks to stealing the hearts (and possibly more) of the gopikas, from the killing of Kamsa to orchestrating the whole great war, from providing yards and yards of saree material for the honour of Draupadi to revelling in his revelation of the cosmic form, Krishna's life story is a celebration of his being God.

There you go now, some of the parallels observed in the two incarnations at the two different yugas. I am sure there be plenty more we can find on even a first glance. These help to determine the ethic and the morality of the general populace at these different times and also in seeing what the yuga dharma does to influence the progress and the evolution of the world and its peoples. Now, I would like to take leave of you with a few questions.....

In the treta yuga (Rama's period) dharma or righteousness has three legs (out of four) so all is hunky dory to the most part. In the dwapara yuga (the end of which is marked by Krishna's birth and the end of the great war) dharma had but two of its four legs and things are (as we can see) beginning to wobble. In kali yuga (the current period, our period) which began at the end of the great war dharma stands on only one leg. Dharma is officially crippled! This much is yuga dharma. If Krishna incarnated to rid the earth of its demons, if his incarnation was for the destruction of adharma and the upholding of dharma, and if this his purpose was achieved by the total and all out slaughter of (nearly) all of the sixteen akshouhinis of troops and the subsequent destruction of the clan of the vrishinis, then why is the immediate birth of the next yuga (kali) one where dharma stands on only one leg??

Were the good slain in battle? Did dharma actually win when the kings and their armies were butchered? If those wicked souls on the path of adharma were weeded out like it is made out in the epic, why then was dharma left with such a handicap immeadiately after? Does adharma to fight adharma (for the bigger stake of dharma) make sense or is that very fact even an indicator that perhaps the means are more important than the end? Or are the means verily ends themselves? Or finally is yuga dharma akin to the proverbial ragwort (a weed) that simply rises its head above the ground no matter how many times is chopped down to the very ground?