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The Vedic texts of India contain a remarkable system of timekeeping that defines precise units ranging from infinitesimal fractions of a second to the infinite years of celestial beings. This article will explore these units in detail, with references from Vedic scriptures, and draw correlations with modern time where applicable.
This article explores these units and their connections.
The Most Minute Unit of Time
The smallest unit of time in the Vedic system is called a truti. It is defined in the Surya Siddhanta as the time taken for 1/1687.5th of a second, or approximately 0.4 microseconds. Trutis are used in computations of celestial movements.
100 trutis make 1 vedha 3 vedhas make 1 lava 3 lavas make 1 nimesha
A nimesha, meaning “twinkling”, equates to the blink of an eye, approximately 0.21 seconds.
60 nimeshas make 1 pala, about 12.6 seconds. 60 palas make 1 ghadi, about 12.6 minutes. 60 ghadis make 1 day and night – a nychthemeron. A day is defined from sunrise to sunrise, a night from sunset to sunset.
The Ultimate Unit – Paramanu
Paramanu is considered the smallest unit of time in Vedic science, approximately equivalent to 4 seconds (Yajur Veda 25.18). It is defined as the normal time interval between blinks of a human eye.
Fractional Units
Truti – 1/1687.5th of a second (Surya Siddhanta 12.53-54), the time taken for conjunction and reconjunction of 3 kratis or celestial atoms.
Vedha – 100 trutis (Surya Siddhanta 12.53)
Lava – 3 vedhas, approximately 1/540th of a second or 0.00185 seconds.
Nimesha – 3 lavas, equivalent to the blink of an eye or 0.00555 seconds (Surya Siddhanta 12.54-55)
Kshana – 3 nimeshas, approximately 0.0165 seconds (Vishnu Purana Book I, Ch 3)
Kashtha – 5 kshanas, about 0.083 seconds (Vishnu Purana)
Kala – 35 kashthas, approximately 2.9 seconds (Vishnu Purana)
Muhurta – 2 kalas or approximately 6 seconds (Vishnu Purana)
Building Up to Minutes and Hours
Nadika – 45 muhurtas or about 4 minutes (Surya Siddhanta 12.57-58)
Ghati – 60 palas of 0.21 seconds each, making 1 ghati approximately 12.6 minutes (Surya Siddhanta 12.58)
Ahoratra – 1 civil day lasting from sunrise to next sunrise (Surya Siddhanta 12.12)
Half a day – 4 praharas or yamas, with each yama equaling 3 muhurtas or approximately 18 minutes (Vishnu Purana)
Ahargana – 1 full civil day of 24 hours (Surya Siddhanta 12.10-11)
Paksha – 15 days making 1 lunar fortnight (Surya Siddhanta 14.4-6)
Masa – 30 tithis or days making 1 lunar month (Surya Siddhanta 14.7-8)
Ritu – 2 lunar months constituting 1 season (Surya Siddhanta 14.11)
Ayana – 3 seasons making 1 solar year (Surya Siddhanta 14.12)
Samvatsara – Year of mortals, equated with solar year (Surya Siddhanta 14.13)
Larger Units of Time
Yuga – 4,800 divine years of the Devas make 1 Krita Yuga (Vishnu Purana, Book I, Ch 3)
Mahayuga – Consists of 4 yugas – Krita, Treta, Dwapara, Kali – spanning 4.32 million solar years (Vishnu Purana)
Manvantara – 71 mahayugas, each with 14 Manus, totaling 306.72 million years (Vishnu Purana)
Kalpa – 14 manvantaras make 1 kalpa equal to 4.32 billion solar years (Surya Siddhanta 1.29-30)
One Month of Brahma – 30 days of Brahma, equivalent to 259.2 billion human years (Surya Siddhanta 1.28)
One Year of Brahma – 360 days of Brahma totaling 3.1104 trillion human years (Surya Siddhanta 1.27-28)
Lifetime of Brahma – 100 years of Brahma, equivalent to 311.04 trillion years (Rig Veda 1.164.15)
One Mahakalpa – 100 years of Brahma, span of the cosmic cycle (Surya Siddhanta 1.24-26)
Cycles Upon Cycles
As described in the Vishnu and Surya Siddhanta, this cascading cycle of time boggles the mind:
- 4 yugas = 1 mahayuga
- 1000 mahayugas = 1 kalpa
- 14 kalpas = 1 day of Brahma
- 2 kalpas = 1 day and 1 night of Brahma
- 360 days of Brahma = 1 year of Brahma
- 100 years of Brahma = 1 mahakalpa
- 1 mahakalpa = Lifetime of Brahma = 311.04 trillion years
The concept is cyclical – once Brahma dies, the creation is taken over by another Brahma and the cycles continue.
Our Current Place in the Cycles
Puranic texts state that the current period is 51st year of the present Brahma. In this, 6 manvantaras have passed in the present kalpa, or epoch, known as Varaha Kalpa. We are in the 7th manvantara called Vaivasvatha (or Shraddhadeva) Manvantara. 27 mahayugas have elapsed in this manvantara and we are in the 28th mahayuga.
Specifically, the Kali Yuga of this 28th mahayuga started in 3102 BCE, believed to be the year of the Mahabharata war according to Vedic astronomy. As of 2023 CE, 5125 years have elapsed in the current Kali Yuga.
So in this mind-bogglingly immense cyclic timescale, the current Brahma is estimated to be 155.52 trillion years old. The universe, along with space and time, gets created and destroyed repeatedly through these cycles.
Correlations to Modern Cosmology
While the timespans described in ancient Vedic texts are incredibly vast compared to a human lifespan, some figures can be roughly correlated to modern cosmological estimates:
- The 15.15 billion years estimated by cosmologists for the age of the universe is similar to the 15.55 trillion years from Vedic science.
- The current Kalpa is stated to be around 4.32 billion years in Vedic texts. This resonates with scientific age estimates of the Earth at 4.54 billion years.
However, there are also major differences – Vedic cycles describe timescales trillions of years longer than current scientific estimates for the age of the universe. The cyclical nature of creation described in Vedic cosmology transcends the big bang model.
The staggering scales of time and precision of minute units in the Vedic system reflect an ancient culture obsessed with understanding time, cycles and the cosmos. The multiplicity of cycles nested within each other represents the interconnected nature of everything in creation, an integral part of India’s cultural heritage.
References:
Rig Veda Book 1 Hymn 164 Verse 15
Yajur Veda, Vajasaneyi Samhita 25.18
Vishnu Purana, Book 1, Chapter 3
Surya Siddhanta, Chapter 1, 12 & 14
