Hinduism’s understanding of time is as grandiose as time itself. While most cultures base their cosmologies on familiar units such as few hundreds or thousands of years, the Hindu concept of time embraces billions and trillions of years. The Puranas describe time units from the infinitesimal truti, lasting 1/1,000,000 of a second to a mahamantavara of 311 trillion years. Hindu sages describe time as cyclic, an endless procession of creation, preservation and dissolution. Scientists such as Carl Sagan have expressed amazement at the accuracy of space and time descriptions given by the ancient rishis and saints, who fathomed the secrets of the universe through their mystically awakened senses.

Introduction

The astronomical time cycles mentioned in ancient Hindu astronomical and Puranic texts are remarkably similar to each other. Old Indian measures are still in use today, primarily for religious purposes in Hinduism and Jainism. They also are employed in the teachings of Surat Shabda Yoga.

The Hindu cosmological time cycles are described in verses 11–23 of Chapter 1, Surya Siddhanta [2]:-

“(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 (sāvana) month 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 gods.

(14) The day and night of the gods and of the demons are mutually opposed to one another. Six times sixty of them are a year of the gods, and likewise of the demons.

(15) Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a Quadruple Age(chaturyuga); of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two solar years.

(16) is composed that Quadruple Age(chaturyuga), with its dawn and twilight. The difference of the Golden (krtayuga) and the other Ages (yugas), as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Virtue in each, is as follows :

(17) The tenth part of a (Quadruple) Age (chaturyuga), multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the Golden (krta) and the other yugas: the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.

(18) One and seventy chaturyugas make a Patriarchate (manvantara or Patriarchal Age of one manu); at its end is a twilight which has the number of years of a Golden Age (krtayuga), and which is a deluge (pralaya).

(19) In an Aeon (kalpa) are reckoned fourteen such Patriarchs (manus) with their respective twilights; at the commencement of the Aeon (kalpa) is a fifteenth dawn, having the length of a Golden Age (krtayuga).

(20) The kalpa, thus composed of a thousand chaturyugas, and which brings about the destruction of all that exist (bhoo), 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 Patriarchs (manus) are past, with their respective twilights; and of the Patriarch Manu son of Vivasvant, twenty-seven Ages (chaturyugas) are past;

(23). Of the present, the twenty-eighth, Age (chaturyuga), this Golden Age (krtayuga) is past; from this point,reckoning up the time, one should compute together the whole number.”

Time

The Hindu metrics of time (Kāal Vavahara) can be summarized as below.

Hindu units of time on a logarithmic scale.

Sidereal metrics
• a paramanu is the normal interval of blinking in humans, or approximately 4 seconds
• a vighati is 6 paramaanus, or approximately 24 seconds
• a ghadiya is 60 vighatis, or approximately 24 minutes
• a muhurta is equal to 2 ghadiyas, or approximately 48 minutes
• a nakshatra ahoratram or sidereal day is exactly equal to 30 muhurtas (Note: A day is considered to begin and end at sunrise, not midnight.)

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
• 10 Muhúrttas = 1 day (24 hours)
• 50 days = 1 month
• 6 months = 1 Ayana
• 2 Ayanas = 1 year or one day (day + night) of the gods.

Small units of time used in the Vedas
• a trasarenu is the combination of 6 celestial atoms.
• a truti is the time needed to integrate 3 trasarenus, or 1/1687.5th of a second.
• a vedha is 100 trutis.
• a lava is 3 vedhas
• a nimesha is 3 lavas, or a blink.
• a kshanas is 3 nimeshas.
• a kashthas is 5 kshanas, or about 8 seconds.
• a laghu is 15 kashthas, or about 2 minutes.
• 15 laghus make one nadika, which is also called a danda. This equals the time before water overflows in a six-pala-weight [fourteen ounce] pot of copper, in which a hole is bored with a gold probe weighing four masha and measuring four fingers long. The pot is then placed on water for calculation.
• 2 dandas make one muhurta.
• 6 or 7 muhurtas make one yamah, or 1/4th of a day or night.
• 4 praharas or 4 yamas are in each day or each night.
•
Lunar metrics

• a tithi (also spelled 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

Tropical metrics
• a yaama (याम) is 7½ Ghatis (घटि)
• 8 yaamas 1 half of the day(either day or night)
• an ahoratram is a tropical day (Note: A day is considered to begin and end at sunrise, not midnight.)
Reckoning of time among other entities
Reckoning of time amongst the pitr (ancestors).
• 1 human fortnight = 1 day of the pitrs
• 30 days of the pitrs = 1 month of the pitrs
• 12 months of the pitrs = 1 year of the pitrs
• The lifespan of the pitrs is 100 years of the pitrs (= 36,000 pitr days = 1500 human years)
Reckoning of time amongst the Devas (Gods).
• 1 human year = 1 day of the Devas.
• 30 days of the Devas = 1 month of the Devas.
• 12 months of the Devas = 1 year of the Devas = 1 divine year.
• The lifespan of the Devas is 100 years of the Devas (= 36,000 human years)

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 Krita Yuga
• 3,000 + 300 + 300 = 3,600 divine years = 1 Tretá Yuga
• 2,000 + 200 + 200 = 2,400 divine years = 1 Dwápara Yuga
• 1,000 + 100 + 100 = 1,200 divine years = 1 Kali Yuga
• 12,000 divine year = 4 Yugas = 1 Mahayuga(also called divine yuga)

Reckoning of time for Brahma, the creator.
• 1000 Mahayugas = 1 kalpa = 1 day (day only) of Brahma (4.32 billion human years; which is the actual scientifically estimated age of the Sun, Estimated age of Sun is 4.59 Billion Years).
(Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma)
• 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)
One day of Brahma is divided into 10,000 parts called charanas. The charanas are divided as follows:
The Four Yugas
4 charanas (1,728,000 solar years)Satya Yuga

3 charanas(1,296,000 solar years)Treta Yuga

2 charanas(864,000 solar years) Dwapar Yuga

1 charanas(432,000 solar years) Kali Yuga

The cycle repeats itself so altogether there are 1,000 cycles of mahayugas in one day of Brahma.
• One cycle of the above four yugas is one mahayuga (4.32 million solar years)
• as is confirmed by the Gita statement “sahasra-yuga paryantam ahar-yad brahmano viduh”, meaning, a day of brahma is of 1000 mahayugas. Thus a day of Brahma, kalpa, is of duration: 4.32 billion solar years. Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma
• A manvantara consists of 71 mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Each Manvantara is ruled by a Manu.
• After each manvantara follows one Sandhi Kala of the same duration as a Krita Yuga (1,728,000 = 4 Charana). (It is said that during a Sandhi Kala, the entire earth is submerged in water.)
• A kalpa consists of a period of 1,728,000 solar years called Adi Sandhi, followed by 14 manvantaras and Sandhi Kalas.
• A day of Brahma equals
(14 times 71 mahayugas) + (15 x 4 Charanas)
= 994 mahayugas + (60 Charanas)
= 994 mahayugas + (6 x 10) Charanas
= 994 mahayugas + 6 mahayugas
= 1,000 mahayugas

Our current date

Currently, 50 years of Brahma have elapsed and we are in the first Day of the 51st year. This Brahma’s day, Kalpa, is named as ShvetaVaraha Kalpa. Within this Day, six Manvantaras have already elapsed and we are in the seventh Manvantara, named as - Vaivasvatha Manvantara. Within the Vaivasvatha Manavantara, 27 Mahayugas (4 Yugas together is a Mahayuga), and the Krita, Treta and Dwapara Yugas of the 28th Mahayuga have elapsed. We are in the Kaliyuga of the 28th Mahayuga. This Kaliyuga began in the year 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian Calendar. Since 50 years of Brahma have already elapsed, we are in 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 x 10 x 1000 x 2 = 8.64 Billion Years (1 Kalpa and Pralaya of Brahma)
8.64 x 109 x 30 x 12 = 3.1104 Trillion Years (1 year of Brahma)
3.1104 x 1012 x 50 = 155.52 Trillion Years (50 years of Brahma)
(6 x 71 x 4320000 x 1000) + 7 x 1.728 x 106 = 1.840332096 Trillion years elapsed in first six Manvataras, and Sandhi Kalas in the current Kalpa
27 x 4320000 = 116.640000 million years elapsed in first 27 Mahayugas of the current Manvantara
1.728 x 106 + 1.296 x 106 + 864000 = 3.888 million years elapsed in current Mahayuga
3012 + 2008 = 5020 years elapsed in current Kaliyuga.
So the total time elapsed since current Brahma is
155.52 x 1012 + 1.840332096×1012 + 0.00012053302 = 157.36 Trillion Years
The current Kali Yuga began at midnight 17 February / 18 February in 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.

References :-
See also
• Surya Siddhanta
• Indian science and technology
• Indian mathematics
• Hindu astronomy
• Vedanga Jyotisha
• Hindu calendar
• Jyotish
• Vedas
• Cosmology

Notes
1. ^ source: Hinduism Today April/May/June 2007 p. 14
2. ^ cf. Burgess.
More References
• Ebenezer Burgess. “Translation of the Surya-Siddhanta, a text-book of Hindu Astronomy”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 6 (1860): 141–498.
• Victor J. Katz. A History of Mathematics: An Introduction, 1998.
• Dwight William Johnson. Exegesis of Hindu Cosmological Time Cycles, 2003.
• Alaska Mark. Surya Siddhanta, Chapter I with Commentary and Illustrations, 2005.
External links
• http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp037.htm Time measurement section of the Vishnu Purana Book I Chapter III
• http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/41.html One Cosmic Day of Creator Brahma
• http://vinaymangal.googlepages.com/VedicTimeTravel.pdf Vedic Time Travel, Elaborate depiction by Vinay Mangal
• Mahaa-yuga-s
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_measurement
• http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/yugatime.html