Hindu units of measurement: Encyclopedia - Hindu units of measurement

Hindu units of measurement

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.

Hindu units of measurement - Time

The Hindu metrics of time (Kaala Vyavahara) can be summarized as below.

Hindu units of measurement - 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 ghati is 60 vighatis, or approximately 24 minutes
• a muhurta is equal to 2 ghatis, 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.)

• A leekshaka is 1/60th of a pranamu, or 1/15th of a second;
• a lava is 1/60th of a leekshakamu, or 1/900th of a second;
• a renu is 1/60th of a lavamu, or 1/54,000th of a second;
• a truti is 1/60th of a renuvu, or the time it takes for a needle to penetrate a lotus leaf, or 1/3,240,000th of a second.

Hindu units of measurement - 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 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 is called gaura (bright) or shukla paksha; the one between full moon and new moon krishna (dark) paksha
• 2 lunar months are 1 Ruthu
• 3 Rithus are 1 Aayanam
• 2 Aayanas are 1 year

Hindu units of measurement - Tropical metrics

• a yaama is 7½ Ghatis
• 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.)

Hindu units of measurement - Yugas

Years are grouped into yugas (ages):

• One cycle of the above four yugas is one mahayuga (4.32 million solar years)
• A manvantara consists of 71 mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years)
• After each manvantara follows one Sandhi Kala of the same duration as a Krita Yuga (1,728,000 = 4x solar years). (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 times 4x solar years)

= 994 mahayugas + (60 x solar years)

= 994 mahayugas + (6 times 10 x ) solar years

= 994 mahayugas + 6 mahayugas

= 1000 mahayugas

as is confirmed by the Gita statement "sahasra-yuga paryantam ahar-yad brahmano viduH", meaning, a day of brahma is of 1000 (maha-)yugas.

Thus a day of Brahma is of duration: 4.32 billion solar years.

Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma; the life cycle of Brahma is one hundred years of Brahma, or 311 trillion years. We are currently in the 51st year of the present Brahma and so about 155 trillion years have elapsed since He took over as Brahma.

The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight 17 February / 18 February in 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.

See also

• Hindu calendar
• Jyotish

Categories: Cleanup from September 2005 | Articles lacking sources | Timekeeping | Concepts in Hinduism | Obsolete units of measure | Human-based units of measure | Shabd paths

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Hindu units of measurement", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki