Kala- Time

 

Time is an impersonal manifestation of the Lord’s energy, unrelated to the three modes, unconscious, and perceived as past, present and future. Time is one of the causes of creation and destruction in the universe, and its cycle is relative in different planetary systems and species of life. The śruti confirms:

sa viśvakṛd viśvavid ātmā-yonir jñaḥ kāla-kālo guṇī sarvavid yaḥ

pradhāna-kṣetrajña-patir guṇeśaḥ saṁsāra-mokṣa-sthiti-bandha-hetuḥ

(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, 6.16; Govinda-bhāṣya, Introduction)

“The Supreme Soul is the creator of the universe. He is omniscient, the source of Himself, the supreme knower, the controller of time, omniscient, and replete with all transcendental qualities. He is the Lord of the material modes and the ruler of material nature and the living entities. He is the cause of the jīvas’ bondage, permanence within the cycle of birth and death, and liberation from it.”

And the smṛti says:

yo ‘yaṁ kālas tasya te ‘vyakta-bandho ceṣṭām āhuś ceṣṭate yena viśvam

nimeṣādir vatsarānto mahīyāṁs taṁ tveśānaṁ kṣema-dhāma prapadye

(Bhāgavatam, 10.3.26; Govinda-bhāṣya, 2.3.45)

“O inaugurator of the material energy, this wonderful creation works under the control of powerful time, which is divided into seconds, minutes, hours and years. This element of time, which extends for many millions of years, is but another form of Lord Viṣṇu. For Your pastimes, You act as the controller of time, but You are the reservoir of all good fortune. Let me offer my full surrender unto Your Lordship.”

 

However, time exerts no influence over Lord Kṛṣṇa and His abode:

na yatra kālo ‘nimiṣāṁ paraḥ prabhuḥ kuto nu devā jagatāṁ ya īśire

na yatra sattvaṁ na rajas tamaś ca na vai vikāro na mahān pradhānam

(Bhāgavatam, 2.2.17; Govinda-bhāṣya, 1.1.7)

“In that transcendental state of labdhopaśānti, there is no supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion, nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the material nature.”

 

 The calculation of time is elaborately described by Maitreya muni in the Bhāgavatam (3.11.4-39):

sa kālaḥ paramāṇur vai yo bhuṅkte paramāṇutām

sato ‘viśeṣa-bhug yas tu sa kālaḥ paramo mahān

“Atomic time is measured according to its covering a particular atomic space. That time which covers the unmanifest aggregate of atoms is called the great time.”

aṇur dvau paramāṇū syāt trasareṇus trayaḥ smṛtaḥ

jālārka-raśmy-avagataḥ kham evānupatann agāt

“The division of gross time is calculated as follows: two atoms make one double atom, and three double atoms make one hexatom. This hexatom is visible in the sunshine which enters through the holes of a window screen. One can clearly see that the hexatom goes up towards the sky.”

trasareṇu-trikaṁ bhuṅkte yaḥ kālaḥ sa truṭiḥ smṛtaḥ

śata-bhāgas tu vedhaḥ syāt tais tribhis tu lavaḥ smṛtaḥ

“The time duration needed for the integration of three trasareṇus is called a truṭi, and one hundred truṭis make one vedha. Three vedhas make one lava.”

nimeṣas tri-lavo jñeya āmnātas te trayaḥ kṣaṇaḥ

kṣaṇān pañca viduḥ kāṣṭhāṁ laghu tā daśa pañca ca

“The duration of time of three lavas is equal to one nimeṣa, the combination of three nimeṣas makes one kṣaṇa, five kṣaṇas combined together make one kāṣṭhā, and fifteen kāṣṭhās make one laghu.”

laghūni vai samāmnātā daśa pañca ca nāḍikā

te dve muhūrtaḥ praharaḥ ṣaḍ yāmaḥ sapta vā nṛṇām

“Fifteen laghus make one nāḍikā, which is also called a daṇḍa. Two daṇḍas make one muhūrta, and six or seven daṇḍas make one fourth of a day or night, according to human calculation.”

dvādaśārdha-palonmānaṁ caturbhiś catur-aṅgulaiḥ

svarṇa-māṣaiḥ kṛta-cchidraṁ yāvat prastha-jala-plutam

“The measuring pot for one nāḍikā, or daṇḍa, can be prepared with a six-pala-weight [fourteen ounce] pot of copper, in which a hole is bored with a gold probe weighing four māṣa and measuring four fingers long. When the pot is placed on water, the time before the water overflows in the pot is called one daṇḍa.”

 

yāmāś catvāraś catvāro martyānām ahanī ubhe

pakṣaḥ pañca-daśāhāni śuklaḥ kṛṣṇaś ca mānada

“It is calculated that there are four praharas, which are also called yāmas, in the day and four in the night of the human being. Similarly, fifteen days and nights are a fortnight, and there are two fortnights, white and black, in a month.”

tayoḥ samuccayo māsaḥ pitṝṇāṁ tad ahar-niśam

dvau tāv ṛtuḥ ṣaḍ ayanaṁ dakṣiṇaṁ cottaraṁ divi

“The aggregate of two fortnights is one month, and that period is one complete day and night for the Pitā planets. Two of such months comprise one season, and six months comprise one complete movement of the sun from south to north.”

ayane cāhanī prāhur vatsaro dvādaśa smṛtaḥ

saṁvatsara-śataṁ nṝṇāṁ paramāyur nirūpitam

“Two solar movements make one day and night of the demigods, and that combination of day and night is one complete calendar year for the human being. The human being has a duration of life of one hundred years.”

graharkṣa-tārā-cakra-sthaḥ paramāṇv-ādinā jagat

saṁvatsarāvasānena paryety animiṣo vibhuḥ

“Influential stars, planets, luminaries and atoms all over the universe are rotating in their respective orbits under the direction of the Supreme, represented by eternal kāla.”

saṁvatsaraḥ parivatsara iḍā-vatsara eva ca

anuvatsaro vatsaraś ca viduraivaṁ prabhāṣyate

“There are five different names for the orbits of the sun, moon, stars and luminaries in the firmament, and they each have their own saṁvatsara.”

yaḥ sṛjya-śaktim urudhocchvasayan sva-śaktyā

puṁso ‘bhramāya divi dhāvati bhūta-bhedaḥ

kālākhyayā guṇamayaṁ kratubhir vitanvaṁs

tasmai baliṁ harata vatsara-pañcakāya

“O Vidura, the sun enlivens all living entities with his unlimited heat and light. He diminishes the duration of life of all living entities in order to release them from their illusion of material attachment, and he enlarges the path of elevation to the heavenly kingdom. He thus moves in the firmament with great velocity, and therefore everyone should offer him respects once every five years with all ingredients of worship.”

vidura uvāca

pitṛ-deva-manuṣyāṇām āyuḥ param idaṁ smṛtam

pareṣāṁ gatim ācakṣva ye syuḥ kalpād bahir vidaḥ

“Vidura said: I now understand the life durations of the residents of the Pitā planets and heavenly planets as well as that of the human beings. Now kindly inform me of the durations of life of those greatly learned living entities who are beyond the range of a kalpa.”

bhagavān veda kālasya gatiṁ bhagavato nanu

viśvaṁ vicakṣate dhīrā yoga-rāddhena cakṣuṣā

“O spiritually powerful one, you can understand the movements of eternal time, which is the controlling form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because you are a self-realized person, you can see everything by the power of mystic vision.”

maitreya uvāca

kṛtaṁ tretā dvāparaṁ ca kaliś ceti catur-yugam

divyair dvādaśabhir varṣaiḥ sāvadhānaṁ nirūpitam

“Maitreya said: O Vidura, the four millenniums are called the Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali yugas. The aggregate number of years of all of these combined is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.”

catvāri trīṇi dve caikaṁ kṛtādiṣu yathā-kramam

saṅkhyātāni sahasrāṇi dvi-guṇāni śatāni ca

“The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of the years of the demigods; the duration of the Treta millennium equals 3600 years of the demigods; the duration of the Dvāpara millennium equals 2,400 years; and that of the Kali millennium is 1,200 years of the demigods.”

sandhyā-sandhyāṁśayor antar yaḥ kālaḥ śata-saṅkhyayoḥ

tam evāhur yugaṁ taj-jñā yatra dharmo vidhīyate

“The transitional periods before and after every millennium, which are a few hundred years as aforementioned, are known as yuga-sandhyās, or the conjunctions of two millenniums, according to the expert astronomers. In those periods all kinds of religious activities are performed.”

dharmaś catuṣ-pān manujān kṛte samanuvartate

sa evānyeṣv adharmeṇa vyeti pādena vardhatā

“O Vidura, in the Satya millennium mankind properly and completely maintained the principles of religion, but in other millenniums religion gradually decreased by one part as irreligion was proportionately admitted.”

tri-lokyā yuga-sāhasraṁ bahir ābrahmaṇo dinam

tāvaty eva niśā tāta yan nimīlati viśva-sṛk

“Outside of the three planetary systems [Svarga, Martya and Pātāla], the four yugas multiplied by one thousand comprise one day on the planet of Brahmā. A similar period comprises a night of Brahmā, in which the creator of the universe goes to sleep.”

niśāvasāna ārabdho loka-kalpo ‘nuvartate

yāvad dinaṁ bhagavato manūn bhuñjaṁś catur-daśa

“After the end of Brahmā’s night, the creation of the three worlds begins again in the daytime of Brahmā, and they continue to exist through the life durations of fourteen consecutive Manus, or fathers of mankind.”

svaṁ svaṁ kālaṁ manur bhuṅkte sādhikāṁ hy eka-saptatim

“Each and every Manu enjoys a life of a little more than seventy-one sets of four millenniums.”

manvantareṣu manavas tad-vaṁśyā ṛṣayaḥ surāḥ

bhavanti caiva yugapat sureśāś cānu ye ca tān

”After the dissolution of each and every Manu, the next Manu comes in order, along with his descendants, who rule over the different planets; but the seven famous sages, and demigods like Indra and their followers, such as the Gandharvas, all appear simultaneously with Manu.”

eṣa dainan-dinaḥ sargo brāhmas trailokya-vartanaḥ

tiryaṅ-nṛ-pitṛ-devānāṁ sambhavo yatra karmabhiḥ

“In the creation, during Brahmā’s day, the three planetary systems—Svarga, Martya and Pātāla—revolve, and the inhabitants, including the lower animals, human beings, demigods and Pitās, appear and disappear in terms of their fruitive activities.”

manvantareṣu bhagavān bibhrat sattvaṁ sva-mūrtibhiḥ

manv-ādibhir idaṁ viśvam avaty udita-pauruṣaḥ

“In each and every change of Manu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears by manifesting His internal potency in different incarnations, as Manu and others. Thus He maintains the universe by discovered power.”

tamo-mātrām upādāya pratisaṁruddha-vikramaḥ

kālenānugatāśeṣa āste tūṣṇīṁ dinātyaye

“At the end of the day, under the insignificant portion of the mode of darkness, the powerful manifestation of the universe merges in the darkness of night. By the influence of eternal time, the innumerable living entities remain merged in that dissolution, and everything is silent.”

tam evānv api dhīyante lokā bhūr-ādayas trayaḥ

niśāyām anuvṛttāyāṁ nirmukta-śaśi-bhāskaram

“When the night of Brahmā ensues, all the three worlds are out of sight, and the sun and the moon are without glare, just as in the due course of an ordinary night.”

tri-lokyāṁ dahyamānāyāṁ śaktyā saṅkarṣaṇāgninā

yānty ūṣmaṇā maharlokāj janaṁ bhṛgv-ādayo ‘rditāḥ

“The devastation takes place due to the fire emanating from the mouth of Saṅkarṣaṇa, and thus great sages like Bhṛgu and other inhabitants of Maharloka transport themselves to Janaloka, being distressed by the warmth of the blazing fire which rages through the three worlds below.”

tāvat tri-bhuvanaṁ sadyaḥ kalpāntaidhita-sindhavaḥ

plāvayanty utkaṭāṭopa-caṇḍa-vāteritormayaḥ

“At the beginning of the devastation all the seas overflow, and hurricane winds blow very violently. Thus the waves of the seas become ferocious, and in no time at all the three worlds are full of water.”

antaḥ sa tasmin salila āste ‘nantāsano hariḥ

yoga-nidrā-nimīlākṣaḥ stūyamāno janālayaiḥ

“The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, lies down in the water on the seat of Ananta, with His eyes closed, and the inhabitants of the Janaloka planets offer their glorious prayers unto the Lord with folded hands.”

evaṁ-vidhair aho-rātraiḥ kāla-gatyopalakṣitaiḥ

apakṣitam ivāsyāpi paramāyur vayaḥ-śatam

“Thus the process of the exhaustion of the duration of life exists for every one of the living beings, including Lord Brahmā. One’s life endures for only one hundred years, in terms of the times in the different planets.”

yad ardham āyuṣas tasya parārdham abhidhīyate

pūrvaḥ parārdho ‘pakrānto hy aparo ‘dya pravartate

“The one hundred years of Brahmā’s life are divided into two parts, the first half and the second half. The first half of the duration of Brahmā’s life is already over, and the second half is now current.”

pūrvasyādau parārdhasya brāhmo nāma mahān abhūt

kalpo yatrābhavad brahmā śabda-brahmeti yaṁ viduḥ

“In the beginning of the first half of Brahmā’s life, there was a millennium called Brāhma-kalpa, wherein Lord Brahmā appeared. The birth of the Vedas was simultaneous with Brahmā’s birth.”

tasyaiva cānte kalpo ‘bhūd yaṁ pādmam abhicakṣate

yad dharer nābhi-sarasa āsīl loka-saroruham

“The millennium which followed the first Brāhma millennium is known as the Pādma-kalpa because in that millennium the universal lotus flower grew out of the navel reservoir of water of the Personality of Godhead, Hari.”

ayaṁ tu kathitaḥ kalpo dvitīyasyāpi bhārata

vārāha iti vikhyāto yatrāsīc chūkaro hariḥ

“O descendant of Bharata, the first millennium in the second half of the life of Brahmā is also known as the Vārāha millennium because the Personality of Godhead appeared in that millennium as the hog incarnation.”

kālo ‘yaṁ dvi-parārdhākhyo nimeṣa upacaryate

avyākṛtasyānantasya hy anāder jagad-ātmanaḥ

“The duration of the two parts of Brahmā’s life, as above mentioned, is calculated to be equal to one nimeṣa [less than a second] for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is unchanging and unlimited and is the cause of all causes of the universe.”

kālo ‘yaṁ paramāṇv-ādir dvi-parārdhānta īśvaraḥ

naiveśituṁ prabhur bhūmna īśvaro dhāma-māninām

“Eternal time is certainly the controller of different dimensions, from that of the atom up to the superdivisions of the duration of Brahmā’s life; but, nevertheless, it is controlled by the Supreme. Time can control only those who are body conscious, even up to the Satyaloka or the other higher planets of the universe.”