{"id":1644,"date":"2022-09-14T05:18:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T05:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/?p=1644"},"modified":"2022-09-14T05:37:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T05:37:13","slug":"kalchakra-wheel-of-time-according-to-the-vedas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/kalchakra-wheel-of-time-according-to-the-vedas\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalchakra – Wheel of Time according to the Vedas"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

As each grain of Time is destroyed,<\/i><\/div>\n
The next comes along and brings with it either Creation or Destruction.<\/i>
\nThis is the Dance of Shiva.\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

The eternal cycle of Life and Death; Birth and Re-birth; Formation and Dissolution is called the\u00a0Kaal-chakra\u00a0<\/i><\/b>or the\u00a0\u2018Wheel of Time\u2019<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

Puraanic<\/i><\/b>\u00a0genealogies take us back into the mists of time when Human-beings were first trying to settle down on Earth and make it their Home. The\u00a0Age of<\/b>\u00a0<\/i>Kali<\/i>\u00a0(Kaliyug)\u00a0<\/b>is astrologically believed to have commenced on 20th February\u00a03102 BCE and consequently, we are currently in the 5114th year of this Era.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
How did the ancients really perceive their world? Were they also as bewildered by these\u00a0mind-boggling\u00a0numbers as\u00a0we are today? Or did they\u00a0accept it nonchalantly and went back to their daily chores with a shrug.
\n<\/b><\/div>\n
The Indian calendar is ingeniously based on\u00a0BOTH\u00a0the\u00a0Sun and\u00a0Moon; it uses a solar year but divides it into 12 lunar months!\u00a0In this\u00a0calendar, seasons follow the\u00a0Sun; months follow the\u00a0Moon; and days follow both.\u00a0To help the lunar months coincide with the solar year, the practice of inserting an extra month, called the\u00a0Adhik Maas<\/b>, arose which is inserted every 30 months\u00a0since 60 months = 62 months.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Lunar days in the Indian calendar are called\u00a0Tithis<\/b>. They are calculated using the difference of the longitudinal angle between the position of the sun and moon. Because of this, the\u00a0tithi<\/i><\/b>\u00a0may or may not have changed by the time the day has changed\u00a0and this\u00a0is why\u00a0sometimes a\u00a0tithi<\/b><\/i>\u00a0is\u00a0omitted, and at others, two consecutive days share\u00a0the same.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Astrologically, one of the oldest Calendars followed in Hinduism,\u00a0is the\u00a0Saptarishi<\/b>calendar which begins from 6676 BCE (earlier referred to as BC).\u00a0This version was in use in northern India from at least the 4th<\/sup>\u00a0century BCE, as witnessed by the statements of Greek and Roman writers.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Another\u00a0Indian calendar is\u00a0known as\u00a0the Vikram Era, or the\u00a0Vikram Samvat<\/b>, which began in 57 BCE.\u00a0This calendar derives its name from the original king\u00a0Vikramaditya<\/a><\/b>\u00a0of\u00a0Ujjain<\/a><\/b>\u00a0and the date is supposed to mark the victory of the king\u00a0over the\u00a0Shakas<\/i><\/b>, who had invaded Ujjain. Another calenad which is the Official Indian calendar now is known as the Saka Calendar and starts in 78 CE.<\/div>\n
Measurement of Time in Hinduism<\/b><\/u><\/div>\n

The authenticity and veracity of these dates will be dealt\u00a0with subsequently, but for now let us try to understand the basic units of measurement used in ancient India. These units are based on the method of calculation\u00a0known as\u00a0Kaal-ganana.<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the principles of Indian time measurement, the smallest unit of measurement of Time is the involuntary time taken to drop one\u2019s eyelid or the\u00a0Blink of an Eye<\/b><\/i>. It is remarkable that the ancients chose such a mode of measurement because this time is Constant for all living individuals hence does not depend on any Variables!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This unit is known as a\u00a0\u2018<\/i>Nimish\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Three Units (03)\u00a0of Nimish combine to\u00a0form a\u00a0\u2018Kshan\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Five Units\u00a0\u00a0 (05)\u00a0of Kshan combine to\u00a0form a\u00a0\u2018K<\/b>ashtha\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Thirty Units (30)\u00a0of Kashtha combine to form a\u00a0\u2018Kaal\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Thirty Units (30) of Kaal combine to form a\u00a0\u2018Muhurat\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Thirty Units (30) of Muhurat then combine to form a 24 hour period known as the\u00a0\u2018Divas-ratri\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\n
This 24 hour period is also\u00a0divided into an overlapping division called the\u00a0\u2018Praher\u2019\u00a0<\/b>or\u2018Paher\u2019<\/i><\/b>.Each 12 hour period has 4 Prahers each, thereby dividing\u00a0one rotation of Earth into 8 equal parts.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
    \n
  • \n
    Fifteen\u00a0Units (15) of Divas-Ratri form a fortnight or a\u00a0\u2018Paksh\u2019<\/b>. The bright waxing Moon fortnight is called the\u00a0Shukla Paksh<\/b><\/i>\u00a0and the dark waning Moon fortnight is known as the\u00a0Krishna Paksh.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    In one of the higher planets called\u00a0Pitralok<\/i>,<\/b>\u00a0one fortnight of humans corresponds to one day and a similar time period counts as their night. Therefore, the Bright fortnight forms the Day of the\u00a0Pitras<\/i>\u00a0<\/b>and the Dark one forms the Night.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
      \n
    • \n
      Two Units (2) of Pakshs combine to form a month or a\u00a0\u2018Masa\u2019<\/b><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
    • \n
      Six Units (6) of Maas jointly are referred to as an\u00a0\u2018Ayan\u2019<\/b><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      <\/div>\n
      The six months when Sun is in the Northern Hemisphere are called the\u00a0Uttarayan<\/i>\u00a0<\/b>and the corresponding six in the lower hemisphere form the\u00a0Dakshinayan<\/i>.<\/b>\u00a0This bright northern jurney of Sun forms One day of the\u00a0Devas<\/b><\/i>\u00a0and the six human month Southern journey forms their Night.\u00a0Thus, for the demigods,\u00a0One human year is equivalent to One Day-Night period.<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      Calculation of Yugas<\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      Lord Brahma\u2019s day and night are each known as a\u00a0Kalpa\u00a0<\/i><\/b>and Brahma\u00a0lives for a Hundred such Years. One day in the life of Brahma thus\u00a0comes to be close to4.32 Billion human\u00a0years!<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
        \n
      • \n
        Like our 12 hour division, each day of Brahma is divided into fourteen (14) divisions known as the\u00a0Manvantars<\/b>. Each Manvantar is ruled over by a leader of mankind known as the\u00a0Manu<\/i><\/b>.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
      • \n
        Each Manvantar is further divided into 71\u00a0Mahayugas<\/b>\u00a0just as each hour of our day is divided into 60 minutes.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
      • \n
        Each Mahayuga is further sub-divided into 4\u00a0Yugas<\/b>\u00a0each which are \u2013\u00a0Satyuga<\/i>,<\/b>\u00a0Tretayuga<\/b><\/i>,\u00a0Dvaparyuga<\/i><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Kaliyuga<\/i><\/b>.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        <\/div>\n
        In the\u00a0continuum called\u00a0Mahayuga,<\/i><\/b>\u00a0each successive Yuga is lesser in duration than its predecessor by 25%. Also, at the beginning and end of each Yuga, there exists a\u00a0Sandhya\u00a0<\/b><\/i>which forms 10% of the duration of that Yuga. These are the durations of the respective Yugas:<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \n
        \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Kritayug<\/b><\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yuga<\/td>\n\n
        4000<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhya<\/td>\n\n
        400<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhyansh<\/td>\n\n
        400<\/u><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        4800<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Tretayug<\/b><\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yuga<\/td>\n\n
        3000<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhya<\/td>\n\n
        300<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhyansh<\/td>\n\n
        300<\/u><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        3600<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Dwaparyug<\/b><\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yuga<\/td>\n\n
        2000<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhya<\/td>\n\n
        200<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhyansh<\/td>\n\n
        200<\/u><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        2400<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Kaliyug<\/b><\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yuga<\/td>\n\n
        1000<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhya<\/td>\n\n
        100<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sandhyansh<\/td>\n\n
        100<\/u><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        1200<\/u><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        <\/td>\n<\/td>\n\n
        <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
        		Total<\/td>\n\n
        <\/div>\n
        12000<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        In\u00a0Deva Years<\/b>, they correspond to the\u00a0durations of 4800, 3600, 2400 and 1200 respectively\u00a0and since One Deva Year is equal to 360 human years,\u00a0these figures become 1728000,\u00a01296000, 864000 and\u00a0432000\u00a0respectively.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        Once a Chaturyuga cycle gets over, there is a deluge which drowns the entire\u00a0Earth after which life begins anew with the next\u00a0Chaturyuga\/Mahayuga cycle.<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \n

        \"\"<\/p>\n

        When\u00a0these cycles of time have repeated themselves for a\u00a0100 years of Brahma, it is time for the creator-god to leave his mortal body as well.\u00a0At the end of this Time, there is dissolution of the entire Creation and all living as well as non-living matter is absorbed unto itself to once again\u00a0<\/b>Begin at the Beginning<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

        <\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        As each grain of Time is destroyed, The next comes along and brings with it either Creation or Destruction. This is the Dance of Shiva.\u00a0 The eternal cycle of Life and Death; Birth and Re-birth; Formation and Dissolution is called the\u00a0Kaal-chakra\u00a0or the\u00a0\u2018Wheel of Time\u2019. Puraanic\u00a0genealogies take us back into the mists of time when Human-beings <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,23],"tags":[18,19],"class_list":["post-1644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","category-space","tag-slider","tag-slider1"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/202107061546-main.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1644"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1650,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644\/revisions\/1650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bytesqube.com\/vedicverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}