INTERESTING TRUTHS FROM SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 9

Many readers might be familiar with the Sankalpa Mantras chanted before the start of any Puja, “Shube shobane muhurte, adya Brahmana, dvitiya parardhe, Shweta Varaha kalpe, Vaivasvata manvantare, ashtavim shatime kaliyuge pratama paade, …” Ever wonder what this means? This brief article provides an explanation

Srimad Bhagavatham defines the various divisions of Kala (time) from the smallest to the greatest, in great detail.

The minutest particle of material substance (which cannot be further divided) is called Paramanu. Two Paramanus make one Anu. Three Anus make a Trasarenu. A Trasarenu is one of the tiny specks that can be seen floating in a sun-beam that enters a room.

The measure of time taken by the sun to flit across a Paramanu is also called a Paramanu. The time taken by the sun to flit across 3 Trasarenus is called a Truti. From here, bigger units are time are defined. The divisions of time as defined in the Bhagavatam are shown in the table below:

Definition / description	Name of the Unit of Time
Time taken by the sun to flit across a Paramanu (smallest unit of material substance)	Paramanu
Time taken by sun to flit across 3 Trasarenus	Truti
100 Trutis	Vedha
3 Vedhas	Lava
3 Lavas	Nimesha (twinkling of an eye)
3 Nimeshas	Kshana
5 Kshanas	Kashtha
15 Kashthas	Laghu
15 Laghus	Nadika (Nazhika) (24 minutes)
2 Nadikas	Muhurtha (48 minutes)
6 or 7 Nadikas (depending on whether the day or night is short or long). A Prahara is one quarter of a day or night of humans	Prahara
Each day and night has 4 Yaamas each	Yaama (3 hours)
30 Muhurthas	Day + Night (24 hours)
15 days	Paksha (Fortnight)
2 Pakshas (1 human month = 1 day and night of the Pitrus or ancestors. Thus, one year of the Pitrus is 30 human years)	Masa (Month)
2 Masas	Ritu (Season) (there are 6 Ritus)
6 Masas	Ayana (there are 2 Ayanas – Uttarayana and Dakshinayana)
2 Ayanas (An Ayana or 6 human months equals one day and night of the Devas. Thus, one year of the Devas is about 360 human years)	Samvatsara (Year)
17.28 lakh human years	Satya Yuga (Krita Yuga)
12.96 lakh human years	Treta Yuga
8.64 lakh human years	Dvapara Yuga
4.32 lakh human years	Kali Yuga
43.2 lakh human years (one cycle of the above 4 Yugas)	Charturyuga or Mahayuga
1 day of Brahma (432 crore human years). Another 1000 Mahayugas is 1 night of Brahma	1000 Mahayugas = 1 Kalpa
1 day and 1 night of Brahma. This is 2000 Mahayugas or 864 crore human years	2 Kalpas
Approx. 71 Mahayugas is called a Manvantara. Each Manvantara is ruled over by a Manu.	Manvantara (nearly 31 crore human years)
14 Manvantaras	Kalpa
Half life or 50 years of Brahma	Parardha
Life of Brahma (100 years). 2 Kalpas, i.e. 864 crore human years x 360 x 100 = 311 trillion human years (a trillion has 12 zeroes)	2 Parardhas = 1 Mahakalpa

During a Sankalpa for any Puja, we chant, “Shube shobane muhurte, adya Brahmana, dvitiya parardhe, Shweta Varaha kalpe, Vaivasvata manvantare, ashtavim shatime kaliyuge pratama paade, …” We can understand the meaning of the Sankalpam with the help of the table given above, and the explanations below:

Thus, the life of Brahma is about 311 trillion human years. According to some sources, the current Brahma is the seventh Brahma. We are in the current Brahma’s Dvitiya Parardha (second 50 years).

One day of Brahma is called a Kalpa (432 crore human years). Brahma’s night is of a similar duration. The name of the present Kalpa is Shweta Varaha Kalpa.

A Kalpa is divided into 14 Manvantaras. Thus, each Manvantara has nearly 31 crore human years. Each Manvantara has a Manu (ruler). The current Manvantara is called Vaivasvata Manvantara and the current Manu is Vaivasvata (son of Vivasvan).

A Manvantara has 71 Mahayugas. In the current Vaivasvata Manvantara, we are in the Kaliyuga of the 28^th Mahayuga. We are in the first quarter of the present Kaliyuga. Some scholars calculate that the present Kaliyuga is only about 5,000 years old. The total duration of a Kaliyuga is 4.32 lakh human years. Thus, we have some way to go before the present Kaliyuga ends.

Every Samvatsara (year) has a name. There are 60 Samvatsara names beginning with Prabhava and ending with Akshaya. The year 2020-21 CE is called Shaarvari, which is the 34^th in this order. After the end of every 60 years, the cycle begins again.

The six Ritus (seasons) are Vasanta, Greeshma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemanta and Shishira.

Thus, the division of time according to our Sanatana Dharma is most elaborate, scientific and accurate.

REFERENCES:

1. SB 3.11

2. https://www.quora.com/What-is-Manvantara-Kalpa-and-Yuga-in-Hinduism-Which-Yuga-Kalpa-and-Manvantara-are-going-on-now (last checked 8 Dec 2020)

3. https://www.quora.com/What-is-Kalpa-Manvantara-and-Yuga-in-Hindu-mythology (last checked 8 Dec 2020)

4. http://www.ahladam.com/en-US/devotional/puranas/skanda-purana.php/23 (last checked 8 Dec 2020)

5.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpa_(aeon)#Cycles_greater_than_Kalpa (last checked 8 Dec 2020)

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_(Hinduism)#Vaivasvata_Manu (last checked 8 Dec 2020)

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samvatsara (last checked 8 Dec 2020)