कालगणना
Kāla (Time and Calendar)
Units of time, muhūrta, calendar eras, yugas, manvantaras, and cosmic cycles.
273 paragraphs across 1 volumes
Volume V: Part I 273 paragraphs
Conception of Kāla
Among the first of the great problems of philosophy is that of the nature of Space (dík) and Time (kāla). The questions that arise are: Are Space and Time ultimately real ? Is the world we apprehend s...
From these passages it appears that the word Kāla was used even in very early Vedic times in two senses, viz. time in general (as in modern Sanskrit and modern Indian languages) and Time as identical...
In the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa the word Kāla is often used in the sense of 'time' or 'proper time'
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A few passages from some of the Upaniṣads regarded as ancient by most scholars may be cited here; the Chāṇ Up. II.
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The Maitri Upaniṣad9 has a long but somewhat rambling disquisition on time (VI....
The Mahābhārata recurs to the theme of Kāla time and again In the Ādiparva it is said ‘Kāla creates beings and Kāla destroys people, Kāla extinguishes Kāla that is engaged in destroying people; Kāla b...
In the Bhagavadgītā the word *kāla* is used in the sense of 'time in general or proper time' in several passages (such as IV. 2, VIII 7 and 27, VIII. 23, XVII. 20) and Kāla is identified with Kṛṣṇa as...
Pāṇini employs the word *kāla* in his *sūtras* many times, but in the sense of time in general or the divisions of time or proper time. Patañjali on Pāṇini III. 3. 167 (*Kālasamayavelāsu* *tumuṇ*) quo...
In the Manusmṛti the Supreme 12 Lord is said to have created time and its div...
Coming to the philosophical systems, it may be noted that the Sāṅkhya system does not include Kāla as a separate tattva in its twenty-five tattvas But Kāla was not altogether forgotten in that systeṃ...
The Vaiśesika-sūtra treats 14 Kāla as included in the nine dravyas (substance...
There were certain philosophers who held that Time is either past or future and denied that there is present time (vartamāna). The Nyāyasūtra refutes this view and holds that time is either past, pres...
The Nyāyamañjarī 16 of Jayantabhaṭṭa (K. S. S. 1936) has a long discussion on...
This disquisition shows that the Yogaśūtra and its bhāṣya held that time was not a *dravya* and not a tangible reality, but was merely a word, a mental concept inseparable from the perception or exper...
I have confined myself to Sanskrit works and particularly to works of the Vedic school type
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Among astronomical works the Sūryasiddhānta states 26 'Kāla is the destroyer...
There is a great temptation to compare Indian ancient and medieval conceptions about Time arrived at more than a thousand years ago with similar or corresponding conceptions on the same subject in mod...
From very ancient times minute divisions of time have been mentioneḍ The Vaj. S. states...
Before proceeding further clarification is required on certain points At least several centuries before Christ Jyotisa had attained the position of being one of the six angas (auxiliary studies) of th...
The usual practice of the Grhyasūtras and Dharmaśāstra works was to take their astronomical requirements and know-ledge from astronomerṣ The Gobhila-gṛhyasūtra891 provides 'the work on this...
About Astronomy and Astrology as developed in India Western scholars such as Weber, Whitney, Thibaut have pro-pounded many sweeping and unwarranted theories based on flimsy data. Here and there I may...
Whether the stars and planets exert some influence on earthly things is not the real questioṇ Probably they do, but the really important question is whether astrological works and astrologers have dis...
The astronomical and astrological literature in Sanskrit falls into three slightly overlapping periodṣ The first period is that of the Vedic Saṁhitās and the Brāhmaṇas from the mists of antiquity to a...
We shall now turn to the units of time from *yuga* backwards to *muhūrta*, leaving aside *Manantara, Kalpa* and *Pralaya* for the moment.
The word ‘*yuga*’ occurs at least 33 times in the Ṛgveda and appears to have been used in several senses *Vide* H of Dh vol. III p 886–890. Two senses stand out as prominent, *viz* a short period or a...
divided into twelve parts ( dvādāśara ). But it is a very difficult matter to keep in view the twelve divisions correctly. In Rg. I. 164. 15 it is said ' They say that the 7th of those that are born t...
In the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (II. 1. 3. 2)14 the Sun's apparent passage for six months in th...
As regards the seasons, there are varying statements In Rg. I 15 the word ‘rtunā’ occurs several times, but once we have ‘rtūn’ also ‘O Indra’ drink Soma according to the seasons from the wealth (i e...
There are Western scholars that deny the knowledge of the planets to the Vedic Indianṣ But Thibaut (Grundriss p. 6) and Kaye (p. 33 ) both concede that it is inconceivable that the Vedic Indians did n...
About months a good deal would have to be said later oṇ The word is either ‘mās’ or ‘māsa’. We have ‘mās’ in Rg. I. 25. 8, IV 18.4, X 52. 3
Naksatras have been a matter of serious discussions in numerous workṣ The word ‘Naksatra’ has in all three senses (1) star in general; (2) 27 equal parts of the zodiac; (3) asterism in the zodiacal be...
It is time now to set out in a list the names of nakṣatras, deities governing them, their gender and the number of stars in each. There is some divergence of views as regards the names and the deities...
Some remarks on the nakṣatras in general and on individual nakṣatras would not be out of place. In the Atharvana Nakṣatrakalpa (the first of the Atharvaparisiṣṭas edited by Bolling and Negelein) in ch...
If the nakṣatras ( 27 or 28 ) had been borrowed at one time en bloc from a foreign source the divergences in the names of the nakṣatras, in the presiding deities, and in the gender and number should o...
Further details contained in the Tai Br and Baudhāyana śrauta sūtra ( 28 3-4 ) are not set out here. The Nakṣatreṣṭi in the Tai. Br ( III. 1 ) has been competently dealt with by Prof Paul Emile Dumont...
Very interesting information and legends are given in the Vedic texts about some of the naksatraṣ About the Krttikās the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa
Why the naksatra lists begin with the Krttikās in the Vedic Literature and why with Aśvini in classical Sanskrit literature can be explained only on astronomical considerationṣ The ver- nal equinox wa...
Great controversies have raged over the question whether the Indian nakṣatras are indigenous or were borrowed from some other people. The great French astronomer Biot held that Indians borrowed the na...
Even so early as the Ait. Br. 46 Vedic Indians had arrived at the conclusion that the Sun...
In the Brāhmaṇa period Indians had47 found out the day called Visuvat or Viśuva (which is...
I have purposely devoted some space to the subject of the astronomical knowledge of people in the Vedic age. Several European scholars that have written on the astronomical achievements of ancient and...
One is tempted to return Whitney’s compliments to Indians in the same coin by saying that for 1400 years from Ptolemy, the ancestors of Whitney and other highbrows hardly ever made any discovery of as...
I should request all Western authors interested in Indology and dazzled by some writings of a few Greeks to ponder deeply over the following words of Sir Norman Lockyer in his ‘Dawn of Astronomy’ (189...
The chronology of the Vedic age is far from certaiṇ Jacobi, Dikshit, Tilak and some others would put the Vedic age back to 4000 B. C. or even earlier Winternitz puts it as far back as 2500 B. C. while...
Thibaut (Grundriss, p 42) holds that the name Pulisa has decidedly a non-Indian appearance. One fails to understand why these learned writers are so positive about a certain name being non-Indiaṇ We h...
After having briefly indicated the astronomical knowledge to be gathered from Vedic works, it is now necessary to show that astrological knowledge is also found in the Vedic texts from the oldest time...
There are several other passages in which a wish is expressed that the days would be auspicious or lucky for sacrificers etc. Vide Ṛg. IV. 4 7, V. 60 5, VII. 11. 2, VII. 18. 21, I. 124.2 (May new dawn...
It has already been seen above (note 726) that in Ṛgvedic times cows were driven (by way of dowry) to the bridegroom's house on Aghās (Maghās) and the bride was carried in a chariot to the bridegroom'...
It has already been shown above (on p 506) how Agnyādheya (the setting up of the sacred fires) was to be performed on one of seven nakṣatras or in spring, summer and autumn according to the varṇa (cla...
In ancient Vedic passages no clear line of demarcation appears between what may be called natural astrology and individual astrology. For example, in the Tai. Br.751 it is provided that peo...
‘Thus it appears that some nakṣatras were called puṇya (auspicious or holy) as in Tai. Br. I, 5. 2. 1 or III. 1, 2, 8, while some others (like Jyesthā, Mūla) were held to be pāpa (evil) nakṣatraṣ
From a passage in the 72 Br. Up. it appears that certain nakṣatras were called male “if a...
From the above examples it will be apparent that prognostications were based in very early Vedic times on the nakṣatras either of birth or on nakṣatras deemed auspicious or inauspiciouṣ Puṣya appears...
We find from certain verses of the Ṛgveda that the cries of such birds as kapiñjala were deemed even in those ancient times to indicate coming events, auspicious or otherwise;
The result of the dependence on ideas of lucky and unlucky days and nakṣatras was that some people began to make observations and deduce conclusions and a lore called 'nakṣatra-vidyā' arose. When Nāra...
What Kauṭilya regards as reprehensible is extreme reliance on and pursuit of nakṣatra astrology, but it is not to be supposed that he ignored prognostications altogether. About the king’s *purohita* (...
Another set of texts indicates another stage in the develop-ment of astrology based on nakṣatras, which seems to have been somewhat on the lines of the later horoscopic system of 'houses'. Traces of i...
It should be noted that in the astrology depending on twelve *ṛṣis* and twelve *bhāvas* (places or houses) *karma* is the name given to the 10th house from the first ( just as in the case of nakṣatra...
The Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa contain numerous passages where the planets in relation to certain nakṣatras are stated to indicate misfortunes to people in general, to warring armies and to individu...
There are several statements about Mars that are more or less irreconcilable.88 For examp...
One very remarkable feature of the Mahābhārata passages is that while they put forward dozens of times the positions of the Sun, the Moon and planets in reference to nakṣatras, not a single passage gi...
The Atharvana Jyotisa furnishes a somewhat different scheme of nakṣatra astrology. It says,91
It will be seen clearly from the above discussion that an auspicious nakṣatra was the *sine qua non* in almost all Vedic rites and also in ordinary domestic rites in the times of the Brāhmaṇas and sūt...
This requirement of finding out an auspicious day or nakṣatra for the celebration of a marriage or other domestic rite or for engaging in any undertaking was said in mediæval Sanskrit works to be a se...
Muhūrta
The word 'muhūrta' occurs twice in the Rg. In the dialogue between the rivers and sage Viśvāmitra that had come to the confluence of the Sutudri (modern Sutlaj) and the Vipaś (modern Beas) occurs the...
There is another meaning of the word 'muhūrta' in Śat. Br. X. 4. 2. 18 and XII 3. 2. 5 where it is said that there are fifteen muhūrtas of the day and fifteen of the night (i.e 30 in ahorātra) and tha...
It appears that some centuries before the Christian era the 15 muhūrtas of the day had received names different from those in the Tai Br. The Baudhāyana-dharma-sūtra (II. 10. 26), Manu IV. 92 and Yaj....
After the vernal equinox, days become gradually longer than the night and after the autumnal equinox nights are gradually longer and longer than the day. As there are only thirty muhūrtas from one sun...
It has been shown so far that the word ‘muhūrta’ had two meanings in the ancient Vedic times, viz ‘for a short time’ and ‘a part equal to two ghaṭikās’ As some muhūrtas of the day (of the duration of...
In order to thoroughly understand the requirements about muhūrta in this third sense some knowledge of the planets, the twelve bhāvas (houses or places in a horoscope) and the rāśis would be necessary...
tendencies viz. ( firstly ) daiva is all powerful, ( secondly ) human effort is superior, ( thirdly ) a golden mean between the two. Vide H. of Dh vol III pp 168-169 for discussion and for passages su...
The Sarāvali of Kalyāṇa-varman follows this and adds25 that what is known among the people as Jātak...
The Rajamārtanḍa provides28 'the *purohita* (family or palace priest), an astronomer, a councillor...
It has, however, to be noted that Varāhamihira himself frequently gives up the principle that the horoscope is only a map showing tendencies and talks the language of certainty and of the planets caus...
Before proceeding further I must point out that India was not singular in its firm belief in Astrology The case was the same throughout Europe and among the Greeks after Alexander the Great. It has be...
Two circumstances tended to weaken the influence of astro- logy in Europe, viz. the giving up of the geocentric theory in favour of the heliocentric theory and the vast additions to astronomical knowl...
Those interested in astrology in general and Greek astrology in particular and those who desire to know how astrology is regarded by many modern scientific minds may read 'L' Astro- logie Grecque' by...
The English language itself bears witness to the great influence of astrology in England, e. g. such words and expressions as 'ill-starred expedition', 'disastrous consequences', 'tempera- ments being...
In support of Astrology Ptolemy (in Tetrabiblos, 1.2) puts forward certain argumentṣ The Sun not only affects every- thing on the earth by the change of season, but by its daily revolutions furnishes...
Ptolemy speaks of beneficent and malefic planets (I, 5), of masculine and feminine planets (I, 6), of diurnal and nocturnal (in Sanskrit *dinabala* and *niśābala*) planets (I, 7), (I, 12) masculine an...
A few important points of agreement and disagreement between Sanskrit astrological works and Ptolemy will be set out later oṇ
The literature on muhūrta (auspicious time for undertaking anything) is extensive. Almost all works on Kāla mentioned above such as Hemādri on Kāla, the Kāla-mādhava, Kalatattva- vivecana, Nirnayasind...
It should be noted that even as to śakunas Varāha-mihira puts forward the principle that it is the fruition of actions, good or evil, done in previous lives by men, that is manifested by śakunas for t...
How people had become almost crazy with the idea of finding out a muhūrta for everything from shaving, wearing a new garment to such solemn matters as marriage is well illustrated by the provision of...
Before entering on a discussion about individual acts or rites, it is necessary, in order that the reader may understand the prescriptions about muhūrtas, to explain some simple details of Jātaka. To...
The Br. S. (97. 6–11) states that on Dhruva nakṣatras the coronation of a king, *śānti* (propitiatory rite for avert-ing evil or calamity), planting of trees, foundation of a city, charitable acts, so...
The Bṛhat-jātaka devotes fourteen verses for the characteristics of persons born on the 27 nakṣatras from Aśvinī. Two verses are translated for sample:
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The Bṛhat-saṃhitā ( 104.1-5 ) declares what nakṣatras ( out of 27 ) form part of Time looked upon as a puruṣa (Person). This is an extension of a very old conceptioṇ The Tai Br. says: ‘Prajāpati has H...
From the above it would be noticed that a nakṣatra astrology apart from the rāśi astrology had been thoroughly developed in India while Ptolemy is hardly concerned with the nakṣatras, but concentrates...
The twelve rāśis are to be found in the Zodiacal belt (or circle), each extends over 2½ nakṣatras i e Meṣa extends over Aśvinī, Bharaṇī and ¼ of Kṛttikā, Vṛṣabha extends over ¾ of Kṛttikā, whole of Ro...
| English | Latin | Sanskrit | Synonyms | |---|---|---|---| | Ram | Aries | Mesa | Aja, chāga, kriya | | Bull | Taurus | Vrsabha | Uksan, vrsa, go, gopati, tūvun (or Tavuru) | | Twins | Gemini | Mithu...
The words in this list that are put in italics are mentioned in a separate verse by Varāha (Brhaj-jātaka I 8)...
| Rāśi | Lord of | Male or Female | Cara or Sthira | dinabala or niśābala | saumya or krūra | pṛṣṭhodaya or śīrṣodaya | |---------|---------|----------------|----------------|----------------------...
The Bṛhajjātaka compresses these details in I, 10–11 and Utpala explains the purpose of some of these technical termṣ Yātrā ( invasion ) undertaken on śīrṣodaya rāśis yields the desired result but if...
Br J. (chap 17. 1–12) sets out the characteristics of persons born when the Moon was in Mesa and the following rāśis and remarks at the end (in verse 13) that the results described will come out fully...
Planets, their relations to the rāśis and their conjoint influence will now be briefly indicateḍ We saw above (pp. 493–495) that in the Vedic Samhitās and Brāhmaṇas express references to planets other...
Observations of planets by the Babylonians go back to 2nd millennium B C. Venus was the first to be studieḍ Tables about Venus based on observations are found from 1921-1901
In the following some characteristics of the planets (based on Br. J. II 5–7) are brought together, viz. the colour ruled by each, the lords of each, the direction, element, Veda and class (brāhmaṇa,...
...and 173 more paragraphs in this volume