and its divisions, the second is an uncre-
ated principle of the universe. The
Øgveda speaks of the rotating wheel of
time as having 12 spokes, it connects
the seasons with the ingredients of the
all-important SACRIFICE. The Maitri
Upani•adcontains the famous passage:
‘Time cooks all things in the great self.
He who knows in what time is cooked
is the knower of the Veda.’ In the
Mahäbhärata time appears as fate
(daiva) or even death. Time is seen both
as giver of happiness and misery; its
effects are considered inescapable. In
the Puräæas time (käla) is often intro-
duced as one of the uncreated principles
on a par with pradhäna (matter) and
puru•a (spirit), emerging from the
unmanifested being (avyäkta). The
Yogaväsi•flha Rämäyaæahas a large sec-
tion devoted to käla: time is said to be
the cause for both the creation and the
destruction of the universe. Käla is com-
pared to an actor, who appears on the
stage, disappears and reappears again to
perform his play. In the Bhagavadgïtä
Kø•æa says about himself: ‘Time am I,
world-destroying, grown mature,
engaged in subduing the world.’ In one
of the last sections of the Mahäbhärata,
the Mauÿalyaparvaæ, which is charac-
terized by a deep sense of doom, the
speaker tells us that his heroes ‘met with
destruction, impelled by time.’ Time (in
an embodied form) is described as wan-
dering around the earth: ‘He looked like
a man of terrible and fierce aspect’ and
was ‘none else but the Destroyer of all
creatures’. The evil deeds the protago-
nists commit and which earn them their
fate are ascribed to ‘the perverseness of
the hour that had come upon them’.time, divisions of
Regardless of philosophical differences
Hindus throughout the ages accepted
certain divisions of empirical time
which were used both in daily life and in
astronomical/astrological calculations.
Different systems were and are used,but these differences are not related to
different ideological conceptions of
time. The major divisions of time are
effected by the revolutions of moon, sun
and Jupiter (Bøhaspati). The lunar
month is divided into a dark half
(KØÆŒAPAKÆA) and a bright half
(ŸUKLAPAKÆA); each half is divided into
fifteen tithis (each with a specific name).
The solar movement divides the year
into six seasons (determined by entry
into certain constellations) and twelve
solar months. The seasons are vasanta
(spring), grïÿma (hot season), var•a
(rainy season), ÿaräd (autumn), hemän-
ta (winter), ÿiÿira (cool season). The
months (beginning with Caitra in
spring) are neither identical with the
months of the Western calendar nor
with the lunar months. Every now and
then an intercalary month is required to
realign the beginning of spring with the
beginning of the month Caitra (or
Me•a). Different schools of astronomers
issue yearly calendars/almanacs (pañ-
cäöga) which are followed by different
groups of people. Major feasts are
sometimes celebrated on different days
(even a month apart) because of dis-
agreements between the calendars. For
astronomical/astrological calculations
the nak•atras (‘houses’) are important:
there are 28, each measuring 13º 20 ’of
the ecliptic. Each nak•atra is subdivided
into 4 pädas of 3º 20 ’each. Over and
above the lunar and solar cycles, the 12-
year and 60-year cycles of Jupiter are
important.
The 24-hour solar day is subdivided
into 30 muhürtas (48 minutes each). A
muhürta is subdivided into two ghati
(of 24 minutes each). Each ghati is sub-
divided into 30 käla (of 48 seconds
each). Each käla is divided into 2 pala
(of 24 seconds each), and each pala into
6 präæa (of 4 seconds each). Each präna
is divided into 10 vipala (of 0.4 seconds
each) and each vipala into 60
prativipala (0.000666 seconds each).
One month in human terms is consid-time, divisions of 184Encyclo - Letter T 10/2/03 10:00 am Page 184