ered to be one day and night of the pitø
(deceased forefathers); one human year
is equal to one day and night of the deva
(gods); one thousand years of the deva
is equal to one day of Brahmä. History
is reckoned in manvantara, ‘ages of
patriarchs’ of which there are fourteen,
each presided over by a specific MANU
(2). The largest time-frame are the
kalpas (eons) equal to 4,320,000 years,
and subdivided into 4 yugas, each suc-
cessively shorter and more wicked.
(Køta Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dväpara Yuga
and Kali Yuga). We are at present living
in a Kali Yuga (age of strife) which will
end with a pralaya (total dissolution of
the world) before a new age arises. As
regards details of these calculations
there is a certain amount of discrepancy
among various authors. But the notion
of a devolution of history, a gradual and
irreversible worsening of the world situ-
ation is common to all, as is the idea of
a cyclic destruction and creation of the
universe, whether attributed to the
action of a deity or to an impersonal
process. (See also CALENDAR; FESTIVALS.)time, philosophies of
Substantialist notions of time: In the
VAIŸEÆIKAsystem, time is one of nine
substances (dravya). It is described as
‘of three kinds, being characterized by
creation, sustention and destruction’.
NYÄYAaccepts the Vaiÿe•ika notion of
time as a substance and attempts to
work out the epistemological implica-
tions. It holds that ‘perception and the
rest cannot be regarded as instruments
of cognition on account of the impossi-
bility of connecting them with any of
the three points of time.’ VIŸIÆfiÄDVAITA
considers the physical universe to be
‘the body of God’ and thus invests
nature with a degree of reality hardly
parallelled anywhere else. Consequently
time also acquires a substantiality of its
own as the manifestation of God’s eter-
nity and omnipresence. It is eternal andall pervasive. Time is an instrument in
the cosmic sport of God. In his ‘sport
manifestation’ God functions as depen-
dent on time.
Relativistic notions of time: for the
Advaitin ŸA¢KARA(2) brahman, which
is timeless, is the only reality. Time does
not possess an independent reality of its
own; it is only associated with events in
time.
Momentariness vs. temporality:
PATAÑJALIdefines the end and purpose
of YOGAto be ‘the cessation of all mod-
ifications of consciousness’ and endeav-
ours to lead the practitioner to a
transcendence of time and space. Since
the ultimate condition is one of time-
lessness, time cannot be an aspect of
reality. ‘Temporality’ is a figment of the
imagination; however, the moments
that cause the perception of time are
real. The Yogasütra says that one gains
metaphysical knowledge by concentrat-
ing on the sequence of moments. As the
commentator VYÄSAexplains: ‘Just as
the atom (paramäæu) is the smallest
particle of matter (dravya) so a moment
(k•aæa) is the smallest particle of time
(käla).’ Physically a k•aæa is the amount
of time an atom in motion takes to cross
a space equalling the space it occupies.
The sequence of such moments cannot
be combined into a ‘thing’. Notions
such as ‘hours’ or ‘days’ are mental
combinations. Time (käla) is not a real
thing, but is based on changes in the
mind. The moment, however, is a real
thing in itself and constitutive of the
sequence. The sequence is constituted
by an uninterrupted succession of
moments. Past and future can be
explained on the basis of change. The
world that exists in this moment under-
goes instant change. Patañjali accepts
the notions of present, past and future.
Unlike the present, however, past and
future do not exist in manifest form.
When the mental condition called dhar-
mamegha is reached, the sequence of
changes comes to an end and the185 time, philosophies ofEncyclo - Letter T 10/2/03 10:00 am Page 185