The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on measurements of time, wherein we spoke about how time calculations are done for the “Deva Lokha” and the “Bramha Lokha”. Summarizing yesterday’s discussion in a nutshell, we saw that the calculation of one day for the “Deva Lokha” is equal to one year of our “Manushya Lokha”. This means that the span of the “Deva Lokha” as per the calculation comes to around 12,000 years. Thus, we can infer that whatever is the gross age of the Manushya Lokha, it approximates to around 12,000 years for the “Deva Lokha”, notably with this present Kali Yuga spanning across a meager 1200 years, for the Devas. Moreover, it is said that the world goes through 1000 such Chatur-Yugas put one after the other in a sequential manner. This means, we’ve to multiply this figure of 43,21,000 by another 1000 to get the actual age of the earth! This would come to around 4,321,000,000 years or roughly 4.3 billion years! This, interestingly is the time-period of “Half a day” for the “Brahma Lokha” (The place where Bhagawan Bramha resides). Thus in other words, we can witness here that one half day of the Brahma Lokha constitutes 1000 Chatur Yugas! Similarly, another 1000 Chatur Yugas would constitute the second half of one day for the Brahma Lokha! Bhagawan Bramha’s estimated lifespan is 100 such years! So we can imagine the ultra-long lifespan of Bhagawan Bramha, as he is the “creator-in-chief” of this world! Perhaps, Bhagawan Bramha is given such a long lifespan owing to this huge responsibility that Bhagawan Vishnu has shouldered upon him!

Now moving on further thus, as Bhagawan creates this world with so much of statistics and measurements with respect to time, He also creates important Maharishis and the Vedas too.

“Trilokya yuga saahasram bahidaah bramhano dinam!

Nishaavasaana aarabdhaha loka kalpaah anuvartate!!”

This is very important here – Now that Bhagawan has created living beings like us in this world. However, we would not know as to how do we behave and conduct ourselves with each other in this world, isn’t it? Someone has to teach us all of these. This is like we get something called a “manual” or a “rule book” when we buy some expensive item from a shop. For instance, we buy a water purifier from a company. In those days of course, we just use a cloth to filter the water for drinking and cooking purposes as the water was relatively cleaner. However, given the pollution that we have today, this purification method doesn’t hold good anymore. Hence today we go in for sophisticated water purifiers with various inbuilt technologies, which most of the time we wouldn’t even be able to understand and comprehend! The moment we buy this purifying machine, it always comes with the “user manual”, depicting the ways and means on how to handle this machine. In this manual, it would also be written that if this machine develops some sort of a “technical snag”, please call up our service personnel to come and attend. Most of the times, neither the service personnel turn up whenever we call them, or, even if they come, they would charge us exorbitant amounts of money for replacing worn-out parts of the machine. Sometimes, these machines come with something called as Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMCs). If we have an AMC for the machine, of course we can save lot of money while repairing it.

Similarly, just like we have user manuals for machines today, we have the “user manual” for our own life too! This “user manual” for our life is nothing but the text called Vedas, Ithihaasas and Puraanas. Only if we go through these manuals properly, will we be able to conduct and run the machines called “human body” and “mind” in a proper manner.

Continuing thus, with the comparison of the water purifier, we might have experienced that as the machine is being installed at our place, there will be a person who will show us a “live demo” as to how this machine works and how the purified water would taste. However, in few cases, the machine would stop working at the moment when this person leaves our house! J Moreover, while leaving, this person would also get a signature from us in a sheet that would say that all parameters of this machine are working properly! This machine, unfortunately would refuse to work, the moment we put our signature in this sheet! J

Similarly in this world too, it is not enough if Bhagawan gives us the “user manual” called the Vedas and Upanishads! These two texts are the master manuals of our human life! However, we would not be able to understand the practical application of these two manuals in our daily life, isn’t it? This is the reason why Bhagawan incarnates every now and then, at the end of each Yuga to explain and demonstrate in person, the contents and essence of these manuals called Vedas and Upanishads! These “live demonstrations” done by Bhagawan during His incarnations in this world are carefully documented in the form of “Ithihaasas” and “Puraanas”. Here too we can see that when Bhagawan is alive in the human form as part of the incarnation, things go well in this world. However, after He departs from this world back to Vaikunta, things begin to falter, just like the case of the water purifier machine! Here, of course there is another solution – Just like how the person who shows the “demo” of the water purifier, gives the instructions to some other people at our home, just in case we didn’t understand the whole thing, Bhagawan too has passed on these instructions to some people in this world who are trusted by Bhagawan! These are none other than the Maharishis, Alwars, Aachaaryas, etc. who meticulously have dedicated their entire lives to propagate Bhagawan’s instructions and messages to all of us to this date!

Hence, it is our bound duty to pay heed to the words of Aachaaryas, Alwars, etc. if not for Bhagawan’s words directly! The problem here however is that, we do not do this also in today’s scenario! This is where, we start accumulating our “Karma” and our “Paapas” (Sins) in our life! So for today, let us ponder over this important message and we shall wait till the next episode to witness the continued discussion! Stay tuned! J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The previous episode witnessed an important continuation of the vast discussion on “time” and various parameters and measurements that are used as per our Sanaathana Dharma literature. We had, in the last episode spoken about the calculation that is involved in “Raashi” and “Nakshatra”, wherein we saw that there are 12 Raashi’s and 27 Nakshatras. We also saw how the “Amaavaasya” (No-Moon day) and “Pournami” (Full-Moon day) calculations are done and some places in the Sanaathana Dharma literature wherein details of the gravitational effect the moon has over the earth during these two days. There is a fifteen-day time period between these two days, wherein the moon loses its shine and once again regains it gradually in the next cycle of fifteen days. Thus in a month of 30 days, we would have one “Amaavaasya” and one “Pournami” day and 2*15=30 days. Of course, we also witnessed certain important names of each day that constitutes this 15 day period too.

Thereafter, we witnessed the year-calculation of the larger unit called “Yuga”, and how many years constitute the four different Yugas – Krita Yuga, Tretha Yuga, Dvaapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Thus with this, we can even partly calculate the age of the earth and its ability to sustain life, which comes to roughly about 43 Lakh years (4.3 million years). This again coincides with many modern-day scientific studies that are done to check for the age of the earth. Of course, this is not the full calculation. We would get to know the full calculation during the course of this episode when we talk of a greater calculation than this.

Having said thus, these are the various important calculations of time with respect to our “Manushya Lokha” (Earth surface where all of us, normal human beings reside). However, if we consider the context of the “Deva Lokha”, (The world of Celestial beings), there is an entirely different set of time calculations. We shall see a short accord in this in today’s episode, as we move forward. As we’ve witnessed that the first six months of our year-calculation to be “Utthara-Ayanam” and the next six months to be “Dakshina-Ayanam”, it is very interesting to see here that this six-month-period of “Utthara-Ayanam” is just the “daytime” of one day for the Deva Lokha! Subsequently, the “Dakshina-Ayana” six-month period of ours, is considered to be the “night-time” of the same day for the Deva Lokha! From this, we can infer that whatever 365 days of time period we calculate as 1 year, it implies one day for the Deva Lokha. Thus in short, one day for the Deva Lokha is equal to one year of Manushya Lokha! Hence, if we’ve to look into the lifespan of the “Chatur-Yuga”, we’ve witnessed that, for us it is a time-period of 43,21,000 years. Now, how will this mathematics hold for the Deva Lokha? If we’ve to divide this figure with the above-mentioned formula, we would get roughly around 12,000. Thus, we can infer that whatever is the gross age of the Manushya Lokha, it approximates to around 12,000 years for the Deva Lokha, or for the Celestial Beings. If we’ve to look at the ratio between the time-period of the four Yugas, for the Deva Lokha it would be 4800:3600:2400:1200. Thus, we can see from this that the total number of years for the Deva Lokha during the Krita Yuga was 4,800 years, for the Tretha Yuga it was 3,600 years, for the Dvaapara Yuga it was 2,400 years and finally for the Kali Yuga it is going to be 1,200 years.

Now all these calculations that we’ve witnessed till now are for one Chatur-Yuga. It is said that the world goes through 1000 such Chatur-Yugas put one after the other in a sequential manner. This means, we’ve to multiply this figure of 43,21,000 by another 1000 to get the actual age of the earth! This would come to around 4,321,000,000 years or roughly 4.3 billion years! This, interestingly is the time-period of “Half a day” for the “Brahma Lokha” (The place where Bhagawan Bramha resides). Thus in other words, we can witness here that one half day of the Brahma Lokha constitutes 1000 Chatur Yugas! Similarly, another 1000 Chatur Yugas would constitute the second half of one day for the Brahma Lokha! Bhagawan Bramha’s estimated lifespan is 100 such years! Hence, if we’ve to calculate the lifespan of the Bramha Lokha, we need to multiply the number of years that constitute 1000 Chatur Yugas by another 100 years! With this, we can imagine how long the lifespan is for Bhagawan Bramha and the Bramha Lokha! 🙂 However, it is to be noted that even Bhagawan Bramha or the Devas too have a definitive lifespan like us. The only difference here is that, our lifespan in this earth is much lesser as compared to the Devas and Bhagawan Bramha.

So for today, let us understand these calculations well before we move further with the context of Sage Sukhaachaarya’s reply on “Time”. I’m going a bit slow here, because this has too many mathematical calculations for readers to grasp. We shall wait till the next episode to move forward from this point! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on measurements of time. Yesterday we had witnessed few more units of time measurement such as “Ayanam” (Two Ayanams constitute a year – Utthara-Ayanam and Dakshina-Ayanam), calculation of “Nakshatras” (Stars) and Raashi’s. These are extremely interesting calculations, which would exactly coincide at many points with our modern-day western calculations of time.

Continuing with the discussion further, we’ll have to now see how months are calculated in our Sanaathana Dharma literature. Month calculations are done based on the movement of the sun from one Raashi to the other. We’ve seen that there are 12 Raashi’s starting from “Mesha” till “Meena”. All of us know that we have 12 months in a year. The sun stays in one Raashi per month. This means that, the time taken by the sun to traverse from one Raashi to the other is 30 days. The year starts when the sun is in the first Raashi, which is Mesha. This comes somewhere around mid of April if we look at the English calendar. Just like how the English calendar has January as the first month for the year, Sanaathana Dharma considers “Mesha Maasa” in Sanskrit, or “Chitthirai Maasa” in Tamil as the first month of the year. Thus the New Year’s Day as per our Sanaathana Dharma Calendar is only on mid of April.

If we look at the other regional calendars that is followed across many states in India, we would precisely witness the same calculation. For instance, the Malayalam calendar year also starts approximately the same time of mid-April. In Kerala, the Malayalam New Year is celebrated as “Vishu” and is a very popular function. Similarly, the Telugu calendar has “Ugaadi” precisely towards the mid of April. Even in the north of India, Bengali, Hindi, Marati calendars precisely have their respective new year’s starting the same period and is celebrated in different names like “Baishaaki”, etc.

Thus we can witness here that, all the year-calculations are performed based on the movements and whereabouts of the sun. As the sun enters the “Mesha Raashi, the year commences and when the sun exits the “Meena Raashi”, the year comes to an end. This is a fixed routine and all of these movements of the sun has been predicted clearly and well-documented in the “Panchaanga” text, for the next so many years to come!

Of late, there has been some talks about shifting the Tamil New Year’s day from mid-April to mid-January. Such talks are just bulshits, and is not worthwhile to be considered. If the calculations like the one above-mentioned is so clearly mentioned in our scriptures, and given the fact that these calculations are proved to be 100% accurate too, who are these “illiterate middlemen” to propose foolish changes like these, and to confuse the public? If some people talk such nonsense, it simply means that either they’ve not done any homework to check for facts and figures, or they have a clear anti-Hindu agenda on their cards! Hence, people like us, who are in the know-how of these important facts, should resist such nonsensical arguments and shouldn’t give in to them. We should take it upon ourselves to educate other people and create an awareness of these important aspects, so that people do not get carried away with the anti-Hindu agenda. It should be understood that there are enormous amounts of calculations involved in all these. As we’ve spoken thus, there is a scientific evidence as to how each Raashi is divided according to two and a quarter “Nakshatras”, and twelve such Raashi’s make up 27 “Nakshatras”. We’ve also seen how 12 Raashi’s together constitute a year.

Beyond this, there is a calculation with respect to the movement of the moon. We have the “Amavaasya” (No-moon day) and “Pournami” (Full-moon day) calculations too. The moon takes fifteen days to traverse through the earth’s shadow. This means that the time-period between the “Amaavaasya” and “Pournami” is 15 days. Each of the fifteen days have specific names – Popular ones are “Chaturthi” (Day 4), “Panchami” (Day 5), “Sashti” (Day 6), “Saptami” (Day 7), “Ashtami” (Day 8), “Navami” (Day 9), “Dashami” (Day 10), “Ekaadashi” (Day 11), etc. The list continues. Moreover, interestingly tt is also mentioned in the scriptures that the sea will have “high-tides” during these two days, as there would be an increase in the moon’s gravitational effect on the earth! There are quotations in the Valmiki Ramayana text itself (We’ve seen this during our Ramayana project), in the “Sundara Kaanda”, wherein Valmiki Maharishi makes a beautiful description about the moon, while discussing Hanuman’s search for Mother Sita at Lanka. In that, he lists out various characteristics of the moon, wherein he talks about the gravitational effect that the moon creates, which results in the high-tides during these two days.

Hence, it is very interesting to see that all these scientific details are recorded and carefully documented in our Sanaathana Dharma texts. There are no ways and means to prove anything wrong here! All the facts are presented in a full-proof manner with 100% perfection and accuracy that nobody can even raise one question.

Now continuing this discussion further, we now come to the calculation of “Yuga”. For this Kali Yuga to get complete, it takes 4,32,100 years. We’ve witnessed the calculation of a year according to the Sanaathana Dharma literature, and readers might remember and refer to it with our earlier episode. This number – 4,32,100 should be multiplied by 2, (which gives us 8,64,200 years) and this was the span of the previous “Dvaapara Yuga”, wherein Bhagawan Krishna was born towards the end of it. Similarly, this 4,32,100 should be multiplied by 3 (12,96,300 Years) and this was the span of the “Tretha Yuga” wherein Bhagawan Rama incarnated. Similarly, for “Kritha Yuga” we need to multiply 4,32,100 by 4, which is 17,28,400 years! Thus, as a summary, the “Kritha Yuga” consisted of 17,28,400 years, “Tretha Yuga” comprised of 12,96,300 years, “Dvaapara Yuga” spanned over 8,64,200 years and finally the “Kali Yuga” is going to span up to 4,32,100 years. Thus we can see here that the Kali Yuga is the shortest of all Yugas! Thus, all these put together as a summation, constitutes a “Chatur-Yuga” period, which comes to around 43,21,000 years approximately. Thus, we can see here that there is a ratio calculation – The number of years from Tretha to Kali Yuga will be in the ratio 4:3:2:1.

So far thus, all these calculations are with respect to us, human beings who live in this world. There is a totally different calculation of time for the “Devas” (Celestial Beings). What is that calculation? Let’s wait for the next episode to witness! Stay tuned! J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on “time” and how time was being measured during the olden days. Of course, we do follow certain measurements of time even today according to our local calendars within India. Although certain measurements of time are grossly different from that of today’s western parameters of measurements, it is fascinating to understand that seemingly complex measurements have been existing even tens of thousands of years ago. For instance, yesterday we had a discussion on “time zones” of the world and how do they get measured with respect to longitudinal differences between two places or between two countries. It is only with the location of a country or a place with respect to the longitude position, we can determine the local time at that particular point. As we move eastwards, the time moves forward, and vice versa. This calculation has been existing even thousands of years ago as Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana talks about it here in this context.

It is to be remembered that today’s scientists spend millions of dollars, buy “high-resolution” telescopes, send satellites to various places such as moon, mars, etc. to find out what is there and how things pan out in those planets. However, our ancient Maharishis’ have been sitting amidst forests and villages, clad in a simple dress and have described about all these aspects, without even investing a dollar or rupee of money in anything! Such is the greatness of our Sanaathana Dharma and its vast scientifically proved literature. Hence, if someone says that the contents in the texts of Hindu Sanaathana Dharma is just superstition and imaginary, here is the greatest answer to all those elements – If one can accurately predict such minute time differences, time measurements, time zones of the earth, movements of various planets including the sun and the moon, this is not just a joke! If you take the “Panchaanga” text, we can see that the exact timings and locations of solar and lunar eclipses that would happen in the next hundreds of years would be given accurately! If someone has to accurately predict these kinds of events, without any investment in infrastructure, we can understand their high levels of knowledge and intelligence in the field of astronomical sciences. There were scientific experts like Aryabhatta, Varaahamihira, etc. who had dedicated their lives for astronomical and mathematical sciences. We even talk about “Vedic Mathematics”, which encompasses several complex mathematical calculations and functions in a very simple form.

Thus, gaining expertise in all these, at those times weren’t easy! The problem what happened over years and generations is that, we’ve forgotten the richness of knowledge and intelligence and thus, we’ve failed to appreciate this kind of expertise that we had! Thus, eventually our expertise was captured by the western world and they used it to the fullest possible extent to gain name and fame! It’s thus a shame for all of us as Indians that we’ve forgotten all our ancient glorious past and are simply getting carried away by the “glitters” of the shallow western world and its culture. Just because we want ourselves to be projected as “westernized” and “modernized” people, we’ve allowed certain groups of elements to talk cheap about our Sanaathana Dharma texts and extensive literature.

Hence we should clearly understand that if some people today make shallow statements that these texts are just superstitious, it simply means that they’ve not read anything and are commenting just for the sake of it, and with a “hidden personal agenda”. We as ardent followers of our Sanaathana Dharma should make sure that we keep away from these illiterate elements and as a step higher, we shouldn’t encourage them to talk such things in public forums.

Now let us continue with the calculations and measurements of time in Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. So far we’ve seen until the time measurements for a day. Now the discussion continues thus:

“Kritam trethaa dvaaparancha kalischeti chatur yugam!

Divyaihi dvaadashabhir varshaihi saavadhaanam niroopitham!!”

Normally, in our modern-day calculation, one year gets completed if 365 days pass by. Here, we’ve to understand that there is another ancient unit of measurement called “Ayanam”. 180 days comprise of one “Ayanam”. We have two “Ayanams” in a year – “Utthara-Ayanam” and “Dakshina-Ayanam”. Now what are these terms “Utthara-Ayanam” and “Dakshina-Ayanam”? This calculation is based upon the direction in which the sun traverses. When the sun traverses towards the northern direction, we call that time period as “Utthara-Ayanam” and when the sun traverses towards the southern direction, we call this time period as “Dakshina-Ayanam”. Normally, the sun traverses in the northern direction from the months of “Thai” to “Aadi”, which is roughly from the English months of January to June. The sun reverses its direction after the month of “Aadi” till the end of “Maargazhi”, which is roughly from the English months of July till December. In fact, it is said that the sun has three different paths – Northern, Middle and Southern. If we divide these paths into three further sub-parts, the sun traverses totally in nine different paths. Thus, for each of the nine paths, we denote it with three stars (“Nakshatras”) This is why we have 27 stars or “Nakshatras”. (9*3=27). Thus in simpler terms, while traversing through the first path, the sun crosses through three Nakshatras. In the second path, another three Nakshatras are crossed. Similarly, for all the nine paths, the sun crosses through all the 27 Nakshatras.

Apart from this, we have another calculation called “Raashi” (Zodiac signs). Many of us might be knowing about this – We have in total, 12 “Raashis” or Zodiac signs. Now what is this calculation? Two and a quarter (2.25) Nakshatras combine together to form one Zodiac sign. Thus, we can do the rest of the calculation here – 2.25 Nakshatras multiplied by 12 Raashis (Zodiac) = 27 Nakshatras.

So for today, let us understand the calculation upto this point. This might be a bit complex for some of our readers and hence we shall go a bit slow. We shall talk about this calculation a bit elaborately in the next episode! Stay tuned! J

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important discussion on how time is classified into innumerable sub-divisions in our Sanaathana Dharma literature. This important aspect is brought to light in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana by Sage Sukhaachaarya, in reply to King Parikshit’s question on how the world was created and how is it being maintained. Sage Sukhaachaarya brings about this context when he invokes the story of how Hiranyaaksha was taken to task for all the atrocities by Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Varaaha. Once Hiranyaaksha was destroyed, Svaayambhuya Manu was eased onto the job of creating the world in a hassle-free manner. Subsequently moving further with his reply, Sage Sukhaachaarya talks about how the world started to conceptualize “time” and how time was being measured in those beginning days, until few hundreds of years ago before the western civilization “copied” and “replicated” our measurements for reasons unknown!

Eventually in the previous episode, we had witnessed the various sub-divisions of time until the divisions of “Muhurtam” and “Naazhigai”. We’ve witnessed that 30 “Muhurtams” or 60 “Naazhigais” constitute a day, which we calculate today as a 24-hour-period. There are few other calculations associated with time, which we’ve to continue in today’s episode. When we have a look at the world map, we would be able to see some lines that are drawn horizontally and vertically. The horizontally drawn lines are known as latitudes and the vertically drawn lines are known as longitudes. Many of us might be familiar with this. Normally, the vertically drawn lines, which are the latitudes are used to determine the various “time zones” of the earth. For instance, the time that India follows is determined by the longitude of notation 83.5 degrees, which passes through (almost) the center of the country. There is a central longitude which is taken as the “zero” point, otherwise referred to as the “Greenwich Meridian” that passes through the center of United Kingdom. This is taken as a reference point to calculate time differences between various time zones. For instance, when we’ve to compare the time between France and India, we say that France’s time is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich time and India’s time is 5.5 hours ahead of Greenwich time. Similarly, New York in the United States would be seven hours behind Greenwich time, since the country lies to the left of the Greenwich Meridian. India and the other eastern countries lie to the right of the Greenwich meridian, and hence we are “ahead” of the Greenwich time. Thus we can see here that as we go eastwards from the Greenwich Meridian, the time keeps increasing, and as we go westwards from the Greenwich Meridian, the time keeps decreasing or lagging behind.

This similar calculation of time is mentioned in Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana as well! How? This calculation is done in our ancient scriptures with the revolution of the Sun. The sun has to revolve 360 degrees to complete one full round, isn’t it? Within how many “Naazhigais” will the sun complete one round? It should take 30 Muhurtams or 60 Naazhigais, which translates into 24 hours. Thus, it takes a day for the sun to revolve around to complete one round. If we do a calculation based on this, every degree of longitude will have a time difference of four minutes. If we move in the east-west direction, from one longitudinal line to the other, the time changes by four minutes. For instance, if we’ve to go to Malaysia or Singapore from India, we have a time difference of 2.5 hours. This translates into 150 minutes of time difference, isn’t it? If we divide this 150 by 4, we would get the exact number of longitudinal lines that we’ve crossed from India to reach Malaysia. This is exactly what Shrimad Bhaagawata Puraana and modern day science come at tandem with each other.

Thus, we can see that this calculation of time had existed way before the modern-day science even came into being. So for today, let us understand this calculation, and we shall wait till the next episode to take this discussion forward. Stay tuned! 😊

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important discussion with respect to “time” and how time transcends this world, thereby creating innumerable changes on a continued basis. We commenced witnessing the description given by Sage Sukhaachaarya on the aspect of time. It might be good for us at the moment to recollect the slokas that we had seen yesterday and for which we had commenced discussion:

“Nimeshasthilavognyeya aamnaataste trayakshanaha!

Kshanaam panca vidhuh kaashtaam laghuthaa dasha pancha cha!!

Laghu ni vai samaamnaathaa dasha pancha cha naadi kaa!

Te dve muhurthah praharaha kshadyaamaha saptha vaanrunaam!!”

Of course, we had witnessed the basic divisions of time that we follow in the today’s context, but this classification of time had existed even during those ages of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Having said thus, this ancient classification had different names and different ways in which the classification was done. Today of course, we have it in terms of milli-seconds, micro-seconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, etc. But this was not the way it was followed previously. I shall now explain in detail, the classification that existed during those days.

The fundamental unit of measurement of time in the ancient system was called as “Anu”. Just like how we have “Seconds”, the ancient system had something called as “Anu”. However it should be noted that this “Anu” is not the same as the “seconds” that we measure today. This “Anu” is much smaller than the modern day measurement of “Seconds”. This “Anu” has a further sub-classification thus: Two “Parama-Anu’s” put together constitute one “Anu”. Three such “Anu’s” clubbed together constitute one “Tisra-Anu”. Three “Tisra-Anu’s” combine to form one “Thruti”. Hundred such “Thruti’s” combine together to form one “Vedam”. Three “Vedas” together constitute one “Lavam”. Three “Lavam’s” together constitute one “Nimisha”. It is to be noted that in today’s measurement too, we have the term called “Nimisha”, which is the translation of the term “Minute”. This means, in today’s measurement, one “Nimisha” comprises of 60 seconds. This is not the “Nimisha” that the ancient Sanaathana Dharma texts talk about. Readers should not get confused here. The present-day “Nimisha” calculation is 60 seconds. Whereas the ancient-day calculation of “Nimisha” is the time taken for a wink of an eye. In other words, the time that we take to wink our eyes, which happens as an involuntary action in our body system is called “Nimisha”. Ideally this “Nimisha” is even smaller than the today’s “Second”, because, how much of time do we take for one wink? It’s even less than a “Micro-second”. Thus we can see here that even for such a small time-period, there are innumerable calculations that exists before we arrive at this small “Nimisha”. Till now whatever we’ve witnessed, are the measurements that are sub-classifications of this “Nimisha”, which is even less than a micro-second in today’s measurement. It might be amazing to witness how our Sanaathana Dharma has given importance to even the smallest of the smallest time measurement.

Thus continuing further, four “Nimisha’s” put together constitutes a “Kshana”. Five “Kshana’s” combine together to form one “Kaashtai”. Fifteen “Kaashtai’s” together constitute a “Laghu”. Fifteen such “Laghu’s” combine to constitute one “Naazhigai”. This term called “Naazhigai” must be familiar with many of our readers. Normally when we look into the “Panchaanga”, we would find that one “day” constitutes 60 “Naazhigai’s”. Also, one “day” constitutes 30 “Muhurtham’s”. Thus we can see here that 2 “Naazhigai’s” combine together to form one “Muhurtham”. So, for a 24-hour-day, we have 2.5 “Naazhigai’s” for each hour, which would constitute to 60 “Naazhigai’s” per day. We use these terms of “Naazhigai’s” and “Muhurtham” when we perform some auspicious spiritual functions at home, or even during rituals such as marriages, “Upanayanams”, etc. Here, we check which “Naazhigai’s” are auspicious for the conduct of these important events and thus we decide the “Muhurtam” time.

All these statistics are taken from the reference point of the time of sunrise. Of course, as we might be knowing, the time of sunrise keeps varying from day to day and from month to month. For instance, during the summer months of May, June, etc. the sun rises early (equinox) and by the winter months of November, December, etc. the sun rises very late. It is so amazing to witness that all these sunrise and sunset timings of different times of the year are accurately calculated even thousands and thousands of years ago! This shows the scientific advancement that our ancient Bharata Desha has had! All that we talk about today – Measurements of equinox, etc. were all discovered few hundred years ago! These are ideally not “discoveries” at all, but are just “copied versions” from our “Sanaathana Dharma” text, under different names and terminologies.

Thus with this explanation, we’ve now understood the calculation of time until a day, which constitutes 24 hours, or 30 Muhurtams or 60 Naazhigais. There is yet another interesting calculation that we need to discuss, which is quite allied to this, but a bit different. What is that calculation? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! 😊 Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had commenced a very important discussion on “Time” and how time transcends through various “Yugas” continuously. We’ve also witnessed how time is a “cause” for constant changes that keep happening in this world. We’ve also seen how we as human beings keep worrying about the passage of time in our regular lives. There are many factors for which we worry about – Old age, various deadlines associated with the various activities that we keep performing day after day, etc. and this mounts to our stress factor too! Of course, I’m not going into the “stress” factor for now, and our primary discussion is going to revolve around the factor called “time” at the moment. We shall take up this “stress” component at a different stage, when the right context comes.

Continuing further with this interesting discussion, we shall see what all can conspire with the passage of time. Say for instance, even within a span of 15-20 minutes when we sit at a point and perform some activity, our physical body undergoes strain and with that, our skin and muscles start to shrink. This shrinking of skin happens as a gradual process with the passage of time. We have a feeling that our skin would shrink only after the age of 65 or 70, but shrinking of our skin is a continuous process that keeps happening minute after minute! For some people, shrinking can be visible even at a younger age and for some people, the shrinking can be visible at a later stage. Thus, we can see here that the process of “shrinking” of our skin keeps happening every minute, but we’re unable to witness a quick transformation of our skin because it is a slow process. Similarly, if we buy a new book from a book store, the paper in the book is very fresh and white in color. However, as we keep the book in our book shelf untouched for many months or many years, what happens? Doesn’t the book change its color? This is again with the passage of time, isn’t it? Similarly, when we consider chemical reactions in a laboratory, we measure reactions with respect to time – Some reactions, say for instance, when we mix salt (Sodium Chloride) with water, the reaction is almost immediate – The salt dissolves in water very quickly! Whereas, if we take few other chemicals and mix them with water, it takes varying time periods to dissolve completely. This is again happening with the passage of time.

Thus from all these examples we can witness that time is one that keeps constantly changing, and it keeps changing whatever living or non-living being that exists in this world. This is all about time and its significance! Now how can we split this time? Sage Sukhaachaarya gives us a beautiful accord on this.

“Nimeshasthilavognyeya aamnaataste trayakshanaha!

Kshanaam panca vidhuh kaashtaam laghuthaa dasha pancha cha!!

Laghu ni vai samaamnaathaa dasha pancha cha naadi kaa!

Te dve muhurthah praharaha kshadyaamaha saptha vaanrunaam!!”

These are couple of slokas that talk about the minutest possible divisions that can be measured with respect to time. In today’s measurement scales, which is the minimum measurement of time? We call it as “second”. We know that 60 seconds make up to one minute and 60 such minutes make up an hour. 24 such hours combine to form a day. 15 days combined together is called a “Paksha”. The combination of 2 “Pakshas” constitute a month. Two months put together is called “Ruthu” (Season). Six “Ruthus” combine together to form one year. This is how we have a mathematical calculation for time in today’s world.

Of course, in today’s scenario we’ve developed even smaller measurements of time beyond seconds. Nowadays we keep watching Olympic games that happen once every four years, wherein there are different types of races – Running race, swimming race, etc. How are the winners decided in these kinds of races? If we’ve to measure the closer statistics, we’ve to divide this parameter called “Second” into some smaller parameters, isn’t it? For instance, we have “milli-seconds”, “micro-seconds” and in some cases, even “nano-seconds” too. Winners of the race defeat their closest opponent in terms of “micro-seconds”, isn’t it? We keep witnessing it often. Thus, we can see here that even a “second” can be split into so many smaller components. All this wasn’t discovered just today! We can witness these minute divisions in our Sanaathana Dharma texts too, like how we’re witnessing it currently in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text.

We shall wait till the next episode to look into the explanation of “division of time” as per Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the end of Skandha 3, which also marks the end of the first day of Shrimad Bhaagwatha Saptaaham. It is to be remembered by readers that this text is to be read for seven days, and hence the name “Saptaaham”. We culminate the discussion of Day one with the Varaaha Avatara of Bhagawan Vishnu, wherein we witnessed how Svaayambhuva Manu is trying to create many “Jeevatmas” in this world and how he faced a hurdle in the form of the Raakshasa “Hiranyaaksha”, who took away Goddess Bhoomaadevi (Mother Earth) and hid her amidst the vast ocean waters. As Svaayambhuva Manu and Bhagawan Bramha didn’t have a clue as to how to solve this issue, they went to Bhagawan Vishnu, who took the incarnation of “Varaaha” (Boar). Bhagawan Varaaha kills Hiranyaaksha and rescues Goddess Bhoomadevi. However, Goddess Bhoomadevi wasn’t really satisfied with Bhagwan Varaaha’s “heroic” act. She was more concerned with the thousands of people like us who are struggling in this world to reach “Moksha”. Hearing this concern from his beloved wife, Bhagwan Varaaha explains three simple ways through which a person can attain His feet. We’ve witnessed these three ways in the previous episode and in order to pass on this message to the world, Goddess Bhoomadevi incarnates in this world as “Aandal” at Srivilliputhur, in the south-Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In her “Thiruppaavai” text, Aandal clearly brings out these three ways of attaining “Moksha” and for washing away all our sins.

As we move on with the story further, Svaayambhuva Manu continues his job of creating the world further, with the divine blessings of Bhagawan Bramha and Bhagawan Vishnu. As years passed by, Svaayambhuva Manu got married and he had children too – Two sons by names Priyavratha and Utthaana-Paada and three daughters by names Devahooti, Prasooti and Aahooti. From now, the story will revolve around these people and let us witness how things panned out after this. We’re still in the third Skandha, and we would proceed further from this point.

On the whole, we’ve now witnessed how Bhagawan is going about the job of “creating” this world and creating all of us in this world that he has created. What is the purpose of creating all of us in this world? It is to reduce and wash away our “Karma” by giving us a platform to do so. Once we’re able to wash away all our “Karma”, we are never going to be born in this world! We’re going to reach Bhagawan’s feet as we finish our tryst with our “Karma”. This is what we often refer to as “attaining Moksha”. Of course, within all of this, there is going to be various points of transition for all of us – For this physical form that we’ve taken up (form of a human being), we’ve got a definitive lifespan for around 80-90 years, isn’t it? After this particular lifespan comes to an end, our “Aatman” that is embedded within our physical body gets out and gets liberated. As the “Aatman” travels outside of our physical body, it takes all our “Karmas” along with it. Depending upon the nature of the “Karma” that the “Aatman” carries with it, (Good or Bad Karma), it takes the form of another living being – Maybe a plant or an animal or another human being. Again, after taking a re-birth, this “Aatman” will accumulate fresh Karma till the end of this lifespan. Again, at the end of it, the Aatman will exit this physical form and enter into another one. This is a vicious cycle of birth and death, and here is where all of us are stuck up! This is where, our Sanaathana Dharma explains to us that in order to escape from this vicious cycle, we’ve to involve ourselves in “Bhakti” and “Sharanaagathi” towards Bhagawan. This is exactly what Bhagawan Krishna explains in his Bhagawad Gita too.

Thus, to measure all these “repeated” lifespans that we keep taking, we need to have a mathematical parameter called “time frame” – For instance, minutes, hours, days, months, years and finally “Yugas” (Age). All these time-periods were determined by Bhagawan Bramha. It is about this time-period, that we are going to discuss in the 11’th Adhyaaya of the 3’rd Skandha of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. Certain intriguing questions that arise as we proceed into this discussion are: How was this time period created? How do we map this time-period with our lives in this world? This discussion becomes extremely important as we’ve got a short lifespan ahead of us.

In this short lifespan, we cannot waste even a single minute of time. Of course, within this short lifespan, we’ve got “n” number of commitments that need to be fulfilled – Right from education to working in a company, earning money, taking care of our family, etc. In this, all of us are running behind time almost every passing day – Right from youngsters till aged-people. As we are young, we are worried if we’ll be able to complete all out tasks and activities within the stipulated time-frame or not. As we get into our old age, we start worrying about death and how many days and months and years are still left in our lifespan. Hence, irrespective of whatever age we are in, we keep worrying about time in some aspect or the other!

Thus, time is very important for all of us, irrespective of our age, irrespective of what we do and what we are. Time transcends all of these differences that all “Aatmans” in this world undergo and it keeps changing everything around, during its passage. This is why we experience in life that as time progresses, we get older minute after minute, we keep changing our physical form as years flow by, we keep changing the nature of the activities that we do as time rolls by, etc. Thus, time is something that keeps changing and keeps transcending across all living beings, in terms of lifespan and in terms of the activities that are performed.

We’ve thus with this discussion, laid a foundation for a detailed discussion on “time” and we’ve to now witness how did it originate from Bhagawan Bramha and the allied discussions around it! We shall continue this interesting accord in the next episode! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the accord of Svaayambhuva Manu and how did he take over the job of creation from Bhagawan Bramha. As Svaayambhuva Manu was performing his task, he suddenly faced an unexpected hurdle from the Raakshasa Hiranyaaksha, whom Bhagawan Bramha had already created, when he had created the Devas and Asuras. This Hiranyaksha posed a huge thorn in the flesh for Svaayambhuva Manu, by taking away Goddess Bhoomadevi (The world itself) and hiding it amidst the huge ocean waters! As Manu didn’t know what to do, he went and complained to Bhagawan Bramha. At one time, even Bramha didn’t know how to stop the atrocities of Hiranyaksha and both of them together went to Bhagawan Vishnu for a solution. Bhagawan Vishnu sensed the seriousness of the issue and decided to thus teach Hiranyaaksha a lesson. He took the form of a boar, from Bhagawan Bramha’s nose and started to grow into an enormous size. As the boar started to take the size of 100 elephants put together, it dived into the ocean waters, waged a huge battle with Hiranyaksha, and killed him. Eventually, Bhagawan Vishnu searched for the whereabouts of Goddess Bhoomadevi and eventually lifted her from the deep waters. He thus made Goddess Bhoomadevi sit on his lap and this incarnation in which Bhagawan Vishnu takes the form of a boar is referred to as Bhagawan Varaaha. Thus, the very first incarnation of Bhagawan Vishnu which the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana talks about in the third Skanddha is the “Varaaha Avataar”.

This form of Bhagawan Vishnu, wherein He blesses all of us along with his beloved Goddess Bhoomadevi is often referred to as Bhoomi-Varaaha Swamy or Lakshmi Varaaha Swamy. There are many temples in India wherein we can worship Bhagawan Vishnu in this particular incarnation. There is a Divyadesam by name “Shrimushnam”. This Shrimushnam is close to a famous town called “Vridhaachalam” in the south-Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The sanctum-sanctorum of this temple is named as “Bhoo-Varaaha Swamy”, wherein we can worship Bhagawan Vishnu in this form.

As Bhagawan Varaaha rescues and protects Goddess Bhoomaadevi and makes her sit on His lap, the fear that she had previously reduced considerably. However, Goddess Bhoomadevi was still under a small fear and Bhagawan spotted this. Bhagawan Varaaha asks her thus, “Oh Devi! I’ve managed to somehow rescue and save you from the clutches of Hiranyaaksha. The danger is over now! Yet, why are you seeming afraid still? Is there anything bothering you still?” Goddess Bhoomaadevi replies back to her husband thus, “Oh Varaaha Swamy! I’m happy and contented that you had saved me from the clutches of Hiranyaaksha! However, I wasn’t the only one who was caught! There are thousands of our children (normal human beings like us) who are still struggling to reach us. How are you going to save all of them? Isn’t there a solution for this?”

For this, Bhagawan replies thus, “Oh Devi! You’ve asked a very valid question, which I was also thinking within myself for a long time! There are simple ways for them to attain both of us. These human beings in the world are born with a mouth, isn’t it? Please ask them to sing the “Naama” (Manthra) of mine. These human beings are blessed with two hands, isn’t it? Please ask them to take some flowers and do an “Archana” (A type of prayer) for me. These human beings are also blessed with a mind and an intellect isn’t it? Please ask them to use it properly and fill their minds with my divine thoughts! If they do all these three activities, definitely they would attain all the benefits of their birth that they have taken in this world! Finally, they would be able to reach me at the end of their lives too.”

Listening to all of this thus, Goddess Bhoomadevi wanted to pass on this “message” to all the human beings in this world. How would she do that? This is the reason why she incarnated as “Andal” in a very famous place called “Srivilliputhur” (again in the south-Indian state of Tamil Nadu). It is to be remembered by readers that Aandal incarnated in the holy Tamil month of “Aadi” and on the day when the star of “Pooram” falls. The temple that we worship today at Srivilliputhur is extremely famous and it is this temple’s tower that the Tamil Nadu’s state government uses as its emblem. Here, Aandal can be worshipped in the sanctum-sanctorum along with Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Ranga-Mannar. There is of course a story behind this, and I shall narrate this story at a different time, when the context comes.

Thus, to conclude the Varaaha Avatara story, Bhagawan Vishnu incarnates in the form of a boar (Varaaha) to rescue and protect Goddess Bhoomadevi. In turn, he sends out three important messages to “Jeevaatmas” like us, which is conveyed to us by Goddess Bhoomadevi herself, in the form of Aandal at Srivilliputhur later on. Moving on thus, Svaayambhuva Manu continues his job of creating the world further, with the divine blessings of Bhagawan Bramha and Bhagawan Vishnu. As years passed by, Svaayambhuva Manu got married and he had children too – Two sons by names Priyavratha and Utthaana-Paada and three daughters by names Devahooti, Prasooti and Aahooti. With this, we come to the end of the third Skandha and also the first day’s portion too! The story that talks about these children will continue in the next Skandha and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 😊

 

 

 

 

 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important part of Sage Sukhaachaarya’s reply to King Parikshit on how this world is created by Bhagawan. We had witnessed that Bhagawan creates 24 items (all non-living) plus one more item called as the “Aatman” that runs all of the above 24 items. All these are the “Jeevaatmas” that exist in this world on and on forever. Thus, as Bhagawan does this, He creates the “first Aatman” who was none other than Bhagawan Bramha Himself. It is only from Bhagawan Bramha that all the other “Aatmans are to be created. Bhagawan Vishnu thus delegates the job of “creation” of further “Jeevaatmas” to Bhagawan Bramha, who then takes it upon Himself to do the needful. The creations that Bhagawan Vishnu had made thus, are referred to as “Samashti Srishti” and those creations that Bhagawan Bramha makes, after He officially takes over the batton from Bhagawan Vishnu is called “Vyashti Srishti”.

It is at this point in the third “Skanda” that we are in at the moment. Now as Bhagawan Vishnu delegates the responsibility of further creation of this world to Brahma, the first creation of Bramha that Sage Sukhaachaarya talks about in the Bhaagawatha Puraana is a person by name “Svaayambhuva Manu”. It is only from this stage, is the story of Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana starts flowing like a continuous river! From this point onwards, it is all going to be a vast but interesting storyline! Now let us dive deep into this storyline and let us witness what happened further.

As we’ve witnessed till now, Bhagawan Bramha commences his job of “creating” this world with “n” number of Jeevaatmas, one of the “Jeevaatmas” to be born in this world was Svaayambhuva Manu. Bhagawan Bramha tells to Manu thus, “Oh Manu! I’ve created an ideal Aatman in the form of you! You are bestowed with as many divine powers as I have and hence, why don’t you take over the job of creating the rest of the Aatmans in this world?” According to Bhagawan Bramha’s request, Manu takes over the job of creation from Bhagawan Bramha. As Manu starts creating more and more “Aatmans” and living beings, the world starts to get populated with more and more people. As Bhagawan Bramha had created Svaayambhuva Manu, He had also created few “Raakshasas” (Demons) in parallel. Out of these Raakshasas, two of them were very prominent – Hiranyaaksha and Hiranya Kashibu! Many of us might be knowing the background story of these two people – They were originally the “gatekeepers” of Bhagawan Vishnu in Vaikunta. Their original names were “Jaya” and “Vijaya”. Once when Sages Sanaka and Sanatkumaara wanted to visit Bhagawan Vishnu for some reason, they were denied permission to enter inside Bhagawan Vishnu’s abode. Upon denial of entry, Sage Sanaka and Sage Sanatkumaara cursed Jaya and Vijaya that they would be born in the world as human beings, experience all the sufferings in the world for a definitive time period and then come back to Vaikunta. Accordingly, these two people were born in this world as Raakshasas at different time periods. Hiranyaaksha was born first with the intention of acting against Bhagawan Vishnu. Thus, he captured and abducted Goddess Bhoomaadevi (Wife of Bhagawan Vishnu), wrapped her up in a cloth, and hid her amidst the huge ocean!

At this point, as Svaayambhuva Manu continues to create more and more people, he’s unable to find the world at one stage! Now where will he keep all of these creations? Where will the people live, if the world is not there? The world has suddenly disappeared because, Goddess Bhoomaadevi (Mother Earth) was captured by the Raakshasa, Hiranyaaksha and is kept hidden somewhere! Sensing the grave situation, he runs to Bhagawan Bramha and explains thus, “Oh Bramha! You had asked me to take over the job of creation! I had also done so according to your instruction! I’ve started creating too! But now, the world has mysteriously disappeared somewhere! Someone is playing spoilsport here! If the world ceases to exist, where will I place all the creations that are upcoming?”

Hearing thus from Svaayambhuva Manu, Bhagawan Bramha thinks for a while. As Bhagawan Bramha thinks, he compresses his head and nose and from this compressed nose portion, comes a small pig! As the piglet comes and falls down from Bhagawan Bramha’s nose, it starts growing quickly to a gigantic size of that of an elephant! As Svaayambhuva Manu exclaims how can a pig be in a size of an elephant, it starts growing again into the size of 10 elephants put together! As Manu exclaims again with surprise, the pig grows into a mammoth size of the entire seven worlds put together! Now this huge pig was none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself. Since Bhagawan Vishnu took the form of a pig and was born on the earth, He is referred to as “Bhagawan Varaaha”! Thus, Bhagawan Varaaha takes a deep dive into the ocean, in search of Goddess Bhoomaadevi, with all his fury. He searches and searches, fights with Hiranyaaksha mid-way, defeats and kills him with his prowess. As Bhagawan Varaaha kills Hiranyaaksha, He dives into the ocean, searches for Goddess Bhoomaadevi and finally finds her, hidden amidst the ocean. Bhagawan Varaaha thus lifts her up from the waters with His two huge teeth and brings her back to Vaikunta! He makes Goddess Bhoomaadevi on his lap and thus, we worship Him today as “Bhagawan Lakshmi Varaaha”!

Thus, we can witness from this episode that one of the first incarnations of Bhagawan Vishnu in this world was of Bhagawan Varaaha, with the purpose of retrieving Goddess Bhoomaadevi from the clutches of the Raakshasa Hiranyaaksha. The broader purpose was to retrieve the world and make it free from the clutches of the Raakshasas, so that Svaayambhuva Manu can go ahead with his job of creation of people in this world. So for today, let us enjoy this important incarnation of Bhagawan Varaaha and let us pray together to seek His blessings! We shall wait till the next episode to witness the next set of events that unfolded! Stay tuned! 😊