Vedic time units and the Vedic Long Form Date (Sankalpam)
taken from this source
Embedded Files
Firstly, we need to know the Hindu Cosmic cycle.
1 Mahayuga = Sum of 4 Yugas (Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali) = 4,320,000 years.
1000 such mahayugas comprise a day-time of Brahma also known as a Kalpa.
The kalpa is ruled by 14 manus in succession.
The reigning period of a manu is one manvantara which is 71.42 mahayugas.
There is an equivalent night-time of 4,320,000,000 years.
The day-night of Brahma together constitutes one Brahma day (8.64 billion years).
360 Brahma days constitute a Brahma year while 360 years represent the lifetime of Brahma which is the life of the cosmos. Doing this simple maths gives the age of the cosmos to be 311 trillion years.
Carl Sagan, the noted scientist says in relation to this, ""The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond, to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still."
We are presently in the Sveta-Varaha kalpa in the reigning period of Vaivaswatha - the 7th manu.
In this manvantara we are in the 28th mahayuga.
As per our Cosmology, Brahma is supposed to have completed 50 Brahma years and is in his 51st year.
That is why he is called "Parardha-dvaya-jivin" (ie) he lives for two parardhas.
A parardha is half. Two halves make one. He is called so as he has completed one half of his tenure. These terminology makes better sense in relation to the Sankalpa.
The actual Sankalpa mantra and its meaning runs like this:
".... dviteeya parardhe - in the 2nd half of Brhama's life
Svetavaraha kalpe - in the kalpa of Sveta-Varaha
Vaivaswatha manvantare - in the reining period of the current manu Vaivaswatha
Ashta Vimsati tame - in the 28th mahayuga of the current manavantara
Kaliyuge - in this kali yuga
Prathame Padhe - in the first quarter of this yuga
Jamboodveepe - this denotes the place where the ritual is performed. India was known as Jambudveepa
Bharata Varshe, Bharata Kande - in the land of Bharat Sakhabde Mero,
Dakshine Parsve - to the South of the Meru mountain
Asmin Varthamane Vyavaharike - in the current period now reigning
Prabhavadi Shasti Samvatsaranam Madya - among the cycle of 60 years starting from Prabhava
Nama Samvatsare - the name of the year in the 60 year Hindu calendar
....Ayane - Dakshinayane (Aadi to Marghazi) or Uttarayane (Thai to Aani)
....Ritou - denotes the 6 seasons or Ritus - Vasantha, Greeshma, Varsha, Sharadh, Hemantha and Shishira
....Mase - one of the 12 months
....Pakshe - either Shukla Paksham (day after Amavasya till and including Pournami) or Krishna Paksham (day after Pournami till and including Amavasya)
....Subha Thithou - one of the 15 days between Pournami and Amavasya (Prathama, Dvithiya, Trithiya, Chaturthi, Panchami, Shasti, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dasami, Ekadasi, Dwadashi, Trayodasi, Chaturdasi, Pournami or Amavasya
....Vasara Yuktayam - one of the days of the week (Bhanu, Soma, Bhowma, Soumya, Guru, Brugu and Sthira)
....Nakshatra Yuktayam - the day's star or Nakshatram.
After saying the above the name of the ritual is said.
The Paramacharya says the Sankalpam is a kind of record of what you performed with finer details going down to the day and location of the ritual. It seems to me the forerunner for a kind of bookkeeping or a system of maintaining minutes of a meeting
Sankalpam & Cosmic Cycle
It may be noticed that any rituals which a Hindu performs on auspicious as well as inauspicious occasions always start with a fixation of the, precise time, the star, the day, the Thithi, the fortnight, the month, the season, the half year , and the year. On the microside as also the quarter of the yuga, the name of the yuga, the name of the cycle, the Manvantara, and the Kalpa on the Macro side.
In fact, all Brahmins do this reckoning daily in their ' Nitya karma Anushtana' the daily routine Puja ( monrning) of their Ishtadevata.
In this way the formula for describing the exact time in the eternal cycle has been passed on from generation to generation.
This is what we call the "Sankalpa' before commencing any rituals.
This is also true of fixation of the exact location where the ritual is performed.
Subha-tithau (Thithis).
These are days of the month calculated from the day after Pournami, till Amavasya, or vice versa.
Pournami/Amavasya
+ 1: Prathama
+ 2. Dvithiya
+ 3. Trithiya
+ 4. Chaturthi
+ 5. Panchami
+ 6. Shashti
+ 7. Saptami
+ 8. Ashtami
+ 9. Navami
+ 10. Dasami
+ 11. Ekadasi
+ 12. Dvadashi
+ 13. Trayodasi
+ 14. Chaturdasi
+ 15. PourNami OR Amavasya
Mase (Months)
• Chitirai – Mesham April - May
• Vaikasi – Rishabam May – June
• Aani – Mithunam June - July
• Aadi – Kadakam July - August
• Aavani – Simham August - Sep
• Puratasi – Kannya Sep - Oct
• Iypasi – Tulam Oct - Nov
• Karthigai – Virchikam Nov - Dec
• Markazhi = Dhanur Dec - Jan
• Thai – Makaram Jan - Feb
• Masi – Kumbam Feb - March
• Panguni – Meenam March – April
nakshatra yuktAyAm6 (Nakshatram).
Aswani/ Aswinee ,
BharaNi/ apabharaNee ,
Kaarthikai/ Krutthikaa ,
ROhiNi/ ROhiNee ,
Mrugaseersham/ Mrugasiras ,
thiruvAdhirai/ AardhrA ,
Punarpoosam / PunarvasU ,
Poosam / Pushyam,
Aayilyam/. AaslEshA ,
Makam / MaghA ,
Pooram/ Poorvabhalgunee ,
Hastham/ HasthA ,
Chittirai/ ChithrA ,
SvAthi / SvAthee ,
VisAkam/ VisAkaa ,
anusham/ anurAdhA ,
KEttai/ JyEshtA ,
Moolam/ Moolaa ,
PoorAdam/ , PoorvAshADaa ,
UttharAdam/ UtthaAshAdaa ,
ThiruvONam/ SravaNam ,
Avittam/ Dhanishtaa ,
Sathayam/ Sathabhishak ,
PorrattAthi/ Poorvabhadhra ,
UttharattAdhi/UthrabhdhrA ,
Revathy/REvathee .
Google Sites
Report abuse