Kāla-Saṅkhyā in the Kūrma Purāṇa

Kāla-saṅkhyā means “the reckoning of time”. In Chapter 5 of the Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhagavān Kūrma-Nārāyaṇa (Vishṇu in his tortoise avatāra) gives an exact and full account of time. He starts from the smallest unit and builds up to the lifespan of Brahmā, the creator.

He explains that time is the final measure of all creation, keeping and dissolution, and he declares that Kāla (Time) is itself a form of Maheśvara (Maheśvara-svarūpa). He also names the present age: the Vārāha Kalpa, the first kalpa (day of Brahmā) of the second half of Brahmā’s life.

The Small Units of Time

The Kūrma Purāṇa begins its reckoning from the basic unit:

• Nimesha (the blink of an eye): the base unit
• Kāshṭhā = 15 nimeshas
• Kalā = 30 kāshṭhās
• Muhūrta = 30 kalās
• Ahorātra (a human day and night) = 30 muhūrtas
• Māsa (month) = 30 ahorātras = 2 pakshas (fortnights)
• Ṛtu (season) = 2 māsas
• Ayana = 3 ṛtus = 6 māsas
• Saṃvatsara (a human year) = 2 ayanas, Uttarāyaṇa (the sun’s northern course) and Dakshiṇāyana (its southern course)

Note: the human Dakshiṇāyana is a single rātri (night) of the devatās, and the Uttarāyaṇa is their day. So one human year equals one deva-ahorātra, a day and night of the devas.

The Four Yugas in Divine Years

Counted in divine years (deva-māna), the four yugas (ages) are as follows. Each yuga has a saṃdhyā (dawn period) before it and a saṃdhyāṃśa (dusk period) after it:

(4,800 + 3,600 + 2,400 + 1,200 = 12,000 divine years in each mahāyuga.)

In human years: 12,000 × 360 = 4,320,000 human years in each catur-yuga (mahāyuga, the four ages together).

From Mahāyuga to Manvantara to Kalpa

• 1 Manvantara (the reign of one Manu) = 71 mahāyugas (catur-yugas)
• 1 Kalpa (= 1 Brahmā-dina, the daytime of Brahmā) = 14 manvantaras = 1,000 mahāyugas
• 1 Brahmā-rātri (night of Brahmā) = 1 kalpa (equal to his daytime)
• 1 Brahmā-saṃvatsara (year of Brahmā) = 360 kalpas
• 1 Parārdha = half of Brahmā’s whole lifespan = 50 years of Brahmā
• Brahmā’s whole lifespan = 2 Parārdhas = 100 years of Brahmā

During each kalpa, fourteen Manus rule one after another, each for about 71 catur-yugas. All seven dvīpas (continents), the mountains (parvatas) and the whole earth (pṛthivī) are filled by these Manus and their descendants.

The text notes:

“One thousand yugas constitute one parikalpa (complete kalpa). By describing one manvantara, all manvantaras are as if described.”

The Present Age: The Vārāha Kalpa

The Kūrma Purāṇa places the present moment exactly within the time of the universe:

“O brāhmaṇas, Brahmā’s first Parārdha has passed. His second Parārdha is now in progress. In that second Parārdha, this is the very first Kalpa.”

“The last Kalpa to have passed before this one was called Pādma. The Kalpa currently ongoing is the Vārāha Kalpa. I shall now describe it.”

So we live in the Vārāha Kalpa, the first kalpa of Brahmā’s second Parārdha. The name ties it directly to the Varāha (boar) avatāra of Vishṇu, who lifted up the earth at the start of this cycle.

Kāla as Parameśvara

The Kūrma Purāṇa does not treat kāla as mere arithmetic. It shows how deep the nature of time is:

“This revered Kāla has no beginning or end. It has no old age or death. It is what contains everything, is independent, and is the ātman of all; hence it is of Maheśvara-svarūpa.”

“There are many Brahmās, many Rudras, and many Nārāyaṇas. But this Bhagavad-rūpa Kāla is only one; thus the Veda declares.”

Even Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva themselves go through the prākṛta-laya (the great dissolution into Prakṛti, primal nature) at the end of their cycles. All three are brought forth by Kāla and taken back by Kāla. Kāla alone stands beyond all these cycles.

This teaching fits the Kūrma Purāṇa’s typical view that Śiva and Vishṇu are not different (Śiva-Vishṇu-abheda). In it, Kāla, as the second of the four vyūha forms of Vāsudeva, is at the same time identified with Śiva.

Sources

• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 5