Kāla-Jñāna: Signs of Approaching Death (Mṛtyu-Cihna)

Kāla-jñāna means “knowledge of time”, and here it means knowledge of the time of death. It is the teaching found in the śāstras (sacred texts) for telling how much of a person’s life remains. It uses omens (cihnas) in the body, in the senses and in the sky, the study of one’s shadow (chāyā-puruṣa), and the study of the flow of breath (nāḍī-mānana).

The Umā Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa keeps this teaching as a conversation between Pārvatī and Śiva. Pārvatī asks about the signs that foretell death, and Śiva answers with a detailed list. The purpose is not gloomy but kind: knowing that life is short awakens vairāgya (detachment) and moves a person to attend to dharma and sādhanā (spiritual practice) before time runs out.

Where the Teaching Comes

The chapter on Kāla-Jñāna (Chapter 25 of the Umā Saṃhitā) comes straight after the section on the greatness of yoga. Having heard Śiva’s teaching on yoga, Pārvatī asks him about the kāla-cakra, the wheel of time, and in particular: “What are the signs that foretell death? What is the measure of a life?” Śiva answers with a system in three parts: (1) signs in the body and the senses, (2) signs in the outer world and the sky, and (3) measuring the flow of breath (prāṇa). He says plainly that this knowledge is meant to awaken vairāgya and so help human beings.

Signs in the Body and the Senses (Deha-Cihna)

Śiva describes changes in the body and the senses that point to death within set periods of time.

Death within six months (ṣāṇmāsika):

The whole body suddenly turns pale, and then red on the upper parts
The face, ears or tongue become numb or cannot move
Loud sounds suddenly cannot be heard
When one looks at the sun, the moon or fire, one sees only darkness; all light looks black
The mouth and throat become dry
The teeth become wet and drip; the tongue becomes slow
No reflection appears in water, oil, ghee or a mirror, or the reflection looks pale and twisted

Death within one month (māsika):

The left hand trembles for seven days without stopping
The limbs swell unnaturally
The uvula dries up

Death within fifteen days (pakṣa):

All three doṣas (the body’s three governing forces, kapha, vāta and pitta) are upset at once, causing a constant runny nose
The sun and moon look dim and red, without their natural light

No shadow, or a headless shadow: death within one month:

The shadow looks as if it has no head
No shadow can be seen at all

Signs in the Outer World and the Sky (Bāhya-Cihna)

Śiva then describes signs in the world outside.

Death within six months:

The sun and moon look dim and discoloured, reddish and without brightness
One cannot see Dhruva (the pole star) or Utathya (the Great Bear)
One cannot see the sun’s disc clearly
One seems to see Rāhu swallowing the sun and moon, or the directions seem to spin
One cannot see the Saptarṣi-maṇḍala (the Great Bear, the circle of the Seven Ṛṣis) or the Ākāśa-gaṅgā (the Milky Way)
A rainbow is seen at midnight
A meteor falls at noon

Death within one month:

One cannot see the star Arundhatī, the mark on the moon, or the stars in general
One is suddenly surrounded by black bees
A vulture, crow or pigeon lands on one’s head and stays there

Reading the Palms (Hasta-Mānana)

Śiva describes a way to find the tithi (lunar day) of death by examining one’s own hands. One should first bathe and become pure within. Then:

Wash the hands with milk.
Put red lac (lākṣā) on them and rub it in.
Offer pūjā to the hands with scents and flowers.
Sit facing east with the hands cupped together in a bowl shape (sampuṭa).
In the mind, lay out the fifteen tithis (from Pratipadā to Pūrṇimā or Amāvāsyā) on the joints of the fingers, from the little finger to the thumb, three joints to each finger.
Chant the Navātmaka Mantra (a nine-syllable mantra of Śiva) 108 times.
Then look carefully at each joint in turn.

On whichever joint (parva) one sees a line shaped like a bee (bhrāmarī-rekhā), the tithi of that joint is the day of death. Which hand the mark appears on tells the pakṣa (the fortnight, bright or dark).

Measuring the Flow of Breath (Nāḍī-Mānana)

The longest section of the chapter is about measuring how long prāṇa (the life-breath) flows in the iḍā and piṅgalā nāḍīs, the left and right channels of the subtle body. The principle is this: the longer prāṇa flows without a break in one nāḍī without switching, the shorter the life that remains. Śiva gives this as a graded table.

Left side (iḍā nāḍī):

5 days of unbroken flow: death within one year
10 days: survives one year
15 days: lives beyond one year
20 days: 6 months remain
26 days: 2 months remain
27 days: 1 month remains

Right side (piṅgalā nāḍī) (a shorter scale):

28 days: only that many days remain
30 days: 5 days remain
31 days: 3 days remain
32 days: 2 days remain

The middle path (the flow in the suṣumnā, the “madhya mārga”):

If prāṇa flows fast in only one part of the face: death within one day

A note by a copyist, kept in the Telugu manuscript, says that several of the middle figures are unclear or seem not to fit, because of copying errors built up over time.

The Purpose of the Teaching

Śiva says plainly:

“I am teaching you this knowledge of kāla so that human beings may use it to cultivate vairāgya and perform the welfare of their souls.”

The aim is not to cause fear but to prepare the mind for serious spiritual practice. Knowing that death is near, and can be measured, moves a person to attend to dharma, perform śrāddha (rites for the ancestors), practise yoga, and take up the upāsanā of Śiva before the body fails.

The passage ends:

“The wise person who knows the movement of prāṇa should perform karma accordingly, and must seek ātma-jñāna.”

Ātma-jñāna is knowledge of the Self.

Sources

Śiva Purāṇa, Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 25