Jyotisha Shastra, or the study of the celestial
lights or jyoti, is a vast and complex field
of study, which is an integral part of studying
the vedas.
Today, "astrological predictions", which is
just ONE of the many many sections of Jyotisha
Shastra, has become so massively popular,
that the term Jyotisham itself is used to
refer to predictions alone!
This is very similar to how "Yoga Shastra"
has been appropriated to mere postures or
"Asanas", and how "KamaShastra" has been appropriated
to just "various ways of interourse".
While we enjoy the benefits of such popular
segments of these shAstras, it is very important
to remember that these fields of knowledge
are far wider and deeper than just their market-friendly
aspects.
In this video, let us start with our exploration
of the basics of jyotiSha shAstra, by understanding
the concept of time, and various units of
time-measurement in Sanskrit.
It is easy to understand how repetitions and
oscillations are important in measuring time-intervals,
But at a more basic level, time in itself
is seen as a consequence of the cyclical nature
of existence.
It is only because of the cycles in nature,
that time is both felt and measured.
No wonder, the movement of time, is known
by the words samaya-chakra, and kAla-chakra,
denoting a cyclical movement in sanskrit.
At a cosmic scale, the three most important
such cyclical events, that have the maximum
impact on our day to day lives are
Earth's rotation where it cycles around itself
causing repeated days and nights.
Moon's revolution, where it cycles around
the earth, causing repeated waxing and waning
phases.
and Earth's revolution, where it cycles around
the Sun, causing repeated occurances of various
seasons.
These three put together, give rise to the
notions of a day or vAsaraH, a month or mAsaH,
and a year or varShaH.
These cycles are not just out there occuring
at a cosmic scape, they are deeply ingrained
into how the human body functions, and can
actually be felt at an experiential level
within.
The cycles of days and nights are of course
the most evident, and unmissable even to someone
living blatantly.
But by sharpening one's perception, various
other cycles the human body is in constant
rhythm with can also be felt.
How sensitive one's perception is, decides
how keenly one can observe both the minutest
and the largest cycles of existence.
This naturally also decides the kind of vocabulary
in a language used by the people who were
aware of such intervals of time.
Cutting down into shorter and shorter cycles,
one complete cycle of day and night, is called
as ahorAtram, where the word ahaH means day,
and rAtram is a night.
One ahorAtra, is split into aShTa or eight
praharAH, which are three hour durations.
The ambience and mood of the day is said to
repeat itself in a cyclical pattern between
these eight prahars.
This plays an important role especially in
Hindustani classical music, where musicians
and listeners who are sensitive to this, can
feel this experientially in the performance
of certain ragas.
Based again on the quality of the time-period,
each ahorAtram is also divided into 30 muhUrtas,
each of which has a specific name, and is
said to be conducive for specific kinds of
activities.
The famous brahma muhUrtaM is one of such
30 intervals.
Each muhUrtaM is divided into 2 ghaTis, each
ghaTI into 30 kaLAs, each kALA into 30 kASHThAs
and so on, until the smallest unit of time
commonly used in sanskrit, which is a truTi
which is 1/#this fraction of a day, calculated
as 29.6 microseconds.
Counting upwards towards larger and larger
cycles of time, one complete revolution of
the earth, which is a year or varShaH is said
to be an ahorAtram for the devas, or the celestial
beings.
360 such deva-ahorAtras form a year for the
devas, known as deva-varShaH, or deva-vastara.
12000 of such deva-varShas form a cycle of
four yugas, 71 such yugas form a manwantara
and so on, until a brahma varShaH, or one
complete year for the creator, which is #these
many number of years on earth.
There are also other units of time, both on
the smaller and larger sides, depending on
the type of activity the calculation is made
for.
The sanskrit word used to denote each of them,
encapsulates it's meaning and significance.
Now this is not just to flaunt the counting
capabilites of our ancestors, who are largely
credited only for the concept of '0' which
is a marvel in itself, but just imageine,
if a civilization explored the measurement
of time, in such microscopic and macroscopic
detail, imagine the profoundness of perception
that lead them to do this.
The basis for all these units of time, is
again the cyclical nature of everything in
physical creation, from the atomic to the
cosmic.
All the rituals are conducted with this understanding
in mind, and the festivals timed, based on
these three major cyclical events that have
the most prominent impact on our day to day
lives.
The names of each of these tithis, masas,
varShas, yugas, manvantaras and kalpas; and
the stories associated with them, depict a
deep understanding of movements in the celestial
sphere, and how they affect human life.
To add to this lore, are the stories of the
celestial objects themselves, like various
grahas, nakShatras and rAshis, the relationships
between them, and so on...
It is important to understand all of these
stories, and the insights that they convey,
in the right context.
I hope you enjoyed watching this video on
the concept of time in jyotiSha shAstra, and
found it useful!
Share it across with those whom you think
might benefit from this.
If you wish to support the production of more
videos like these, consider becoming a sponsor
on patreon, or make a one time contribution,
all through the links in the description below.
Also, consider clicking on the subscribe button
and the bell icon beside it, so that you are
immediately notified of our latest updates.
See you in the next video, namaskaram
