Parva 1 Chapter 8: manvanta gaṇana - Calculation of Time

"Oh, high-minded brāhmaṇa, vaiśampāyana, it will be apt of you to speak about the computation of manvantara-s, kāla paricchedana, division of time, measure of brahma's single day etc... vaiśampāyana uvāca: vaiśampāyana said: aho-rātraṁ bhajet sūryo mānavaṁ laukikaṁ param | tāmupādāya gaṇanāṁ śṛṇu saṅkhyām arin-dama|| 1-8-2 The Sun has devised day and night for the convenient computation of time for the smooth conduct of human affairs in this world and the other, basing on which the division of time is devised... that you listen first... devādīnām - aho rātrāṇi; bhajet - pṛthak kuryāt; vibhajate iti pāṭhe sūrya iti śeṣaḥ; day and night are the basic factors to calculate time. And sun is credited to have devised day and night, if the text is read as vibhajate. nimeṣaiḥ paṣcha-daśabhiḥ kāṣṭha triṁśat tu tāḥ kalāḥ | triṁśat kalo muhūrtaḥ tu triṁśatā taiḥ manīṣiṇaḥ || 1-8-3 Fifteen nimeṣā-s are one kāṣṭha; thirty kāṣṭhā-s are one kala; thirty kālā-s are one muhūrta; thirty muhūrtā-s are one day and night for humans... aho rātram iti prāhuḥ candra sūrya cgatiṁ nṛpa | viśeṣeṇa tu sarveṣu aho-rātre ca nityaśaḥ || 1-8-4 Day and night are the occurrences, they say, owing to the circumambulation of sun and moon around Mt. Meru, centric to earth, whereat one sets down while the other rises up... thus the day and night regularly occur everywhere on earth surrounding Mt. Meru - meroḥ parīto bhū pradeśeṣu... aho-rātrāḥ paṣcha-daśa paxa iti abhi-śabditaḥ | dvau paxau tu smṛto māso māsau dvau ṛtuḥ ucyate || 1-8-5 Fifteen such days and nights become a fortnight... two fortnights form a month, and two months a ṛtu... abdaṁ dvau ayanam uktaṁ ca ayanaṁ tu ṛtubhiḥ tribhiḥ | dakśiṇaṁ ca uttaraṁ caiva saṅkhyā tatva-viśāradaiḥ || 1-8-6 And the year is composed of two ayana-s, namely two solstices, one southern and the other northern... where one ayana is composed of three ṛtu-s, three Indian seasons... mānena anena yaḥ māsaḥ paxa dvaya samanvitaḥ | pitṝṇāṁ tat aho-rātram iti kālavido viduḥ || 1-8-7 If a month composed of two fortnights is achieved thus, that month is said to be one day and one night for manes, pitṛ devatā-s, so say experts in time calculations... kṝṣṇa-pakśaḥ tu ahaḥ teṣāṁ śukla-paxaḥ tu śarvarī | kṛṣṇa-pakśaṁ tu ahaḥ śrāddhaṁ pitṝṇāṁ vartate nṛpa || 1-8-8 Black-fortnight is day and white-fortnight is night for those manes... thus, if shraddha, yearly obsequial rites to manes, is to be performed, they are performed during black-fortnight, say days heading towards amāvāsya, no-moon-day, because it is the day time of manes, pitṛ devatās.. The manes residing in candra loka cannot see the sun in white-fortnight because then the moon subdues the sun. In black-fortnight the moon and sun will be facing each other. Hence manes can see sun in that period. Hence white fortnight is said to be the night of manes and black one as their day. As such offering shraddha etc to manes is prescribed towards, or on amavāsya, no-moon-days. - Gita Press. mānuṣeṇa tu mānena yo vai saṁvatsaraḥ smṛtaḥ | devānāṁ tat aho-rātraṁ divā caiva uttarāyaṇam | daxiṇāyanaṁ smṛtā rātriḥ prājṣaiḥ sarvārthakovidaiḥ || 1-8-9 That which is called one year according to human calculations, it one day and one night for devatās... in that, day-time is uttara-ayanam, northern solstice and night-time dakṣiṇa-ayanam, southern solstice... so say experts... While Sun transits from makara-saṁkraānti to mithuna-saṁkrānti, transit from Capricorn to Gemini, the rays of his chariot, as well as the rays of latitudes, akṣāṁsa-s, will be drawn everyday towards North Pole. ravi ratha akṣa raśmyayoḥ dhruveṇa ākarṣaṇe anudinam kriyamaāṇe uttara abhimukhaḥ sūryo, meru mūrthasthānām devatānām dṛśyo iti bhavati... Thus the Sun transiting towards north will be seeing the devatā-s situated on Mt. Meru everyday. Therefore, northern solstice will become the day of devatās. The reverse is the situation when southern solstice begins, i.e., when Sun transits from karka rāśi, Cancer, to dhanurrāśi, Sagittarius, where the pull of his rays towards North Pole lessens everyday in phased manner, whereby the Sun cannot see devatā-s, slowly. Hence dakṣiṇa ayana, southern solstice, is becoming night for devatās. - Gita Press. divyam abdaṁ śata-guṇam aho-rātraṁ manoḥ smṛtam | aho-rātraṁ daśa-guṇaṁ mānavaḥ paxa ucyate || 1-8-10 Ten such years of devatā-s will become one day and night of each manu, say one day of manu, and ten such manu-days will become a manu-fortnight... The period of fortnight of manu-s is reduced to ten-day fortnight, unlike the fifteen-day fortnight of humans. H. H. Wilson raises a point in the footnotes on page 21, Vishnu Purana: The French translation has, "dix annees des dieux font un jour de Menu; dix jours des dieux font un pakcha de Menu," &c. The error lies in the expression "jours des dieux," and is evidently a mere inadvertence; for if ten years make a day, ten days can scarcely make a fortnight. paksho daśa guṇo māso māsaiḥ dvādaśabhir guṇaiḥ | ṛtuḥ manūnāṁ saṁproktaḥ prājṣaiḥ tatva-artha-darśibhiḥ | ṛtu trayeṇa tu ayanaṁ tat dvayena eva vatsaraḥ || 1-8-11 And ten such manu-fortnights will become one manu-month... and twelve such months are one season, manu-ṛtu... thus three seasons, i.e., manu-ṛtu-s, will become one manu-ayanam, and two manu-ayanam-s are one manu-year... so say the wise... catvāra eva sahasrāṇi varṣāṇāṁ tu kṛtaṁ yugam | tāvat śatī bhavet sandhyā sandhya-aṁśaḥ ca tathā nṛpa|| 1-8- 12 Four thousand years of devatā-s will become one satya-yuga, also called as kṛta yuga, and oh, king, in each yuga there will be an opening period called sandhya - yuga sandhya; and a closing-period called, sandhya-aṁśa... in the four thousand year period of this sātya / kṛta yuga, the initial period, or sandhya is four hundred years... and the end part or sandhaya-aṁśa is also a period of four hundred years... trīṇi varṣa sahasrāṇi tretā syāt parimāṇataḥ | tasyāḥ ca tri-śatī sandhyā sandhya-aṁśaḥ ca tathā vidhaḥ || 1-8-13 Next, treta-yuga is of three thousand year duration, and the opening period of that era, say sandhya is of three hundred years, where the closing period, say sandhya-amsha, is also of the same duration, i.e., three hundred years... tathā varṣa sahasre dve dvāparaṁ parikīrtitam | tasyāpi dvi śatī sandhyā sandhyāṁśaḥ ca tathāvidhaḥ || 1-8- 14 Next is dwāpara yuga... its duration is two thousand years, and each of its opening and closing periods are of two hundred year duration... kali varṣa sahasraṁ ca saṁkhyātaḥ atra manīṣibhiḥ | tasyāpi śatikā sandhyā sandhyāṁśaḥ caiva tadvidhaḥ || 1-8- 15 And the wise men said that kali-yuga has a thousand year duration and each of its opening and closing periods have a hundred year duration... sandhya, sandhyāṁśa sankhya: total of intervening periods: 2, 000, two thousand years in total. In satya = 800; treta= 600; dwāpara= 400; kali= 200 years. yugasankhya: total yugas are: 10, 000: satya= 4000; treta= 3000; dwāpara= 2000; kali= 1000 years. These plus intervening periods will be 12, 000 years - true to the definition of that word yuga - dvādaśa sahasrī varṣāṇi yugam iti ucyate - later called as catur yuga, because the word yuga is commonly applied to its inner periods - kali yuga, dvāpara yuga etc. eṣā dvādaśa sāhasrī yuga yugasaṅkhyā prakīrtitā | divyena anena mānena yuga yugasaṅkhyāṁ nibodha me || 1-8-16 This is how the count of 12, 000 years will come to a yuga, say catur-yuga period, taking the count of 12, 000 divine years of devatās... kṛtaṁ tretā dvāparaṁ ca kaliḥ caiva caturyugī | yugaṁ tat eka saptatyā gaṇitaṁ nṛpasattama || 1-8- 17 manvantaram iti proktaṁ saṅkhyān arthaviśāradaiḥ | ayanaṁ cāpi tat proktaṁ dve ayane daxiṇa uttare || 1-8- 18 And if almost 71, 000 of these four catur-yuga-s, namely kṛta, treta, dvāpara, and kali are completed, then it becomes a manvantaram, time cycle of one manu... there will be southern or northern transits, ayana-s, even to each of the manus... tat yugam eka saptatyā gaṇitam kiṁcit adhikam ca manvantaram prokatam; ayanam - etāvatā kālasya ante manoḥ brahma lokam prati gamanenādarśanam bhavati iti tadeva ayanam iti ucyate. Even manu-s have to go to brahma's abode to merge into brahma after sojourning in heavens. manuḥ pralīyate yatra samāpte ca ayane prabhoḥ | tataḥ aparo manuḥ kālam etāvantaṁ bhavati uta || 1-8-19 Each manu merges into brahma after completion of northern transit, while another manu will be reigning the world for this much of time... Each manu goes to heaven via dhumādi mārga - southern path, stays there till the meter of merit is running, then before falling down from there, he ascends the northern path, goes to brahma's abode to merge in brahma, where this brahma is kāraṇa brahma, i.e., nārāyaṇa, not four-faced brahma. sam-atīteṣu rājendra proktaḥ saṁvatsaraḥ sa vai | tadeva ca āyutaṁ proktaṁ muninā tattvadarśinā || 1-8-20 And oh, king, when ten-thousand [eighty] time-cycles of manu-s are bygone, it is called one year of brahma... so say the wise... Footnote on p. 21, Vishnu Purana: ....a ṁanwantara, is equal to seventy-one times the number of years contained in the four Yugas, with some additional years: this is the duration of the Manu, the (attendant) divinities, and the rest, which is equal to 852.000 divine years, or to 306.720.000 years of mortals, independent of the additional period 6. Fourteen times this period constitutes a Brahma day, that is, a day of Brahma; the term (Brahma) being the derivative form. At the end of this day a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth, and the regions of space, are consumed with fire. brahmaṇaḥ tat ahaḥ proktaṁ kalpaḥ ca iti sa kathyate | sahasra yuga paryantā yā niśā procyate budhaiḥ || 1-8-21 nimajjati apsu yatra urvī sa-śaila-vana-kānanā | tasmin yuga sahasre tu pūrṇe bharatasattama || 1-8- 22 brāhme divasa paryante kalpo niḥśeṣa ucyate | Oh, best king of bharata-s, what is said as brahma's day, is also known s a kalpa... and what is said by wise as catur-yuga-rātri, thousand-era night of brahma, in that night the earth together with its mountains and forests will be submerged in waters... and on completion of yugasahasre = catur-yugasahasre; thousand catur-yuga-s, thousand four-eras, then the day of brahma commences, and the period till its completion is reckoned as a kalpa... All puraṇa-s have to state these accounts as a respect offered to Time Principle, but no two purāṇā-s agree on these accounts. However, our predecessors have tried to decipher something out of these accounts. One such effort is that of H. H. Wilson in Vishnu Purana. In the footnote on page 21 of his translation there is a lengthy account of this, which can be seen in Sacred-texts.com site in its 37th chapter. This is to avoid dwelling much here on stanzas of similar nature, and for ready reference of readers. yugāni saptatiḥ tāni sa agrāṇi kathitāni te || 1-8-23 kṛta tretā nibaddhāni manoḥ antaram ucyate | catur-daśa ete manavaḥ kīrtitāḥ kīrtivardhanāḥ || 1-8-24 Thus I have subtly said about seventy-one year cycle consisting of kṛta, treta etc eras, which is called a manvantaram, manu-time-cycle, thus informed you about fourteen such time cycles, hearing which one's own renown enriches... vedeṣu sa purāṇeṣu sarveṣu prabhaviṣṇavaḥ | prajānāṁ patayo rājan dhanyam eṣāṁ prakīrtanam || 1-8-25 These accounts of Time, which influences everything, will come in all purāṇā-s, veda-s and all other texts, because recounting these accounts of prajāpati-s will render good to everyone... manvantareṣu saṁhārāḥ saṁhāra anteṣu saṁbhavāḥ | na shakyam antaraṁ teṣāṁ vaktuṁ varṣa śataiḥ api || 1-8-26 And even if I were to talk for hundreds of years I can never complete the details of dissolutions and evolutions of each manu in manvantara, because an evolution ensues every dissolution, and a dissolution ensues every evolution... this much will suffice for our purpose... visargasya prajānāṁ vai saṁhārasya ca bhārata | manvantareṣu saṁhārāḥ śrūyante bharatarṣabha || 1-8-27 But, oh, king of bharata-s, we are told that there is a continuum of dissolution of beings followed by every evolution, during each manvantra... sa śeṣāḥ tatra tiṣṭhanti devāḥ sapta rṣibhiḥ saha | tapasā brahmacaryeṇa shrutena ca samāhitāḥ || 1-8-28 But one thing, there will be a surviving remnant of these dissolutions, say some orders of sages and devatā-s as sthūla bhūtāni, as gross elements, who with their ascesis, strength of character, and gnosis through scriptures play a waiting game, so to say... pūrṇe yuga sahasre tu kalpo niḥśeṣa ucyate | tatra sarvāṇi bhūtāni dagdhāni āditya tejasā || 1-8-29 When the four-yuga cycle is completed, the period of kalpa is deemed to have completed... then all beings will be burnt down by the radiation emitted from twelve-ādityās... dvādaśa āditya-s - twelve āditya-s are originally not twelve suns, nor the twelve names of sun, where viṣṇu is also one among them. They are earliest self-luminous vedic entities emerged from hiraṇyagarbha, which itself is a compact mass of dakṣa and aditi. While these twelve āditya-s sprang up to firmament, one more like them has emerged in īnitial-Bang theory, but came out as a dead mass - mṛta+aṇḍa, who later came to be known as mārtāṇḍa. brahmāṇam agrataḥ kṛtvā saha āditya gaṇaiḥ vibhum | yogaṁ yogīśvaraṁ devam ajaṁ kṣetrajṣam acyutam | pravishanti sura śreṣṭhaṁ hariṁ nārāyaṇaṁ prabhum || 1-8-30 On the completion of this period of kalpa, this order of twelve āditya-s along with creator-brahma will merge in nārāyaṇa, who is lord, supreme in yoga, yoga itself, gnosis itself, perishless, loftiest god, and Almighty hari... ādityā api dagdha indhana anala vat sva ātmānam upasaṁhṛtya. brahmaṇa saha, viṣṇum pravishanti - on becoming like embers the āditya-s too will merge into nārāyana along with brahma at the end of kalpa... yaḥ sraṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ kalpānteṣu punaḥ punaḥ | avyaktaḥ śāśvato devaḥ tasya sarvam idaṁ jagat || 1-8-31 Thus, the whole universe is in him and with him, who is unmanliness and everlasting, and who cyclically and periodically architects the universe... tatra saṁvartate rātriḥ sakala-eka-arṇave tadā | nārāyaṇaḥ udare nidrāṁ brāhmyaṁ varṣa-sahasrakam || 1-8-32 When whole universe is under the single sheet of waters - eka arṇavam - then nārāyaṇa will be in yogic slumber in the bosom of that water till the completion of thousand year night-time, rather sleep-time, of brahma is completed... tāvantam iti kālasya rātriḥ iti abhiśabditā | nidrā yogam anuprāpto yasyāṁ shete pitāmahaḥ || 1-8-33 That much is said to be the night-time of brahma, during which brahma retires from creation, and spends time in yogic repose in nārāyana... This period of thousand year night-time of brahma is also known as nishi of nārāyaṇa, where nishi is not exactly a night, but some stopgap period of activity. Same measure of time is the day, say activity time, of nārāyaṇa. sā ca rātriḥ apakrāntā sahasra-yuga-paryayā | tadā prabuddho bhagavān brahmā lokapitāmahaḥ || 1-8-34 punaḥ sisṛkṣayā yuktaḥ sargāya vidadhe manaḥ | sa eva smṛtiḥ purāṇe iyaṁ tad vṛttaṁ tat viceṣṭitam || 1-8-35 deva sthānāni tāni eva kevalaṁ ca viparyayaḥ | tato dagdhāni bhūtāni sarvāṇi āditya raśmibhiḥ || 1-8-36 deva rṣi yakṣa gandharvāḥ piśāca uraga rākṣasāḥ | jāyante ca punaḥ tāta yuge bharatasattama || 1-8-37 When that four-era night of brahma has elapsed then that grandsire starts his day again with a mind to create anew and commences to create afresh... then, starting with abodes of ethereal gods - which gods are existent yet non-existent - darśanānām adarśanaiḥ; saha viparyayo... maṇi pravāla dhārā mātram - like the thread existing, yet non-existing in a given string of beads... together with those beings that are burnt by the radiation of ādityā-s; as well as the hosts of gods, sages, yakṣa-s, gandharvā-s, piśācā-s, reptiles, and rākṣasās... all are given a renascence commensurable with that of previous kalpa... yathartāvṛtu liṅgāni nānā rūpāṇi paryaye | dṛśyante tāni tāni eva tathā brāhmīṣu rātriṣu || 1-8-38 As to how coldness, or hotness, manifest with the manifestation of cold season, or hot season, so the manifestation of beings takes place when the night of brahma lapses into day... niṣkramitvā prajā-kāraḥ prajāpatiḥ asaṁśayam | ye ca vai mānavā devāḥ sarve caiva maharṣayaḥ || 1-8-39 te saṅgatāḥ śuddhasaṅgāḥ shashvat dharma visargataḥ | na bhavanti punaḥ tāta yuge bharatasattama || 1-8-40 The Makers of People - prajā-kāra-s, prajāpati-s - will emerge out of nārāyaṇa, and start improvising beings... and some humans, gods and sages who lived in last kalpa with a detachment to wildly affairs leaving off the penchant for their bodily pleasures, they do not recur in the ensuing kalpa... It may be noted that prajāpati-s will emerge out the concept called nārāyaṇa on par with creator-brahma. So, they too are responsible for creation, say biogenetic creation. tat sarvaṁ krama yogena kāla saṁkhyā vibhāgavit | sahasra yuga saṁkhyānaṁ kṛtvā divasam īśvaraḥ || 1-8-41 rātriṁ yuga sahasra antāṁ kṛtvā ca bhagavān vibhuḥ | saṁharati atha bhūtāni sṛjate ca punaḥ punaḥ || 1-8-42 Thus, he who knows the division of time, that Almighty nārāyaṇa has devised the sequential thousand-era day and thousand-four-era night; sahasra-yuga-dina, sahasra-catur-yuga-rātri, because such an expertness is intrinsic in such nārāyaṇa, thus he goes on making evolutions and dissolutions of beings perpetually... vyakta-avyakto mahādevo hariḥ nārāyaṇaḥ prabhuḥ | tasya te kīrtayiṣyāmi manoḥ vaivasvatasya ha || 1-8-43 visargaṁ bharataśreṣṭha sāṁpratasya mahādyute| vṛṣṇi-vaṁśa-prasaṅgena kathyamānaṁ purātanam || 1-8-44 yatra utpanno mahātmā sa hariḥ vṛṣṇi-kule prabhuḥ | sarva asura ni-nāśāya sarva-loka-hitāya ca || 1-8-45 Thus that great lord hari-nārāyaṇa is manifest everywhere, because he himself is manifest, yet unmanifest - vyakta-avyakta; sthūla-sūkṣma-rūpa... Because you asked me about vṛṣṇi dynasty I had to dwell this much on nārāyaṇa, because he is the fount of both vṛṣṇi dynasty and vaivasvata manu, whose manvantaram is running now... Again, it is because nārāyaṇa wonts to take incarnations for the elimination of rākṣasā-s, for establishing complete welfare of the world, he emerged in this vṛṣṇi dynasty, of which I am about to tell... ---oOo--- iti śrīmahābhārate khilabhāge harivaṁśe harivaṁśaparvaṇi manvantara-gaṇanāyāṁ aṣṭamo.dhyāyaḥ || 8 Thus, this is the eight chapter of first canto called harivamsha-parva, in harivamśa-purāṇa, the sequel of mahābhārata, narrating the calculation of eras, time cycles. ---oOo--- Endnote From the footnote on page 21 - 37th chapter of Vishnu Purana - H. H. Wilson's translation; These calculations of time are found in most of the Pur*n*as, with some additions occasionally, of no importance, as that of the year of the seven Rishis, 3030 mortal years, and the year of ḍhruva, 9090 such years, in the Linga P. In all essential points the computations accord, and the scheme, extravagant as it may appear, seems to admit of easy explanation.We have, in the first place, a computation of the years of the gods in the four ages, or, KritaYuga4000 ṣandhy*400 ṣandhy*nsa400 4800 ṭret*Yuga3000 ṣandhy*300 ṣandhy*nsa300 3600 Dw*paraYuga2000 ṣandhy*200 ṣandhy*nsa200 2400 KaliYuga1000 Sandhya100 ṣandhy*nsa100 1200 12000. If these divine years are converted into years of mortals, by multiplying them by 360, a year of men being a day of the gods, we obtain the years of which the Yugas of mortals are respectively said to consist: 4800 x 360= 1.728.0003600 x 360= 1.296.0002400 x 360= 864.0001200 x 360= 432.000 4.320.000 a ṁah*yuga. So that these periods resolve themselves into very simple elements: the notion of four ages in a deteriorating series expressed by descending arithmetical progression, as 4, 3, 2, 5; the conversion of units into thousands; and the mythological fiction, that these were divine years, each composed of 360 years of men. It does not seem necessary to refer the invention to any astronomical computations, or to any attempt to represent actual chronology. 'One and seventy enumerations of the four ages, with a surplus.' A similar reading occurs in several other Pur*n*as, but none of them state of what the surplus or addition consists; but it is, in fact, the number of years required to reconcile two computations of the Kalpa. The most simple, and probably the original calculation of a Kalpa, is its being 1000 great ages, or ages of the gods: ### Bhavishya P. Then 4.320.000 years, or a divine age, x 1000 = 4320.000.000 years, or a day or night of Brahm*,. But a day of Brahm* is also seventy-one times a great age multiplied by fourteen: 4.320.000 x 71 x 14= 4.294.080.000, or less than the preceding by 25.920.000; and it is to make up for this deficiency that a certain number of years must be added to the computation by ṁanwantaras. According to the S*rya Siddh*nta, as cited by Mr. Davis (A. R. 2. 231), this addition consists of a Sandhi to each ṁanwantara, equal to the ṣatya age, or 5.728.000 years; and one similar Sandhi at the commencement of the Kalpa: thus p. 25 4.320.000 x 71 = 306.720.000 + 1.728.000 = 308.448.000 x 14 = 4318.272.000 + 1.728.000 = 4320.000.000. The Pauranics, however, omit the Sandhi of the Kalpa, and add the whole compensation to the ṁanwantaras. The amount of this in whole numbers is 1.851.428 in each ṁanwantara, or 4.320.000 x 71= 306.720.000 + 1.851.428 = 308.571.428 x 14 = 4319.999.992; leaving a very small inferiority to the result of the calculation of a Kalpa by a thousand great ages. To provide for this deficiency, indeed, very minute subdivisions are admitted into the calculation; and the commentator on our text says, that the additional years, if of gods, are 5142 years, 10 months, 8 days, 4 watches, 2 ṁuh*rttas, 8 Kal*s, 17 K*sht*h*s, 2 ṇimeśas, and 1/7th; if of mortals, 1.851.428 years, 6 months, 24 days, 12 N*ris, 12 Kal*s, 25 K*shtshas, and 10 ṇimeśas. It will be observed, that in the Kalpa we have the regular descending series 4, 3, 2, with cyphers multiplied ad libitum. In theory the Kalpas are infinite; as the Bhavishya: 'Excellent sages, thousands of millions of Kalpas have passed, and as many are to come.' In the Linga Pur*n*a, and others of the ṣaiva division, above thirty Kalpas are named, and some account given of several, but they are evidently sectarial embellishments. The only Kalpas usually specified are those which follow in the text: the one which was the last, or the P*dma, and the present p. 26 or V*r*ha. The first is also commonly called the Br*hma; but the Bh*gavata distinguishes the Br*hma, considering it to be the first of Brahm*'s life, whilst the P*dma was the last of the first Par*rddha. The terms Man*, or great Kalpa, applied to the Padma, is attached to it only in a general sense; or, according to the commentator, because it comprises, as a minor Kalpa, that in which Brahm* was born from a lotus. Properly, a great Kalpa is not a day, but a life of Brahm*; as in the Brahma Vaivartta: 'Chronologers compute a Kalpa by the life of Brahm*. Minor Kalpas, as ṣamvartta and the rest, are numerous.' Minor Kalpas here denote every period of destruction, or those in which the ṣamvartta wind, or other destructive agents, operate. Several other computations of time are found in different Pur*n*as, but it will be sufficient to notice one which occurs in the Hari Van*a, as it is peculiar, and because it is not quite correctly given in M. Langlois' translation. It is the calculation of the M*nava time, or time of a Menu. 10divine years= a day and night of a Menu.10M*nava days= his fortnight.10M*nava fortn.= his month.12M*nava months= his season.6M*nava seasons= his year. Accordingly the commentator says 72000 divine years make up his year. This is according to Vishnu Purana. Here it is eka saptatyā, seventy-one divine years. --o)0(o--