In jyotisha, time or kala is not treated as a mere background but as a living principle. Time is regarded as a power that supports creation on one side and causes its dissolution on the other. Without a proper grasp of kala, calculations, muhurtas, yuga cycles and even the basic calendar lose reliability.
The sages described kala in two ways. One form is that which destroys worlds and can only be experienced, while the other is kalanatmaka, that which can be divided and measured. This measurable time is again seen as gross and subtle and it becomes the practical foundation for all astrological computation.
One traditional definition states that one kind of kala belongs to universal destruction and another kind of kala is kalanatmaka, knowable through divisions. This measurable time is seen in two forms.
Sthula kala, gross time, which can be measured, such as hours, days, months or years. It is concrete because it can be bound by calculation.
Sukshma kala, subtle time, whose flow is present but cannot be caught by ordinary instruments. It is intangible and understood more in philosophical or meditative language.
Jyotisha takes that measurable kala and divides it finely into units like prana, pala, nimesha, tithi, nakshatra and yuga so that the rhythm of human life can be placed in its proper context.
Prana, Pala and Nimesha: Time Hidden in the Breath
The finest practical unit of time used in jyotisha is prana or asukala.
The span in which a healthy person, seated comfortably, inhales and exhales once is called prana. Classic calculations put it as follows.
- 6 prana = 1 pala or 1 vinadi
- 60 pala = 1 ghadi or 1 nadi
- 60 ghadi = 1 nakshatra ahoratra, that is one full day and night
Thus 1 day and night = 60 × 60 × 6 = 21600 prana. In modern measure a day and night is 24 hours = 86400 seconds. From this relationship it is derived that
- 1 prana = 86400 ÷ 21600 = 4 seconds approximately.
So a healthy person in a calm seated posture takes about four seconds for one complete breath cycle.
In earlier times pala was also used as a unit of weight.
- 1 pala = 4 tola.
- The time in which a specific water clock allowed four tolas of water to pass through a particular hole was called one pala.
The time taken to blink the eyelids once is called nimesha. Above that the hierarchy of units is given as
- 18 nimesha = 1 kastha
- 30 kastha = 1 kala = 60 vikala
- 30 kala = 1 ghatika
- 2 ghatika = 60 kala = 1 muhurta
- 30 muhurta = 1 day
From this we get 1 nakshatra day = 30 × 2 × 30 × 30 × 18 = 972000 nimesha.
The Surya Siddhanta gives this structure and is taken as authoritative for jyotisha. The Skanda Purana preserves a slightly different scheme.
There it is stated that
- 15 nimesha = 1 kastha
- 30 kastha = 1 kala
- 30 kala = 1 muhurta
- 30 muhurta = 1 day and night
So 1 day and night = 30 × 30 × 30 × 15 = 40500 nimesha. Since Surya Siddhanta is a pure astrological treatise whose computations are done by astrologers, its values are generally preferred, while the figures in Skanda Purana are viewed with some caution as they may include translation errors.
Combining these, one more important relationship is expressed.
- 1 day = 21600 prana = 86400 seconds = 972000 nimesha
- 1 prana = 972000 ÷ 21600 = 45 nimesha
- 1 second = 972000 ÷ 86400 = 11.25 nimesha
Thus breath, blink and clock ticks are all tied together as different faces of the same time stream.
Solar Month, Lunar Month, Nakshatra Month and Savan Month
In jyotisha month does not have a single definition. It is viewed in at least four main ways.
| Type of month | Based on what | Usual duration |
|---|
| Solar month | From one solar sankranti to the next | About 30 to 31 days |
| Lunar month | Two lunar fortnights | About 29 to 30 days |
| Nakshatra month | Moon’s passage from Asvini to Revati | About 27 days |
| Savan month | A practical block of thirty days | Exactly 30 days |
How a Solar Month Is Defined
A solar month begins with a sankranti of the Sun. The moment the centre of the Sun disc enters a new sign is taken as the sankranti of that sign.
The interval from one sankranti to the next is a solar month. Based on the twelve signs there are twelve solar months. Each usually spans about 30 or 31 days, though it can occasionally be 29 or 32, depending on the Sun’s speed.
When the Sun is closer to the Earth, around early January, its angular speed appears higher so it crosses a sign faster and the solar month is shorter. Around early July, when the Sun is comparatively farther, its angular speed is slower and the solar month becomes longer.
On average the solar month is taken as about 30.44 solar days.
Types of Lunar Month
The sum of the waxing and waning fortnight of the Moon forms a lunar month. This is considered in two ways.
- The month starting from Shukla Pratipada and ending on Amavasya is the main lunar month used in many uses.
- The month starting from Krishna Pratipada and ending on Purnima is taken as a secondary lunar month.
Due to the varying length of tithis, the lunar month can be 29, 28, 27 or 30 days.
Nakshatra Month and Savan Month
The time taken by the Moon to move from the nakshatra Asvini through all 27 nakshatras up to Revati once is called a nakshatra month. This is roughly 27 days.
A Savan month is constructed as a simple 30 day period. It may begin on any calendar date and end on the thirtieth day. In trade, accounts and everyday matters people commonly use this Savan month.
Both solar based and lunar based Savan months are in use.
- The solar Savan month begins on any date of a solar month and ends on the thirtieth day.
- The lunar Savan month begins on any lunar date and ends on the thirtieth day counted from there.
A tithi measures the angular separation between the Moon and the Sun.
When the Moon comes very close to the Sun in the sky and stands between Sun and Earth, Amavasya occurs. After Amavasya the Moon moves eastward ahead of the Sun.
When the Moon gets about 120 kala ahead of the Sun, the first tithi, Prathama, ends.
- From 120 to 240 kala difference the second tithi, Dvitiya, runs.
- From 240 to 360 kala the third tithi, Tritiya, is in force.
- Continuing in this way, when the separation goes from 1680 to 1800 kala, Purnima occurs.
From 1800 to 1920 kala the next Pratipada runs, from 1920 to 2040 kala the next Dvitiya and so on through the Krishna fortnight.
After Purnima the Moon appears each day roughly two ghadi, about 48 minutes, later in the sky at sunset. This is why the rising and setting times of the Moon change by a nearly steady amount each day.
Traditional lunar months are named as follows.
Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyestha, Ashadha, Shravan, Bhadrapada, Ashvina, Kartika, Margashirsha or Mrigashira, Pausha, Magha and Phalguna.
These names are tied to specific full moons or new moons and form the framework for festivals and rituals.
The Day of the Gods and the Deep Structure of Yuga Cycles
Besides human time jyotisha and the Puranic tradition introduce divine time.
One solar year of humans is taken as one day of the gods. The northern solstice, Uttarayana, is said to be their day and the southern solstice, Dakshinayana, their night. The northern pole of the Earth is described as the abode of the gods and the southern pole as the abode of asuras.
Twice a year, at the equinoxes, day and night are equal. The Sun spends six months north of the equator and six months south.
When the Sun stays in the northern half, the northern pole sees continuous daylight for about six months while the southern pole remains in darkness. This period is called the day of the gods and the night of the asuras.
When the Sun stays in the southern half, the southern pole has continuous daylight and the northern pole darkness. That becomes the night of the gods and the day of the asuras. From this viewpoint twelve human months are equal to one full day and night of the gods or asuras.
Divine Year and the Chaturyuga
With 1 solar year taken as 1 day of the gods we get
- 360 divine days = 1 divine year.
From here the durations of the yugas are given in divine years.
- 1200 divine years = 1 Chaturyuga = 1200 × 360 = 432000 human years.
A full cycle of four yugas, called a Mahayuga or Chaturyuga, has
- Total = 4320000 years
- Composed of
- Satya Yuga = 1728000 years
- Treta Yuga = 1296000 years
- Dvapara Yuga = 864000 years
- Kali Yuga = 432000 years
Each yuga is flanked by a dawn and dusk period, known as Sandhya and Sandhyamsha.
As one day has two sandhyas, morning and evening, so each yuga has a starting sandhya and an ending sandhyamsha. Both together equal one sixth of that yuga, so a single sandhya equals one twelfth.
Thus
- Dawn and dusk of Kali Yuga each = 3600 years
- Dawn and dusk of Dvapara each = 7200 years
- Dawn and dusk of Treta each = 10800 years
- Dawn and dusk of Satya each = 14400 years
The total lengths stated earlier include these sandhyas.
Manvantara and Kalpa Calculation
Seventy one Chaturyugas form one Manvantara and at its end there is a sandhya equal in length to Satya Yuga. This period is described as a flood or pralaya.
Fourteen such Manvantaras together with their sandhyas make one Kalpa. At the beginning of a Kalpa there is another sandhya equal to Satya Yuga.
So a Kalpa contains
- 14 Manvantaras and
- 15 sandhyas of Satya Yuga length.
According to Manusmriti and Surya Siddhanta
- 1 Chaturyuga has 2 sandhyas
- 1 Manvantara = 71 × 4320000 = 306720000 years
- Sandhya at the end of a Manvantara = 1728000 years
Altogether
- 1 Kalpa = 1000 Chaturyugas = 1000 × 4320000 = 4320000000 years
Aryabhata in Aryabhatiya presents 1 Manvantara as 72 Chaturyugas and counts 14 Manvantaras to make 1008 Chaturyugas per Kalpa, while Surya Siddhanta holds 1000 Chaturyugas per Kalpa. For astrological purposes the Surya Siddhanta value is more widely followed.
A Kalpa is said to be equal to one day of Brahma and there is a night of equal length. It is taught that at present half of Brahma’s lifetime is over and in the remaining half this is the first Kalpa.
The current Kalpa is called Sveta Varaha Kalpa. In it six Manvantaras have passed and the seventh, Vaivasvata Manvantara, is running. Within this Manvantara twenty seven Mahayugas are complete, the Satya Yuga of the twenty eighth Mahayuga is over and now we are in Kali Yuga with a few thousand years completed.
Difference between Solar and Lunar Year and Adhimas
One solar year contains 12 solar months and around 365.2585 mean Savan days.
Twelve lunar months together make about 354.36705 mean Savan days. Thus a lunar year is roughly 10.89170 days shorter than a solar year.
In about 33 lunar months this difference reaches the length of one full lunar month. In the solar year in which the difference equals a month, a thirteenth lunar month is inserted. This extra month is called Adhimas or Malamasa.
Without Adhimas the festival dates that are tied to lunar months would drift steadily through the seasons. In a few decades a festival that once fell in late autumn could move to spring or summer. The Indian calendar avoids this by adjusting lunar months to keep them close to seasonal positions.
What Is Kshayamas
Besides the extra month there is also the rare case of a Kshayamas, a missing month.
From November to February the Sun’s angular speed is relatively high and the interval between sankrantis shrinks. If within one lunar month the end of Amavasya falls shortly before a sankranti and another sankranti follows within the same lunar month, then effectively one sign transit has no lunar month of its own and a solar month is said to be lost.
A Kshayamas can only occur in Cartika, Margashirsha, Pausha and Magha, that is within the span from November to February. Astronomers and astrologers must mark such months carefully in the panchanga.
Weekdays, Hora and Planetary Rulership
Each hour or hora also has a planetary ruler. The order of planets is taken according to their distance from Earth as understood traditionally.
The sequence is
Shani, Guru, Mangala, Surya, Shukra, Budha, Chandra.
The lords of the horas follow this order. Suppose the first hour of a day is ruled by Shani.
- The second hora is ruled by Guru
- The third by Mangala
- The fourth by Surya
- The fifth by Shukra
- The sixth by Budha
- The seventh by Chandra
- The eighth again by Shani
The name of the weekday is given according to the planet ruling the first hora of that day.
If the first hora is ruled by Shani, that day is called Shanivara or Saturday. The second hora of Saturday belongs to Guru, the third to Mangala and so on.
Continuing this pattern,
- The 22nd hora of Saturday is ruled by Shani
- The 23rd by Guru
- The 24th by Mangala
The next, 25th hora, is actually the first hour of the next day and its ruler by sequence is Surya. So the day following Saturday is Sunday.
Again the 25th hora from the start of Sunday has Chandra as lord, hence the following day is called Somavara, Monday.
This shows why Saturday is followed by Sunday, Sunday by Monday and Monday by Tuesday.
In the traditional ordering Chandra is the fourth planet from Surya and Surya is the fourth from Shani. Thus the lord of each day is the fourth planet from the lord of the preceding day when counted in this distance based sequence.
The Metonic Cycle and Coordination of Solar and Lunar Years
Ancient observers also noted a long cycle connecting lunar and solar years.
The Greek astronomer Meton around 433 BCE found that
- 19 solar years = 19 × 365.25 = 6939.75 days
- 235 lunar months = 235 × 29.531 = 6939.785 days
The difference is less than an hour. This 19 year pattern is called the Metonic cycle.
It shows that in every 19 solar years there are about 235 lunar months while normally 19 × 12 = 228 solar months are expected, so there are 7 extra lunar months. Without adjustment, in roughly 32.5 solar years there would be 33.5 lunar years.
If one followed only the lunar year, a festival like Deepavali occurring in November could move seven months earlier to April within 19 years. The Indian calendar watches such cycles and uses extra months to keep festivals aligned with seasons.
What Is the Zodiac and How Is It Constructed
In the sky the apparent path of the Sun is called the Kantivrtta or ecliptic. Dividing this circle into twelve equal parts gives twelve rashis.
The circle on which the nine planets seem to move is called the Rashichakra. It is the 360 degree pathway around the Earth’s orbit divided into twelve segments.
Thus
The ranges and names of the rashis are as follows.
| Degree range | Name of sign |
|---|
| 0 to 30 | Mesha |
| 30 to 60 | Vrisha |
| 60 to 90 | Mithuna |
| 90 to 120 | Karka |
| 120 to 150 | Simha |
| 150 to 180 | Kanya |
| 180 to 210 | Tula |
| 210 to 240 | Vrischika |
| 240 to 270 | Dhanu |
| 270 to 300 | Makara |
| 300 to 330 | Kumbha |
| 330 to 360 | Meena |
This zodiac is the basis on which planetary longitudes are measured and horoscopes are cast.
What Are Nakshatras and How Are They Divided
Groups of stars forming recognisable shapes such as horse, cart, serpent or elephant are called nakshatras. They serve as units for measuring angular distance in the sky similar to miles or kos on Earth.
The Rashichakra is divided into 27 equal parts to form 27 nakshatras.
The full 360 degrees of the circle are split into 27 parts for nakshatras, so
- 1 nakshatra = 360 ÷ 27 = 13 degrees 20 minutes = 800 kala.
Each nakshatra is further divided into 4 padas or quarters.
- 1 nakshatra = 4 padas
- 1 pada = 13 degrees 20 minutes ÷ 4 = 3 degrees 20 minutes = 200 kala
Since one sign measures 30 degrees, two and a quarter nakshatras or 9 padas cover one rashi.
The 27 Nakshatras and Their Deities
The nakshatras and their ruling deities are as follows.
- Asvini - Asvini Kumara
- Bharani - Kala
- Krittika - Agni
- Rohini - Brahma
- Mrigashira - Chandra
- Ardra - Rudra
- Punarvasu - Aditi
- Pushya - Brihaspati
- Ashlesha - Sarpa
- Magha - Pitrs
- Purva Phalguni - Bhaga
- Uttara Phalguni - Aryaman
- Hasta - Surya
- Chitra - Vishvakarma
- Swati - Vayu
- Vishakha - Shukra and Agni
- Anuradha - Mitra
- Jyeshtha - Indra
- Mula - Nirrti
- Purvashada - Jala
- Uttarashada - Vishvedeva
- Shravana - Vishnu
- Dhanishtha - Vasu
- Shatabhisha - Varuna
- Purvabhadrapada - Ajaikapada
- Uttarabhadrapada - Ahirbudhnya
- Revati - Pusha
Abhijit is sometimes counted as a twenty eighth special nakshatra. It spans the last 15 ghatis of Uttarashada and the first 4 ghatis of Shravana, a total of 19 ghatis. Abhijit is regarded as auspicious for most undertakings.
When interpreting nakshatras one should keep in mind the nature of their presiding deities, since the character and fruits of the nakshatra are coloured by their deity’s qualities.
The Astrological Vision of Kala
From nimesha to prana, pala, day, month, year and Kalpa, this layered structure of kala is not mere arithmetic. It reveals how jyotisha insists on placing every event, every muhurt and every yuga in the correct frame of time.
A student who grasps these units can read tithi, vara, nakshatra, adhimas, yuga and Kalpa with greater ease. This not only deepens mathematical understanding but also clarifies the right seasons for festivals, the selection of hora and the long view of history and destiny.
To understand kala correctly is to build a firm base for all further study of planets, signs, houses and dashas. Without that base the language of the horoscope remains incomplete.
Common Questions on Time and Jyotisha
What practical benefit does one gain from knowing prana, pala and nimesha
These units show that ancient timekeeping is rooted in the rhythms of the human body, breath and blink. This makes it easier to connect meditation, pranayama and muhurt selection and to count time in a way that follows natural cycles.
Among solar, lunar, nakshatra and Savan months which is more important
Each serves a distinct purpose. Solar months govern seasons and the Sun’s motion, lunar months shape festivals and tithis, nakshatra months help in nakshatra based work and Savan months are convenient for daily activities and accounts. All are important in their own domain.
What would happen to the calendar without Adhimas and Kshayamas
Without adding Adhimas and accounting for Kshayamas, the lunar calendar would drift steadily away from the seasons. Within a few decades major festivals would fall in entirely different seasons and lose their connection with the natural climate.
Why is the fourth planet rule used in the sequence of weekdays
Planets are ordered by traditional distance from Earth and hora rulership follows that order. Taking the fourth planet from the previous day’s lord gives a repeating cycle in which each of the seven planets rules the first hour of one weekday, creating a coherent structure of vara, hora and graha.
Why should one learn both rashi and nakshatra together
Rashi gives the broader 30 degree background of a planet’s placement, while nakshatra and its pada give finer detail of temperament and specific results. Reading both together makes predictions and psychological understanding much more precise.
