The Earth's slowing down ever so slowly Each day is longer than the one it follows by 0.00000002 second due to the gradual slowing down of the Earth's spin. Too small to notice, the delay adds up, in time, to a measurable effect A century ago, the day was shorter by 0.00073 seconds. Over a full century — 36,525 days later — the delay adds upto 13 seconds. The slowing is caused by tidal friction due to the moon's gravitational influence on shallow seas.

1. t.
s
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TIME
T H E V A S T N E S S O F S C A L E

2. TIME
T H E V A S T N E S S O F S C A L E
On the front cover. This is a Picasso masterpiece of a clock which
appears to be melting. This is an analogy for time and space and how
humans down all centuries have never appreciated the relevance of time.
On the back cover. In 1931, Salvador Dalí painted this celebrated work,
The Persistence of Memory, which introduced the surrealism of soft,
melting pocket watches. The general interpretation of the work is that the
soft watches are a rejection of the assumption that time is rigid or
deterministic. This idea is supported by the perspective this book in your
hand holds. The other images in this painting, such as the wide expanding
landscape, and the other limp watches, shown being devoured by insects
reinforce Dali's perception of 'soft' and 'hard' in the context of Time.

3. So, why all the fuss?
When the calendar finally flipped to the year that had hovered
so long in our mind in 2000, there was so much of the
Millennium hype. This tract was provoked by the hooha that
was raised then at the turn of the century.
This tract was written in the winter of 1999. I have done little to
edit what you read in this set of pages. To you, it will offer a
remarkable, even breath-taking, perspective on how
ambiguous Time can be, and yet how awfully precise those
ancient masters were in their mapping of its continuum.
When we heard the doomsayers, we went with those who
# 397, 13th Cross, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore - 560 080 disagreed: since there was no Year Zero, the Millennium cannot
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www.ecozed.com zed@ecozed.com crash down on our heads till 2001, and well, beyond.
But seriously, you must agree with the Chinese who point out
Copyright © 2010, Biodiversity Conservation India Private Limited.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or that year 2000 is a year of the Dragon, and by their reckoning, it
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the
publisher.
is year 4635. Or the Jew for whom this is year 5761, or the
Vikram Samvat 2057 for us in India... — so why bother at all?
Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be
mailed to: Permissions, Biodiversity Conservation India Private Limited, # This isn't as shallow as you think. There's an amazing likeness
397, 13th Cross, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore - 80
to how ancient civilisations (you can't count the Americans in the
Printed in INDIA, BANGALORE. lot, can you?) kept time. What is truly unique about the Indian
Photo Credit: The pictures on Cover & Back cover are from Salvador Dalí & Calendar (beyond the Vikram Samvat) is that it goes back to
Pablo Picasso.
when the Earth was born.
This is printed on Chlorine-free, unbleached paper. Go wood-free where you This striking compilation we present here is based on Vedic
can.
thought on Time. Here's a calendar that goes back a numbingly
long time — to the birth of Earth, among the several thousand
lives that she has...
1

4. phases of change. If life and death account for two of
The Heart Beats to them, five of those evolutionary changes lead to the
the Earth's . . . development of the five senses (pancha pranas — or
the Jnanendriyas) with the other five enabling the
Understanding the age of the Earth stems easily from
development of the five functions (pancha bhoothas —
an understanding of our own lifespans.
or the Karmendriyas).
The remarkably small measurements of time in the
The Earth's transformation not so amazingly,
vedic system of thinking arose from the prana (4
happens in much the same way with each of these 14
seconds) to the infinitesimal measures of time that the
changing phases involving an equal part of the
millions of forms of energy within our body take to
Earth's lifespan of 4,320 million years.
keep our lives sustained.
Thus each such phase of change accounts for one-
The ideal human lifespan is reckoned at 120 years.
fourteenth part of Earth's lifespan. This is called a
And the human heart is assumed to have a 'life' of
manvanthara.
4,320 million (or 432 crore) beats at 69.44 beats a
As the ancient vedic chant goes:
minute. Earth, too, has the same number of beats in
Akashath Vayuh I VayurAgnih I AgnirApah I Apar
its lifespan except that one human year makes for one
Prithvih II
earth beat — the heave and sigh of Earth's heart is
From Akash was born Wind; out of this was born Fire
marked by the bi-annual swing of the planet
which led to Water and then on to the formation of the
(Uttarayan and Dakshinayan).
land mass.
These 4,320 million years are broken into 1,000
Then came life in the form of vegetation (vana). These
segments of 432,000 years. Each such segment is the
six past phases (from birth to the pancha pranas),
span of the yuga.
called manvantharas, account for 185 crore (1.85
As with humans, the Earth has various phases of
billion) plus years, of the total of 432 crore (4.32
change in its life. The average physician will tell you
billion) years of Earth's life.
that man's development into life's full form involves 14
The seventh phase is called the Vaivasvathah
2 3

5. Manvanthara. This and the next (called Savarni
Manvanthara) are the only two phases that will
support human life on Earth. These two phases
account for 62 crore (620 million) plus years.
What happens after the next manvanthara — Savarni
— runs its course of 30.85 crore (308.5 million) plus
years? The Earth goes into its 'withdrawal phase'.
With man becoming extinct, it'll be the turn of all
plants and vegetation in the next phase of change. The
following five phases will mark the extinction of the
five elements with 'death' of Earth accounting for the
last manvanthara.
Then another similar life cycle begins! Earth has
36,000 such life cycles.
Now that completes one day in the life of the Sun,
which, too, has similar life cycles. The 28 suns of the
Lodestar (Dhruva) have similar cycles.
Give yourself time. This stuff In the vast, continuous process of change, each of the
is hard. your abuse didn't take
place in one night. It didn't players—the planets of every sun, the suns
take one night for your system themselves, and the lodestar — influence each other
to develop, or one night to be
bound by all the old rules. It in a powerful interplay of magnetic energies.
will take more than one night
to heal. And that is ok. Give
yourself permission to go as
slowly as you need and to
process these memories at
your own pace. Pushing
yourself too hard will only
retraumatize you and our
insiders which is the exact
opposite of what you want.
4 5

6. As you wade through these intricate numbers, you’ll
find it useful to remember that these vedic masters
worked from the 432 crore ‘pranas’ to make for an
The Earth's slowing
ideal human lifespan of 120 years. Then they reckoned down ever so slowly
with one year in the Life of Brahma (the Creator). This Each day is longer than the one it follows by
was put at 360 kalpas — a kalpa is simply one day of 0.00000002 second due to the gradual slowing
Brahma's life. A kalpa comprises 1,000 times four down of the Earth's spin. Too small to notice, the
yugas, or a 1,000 mahayugas. Brahma's lifespan is delay adds up, in time, to a measurable effect A
120 such 'years' which is termed a mahakalpa! If you century ago, the day was shorter by 0.00073
do the math, it’ll boggle your mind or the sheer seconds. Over a full century — 36,525 days later
vastness and scale of time they were mapping. — the delay adds upto 13seconds. The slowing is
But look at how the Julian Calendar that started 46 caused by tidal friction due to the moon's
BC with Julian Caesar, works. The Julian period of a gravitational influence on shallow seas.
7,980 year-cycle began on Tuesday, January 1, 4713
BC. Now compare this with the four yugas, which
repeat themselves 1,000 times on earth, which
constitute a mere one day for Brahma!
The Rig Veda computes 10,800 metrical divisions of
Can You Chase the
40 syllables each, thus again giving a figure of Dawn?
432,000. Along the equator on earth, the dawn arrives at a
Isn't it surprising that anthropologists now have speed of about 1600 km/hr— faster than a jet
unearthed evidence that man walked the Earth plane. But along the moon's equator, it comes at
millenia before the dinosaur? only 16 km/hr —slow enough for a man on a
bicycle to keep up with it. So you can chase the
dawn on the moon!
6 7

7. The medley of months
The names of the 12 months go back to the early Roman
times when the year began in March. Hence,
September, October, November and December were the
'seventh', 'eighth', 'ninth' and 'tenth' months of the year.
Although they no longer are, the names stuck. The rest
of the names are a mixture, mostly made up when the
calendar was changed by Julius Caesar.
January was named after Janus, the double-faced
Roman god who kept vigil at city portals, looking back
as the month did to the old year and ahead to the new.
February was named after Februa, the Roman festival
of purification, signifying that we 'enter' the year after
cleansing oneself. March stood for Mars, the Roman
god of war. April came from the Latin word for ‘opening
buds’. May was Maia, the goddess of growth. June
came from Juno, the goddess of heaven, or from the
well-known Roman family of Julius. July was named
after Julius Caesar himself. August took after
Augustus Caesar.
Explosion by Salvador Dali
8 9

8. The Countdown The canvas of time
Began Aeons Ago... The four yugas, in reverse order starting with the
present are:
The puja in any Hindu home — like among the Jews — Kaliyuga: Of 432,000 solar years
begins with an invocation of the day and time at which Dvaparayuga: Double the length of Kaliyuga, or
the sacred rite is being performed. We've learnt to 864,000 years
dismiss these incantations in our hurry to get on with it. Tretayuga: Three times that of Kaliyuga, or
But take a closer look — they'll unravel a simplicity and 12,96,000 years
elegance. The whole calendar is based on the Sun and Krutayuga: Four times that of Kaliyuga, or
Moon, their impact on Earth, and on Prithvi's 'children' 17,28,000 years.
and their lives. A mahayuga is 10 times the length of the
The chant goes like this: Kaliyuga, or 4,320,000 years. (Heraclitus refers
Shuba shobane muhurthe l to a great year of 10,800 years and Berossos, the
Aadhya Brahmanaha l Babylonian astronomer, spoke of a 'cosmic year'
Dvitheeya praharaardelSvetavaraaha kalpe l of 432,000 years). The current Kaliyuga began on
Vaivasvatha manvanthare l the midnight of 17/18th February, Thursday,
Ashta Vamshathi thaamelKaliyugel B.C.3102, according to these computations.
Prathamapaade l
PrabaadisamvatsarelDakshinaayane l
Sharadrithau l Shukla pakshe l Bhaadrapada maase l
Too Many Eggheads
This seemingly prosaic verse conceals the enormous It is believed that 90 per cent of all scientists who
vistas of time that are benchmarked to the moment of have ever lived are alive now, and that as many
day when obeisance is paid to the Gods. scientific papers have been published in the
We present here the remarkable significance of this years since 1950 as were published in all the
seemingly innocuous verse among thousand of such centuries before 1950.
10 11

9. charts that fill vedic texts. Walk in to any temple and
offer a ‘sankalp’ or an ‘archana’ to the gods, and the
priest will recite with boring monotony this verse. That’s
his way of ‘introducing’ you to the gods, telling them of
year ‘visit’ and the obeisance you pay.
Shuba shobane muhurthe l (The sacred time at which
I'm reciting this...)
Aadhya Brahmana ha l (...in the life of the Sun)
Dvitheeya praharaarde l Svetavaraaha kalpe l
Our Sun's lifespan is called a para — which equals 120
years of Brahma's life. Each lifecycle of Prithvi is one day
for Brahma who lives 120 years of 360 such 'days' a
year. This one day is equivalent to a kalpa of 36,000
such 'days'. There are two paras — prathama and
dvitheeya — each comprising 18,000 kalpas. We are
past the prathama para — which means 18,000 births
and deaths of Earth are complete! We're now in the Watching the clock won't
dvitheeya para of Prithvi's 26th birth (Svetavaraaha be so boring when its
watching these cool
kalpe). The 27th to come is called Gowri kalpa. melting wall clocks
inspired by Salvadore
Vaivasvatha manvanthare I Dali's famous painting,
The lifecycle of Earth is a timespan that includes her The Persistence of
Memory, painted in 1931.
final death throes and her rebirth. There's a change of You probably don't have a
tree limb handy but
state from birth to death, and death to birth. But the anywhere you hang them
energy runs forever through these two changes as they (or place them) they will
be the talk of your surreal
transmute in different forms. Birth to death and back to decor. Pick one up over at
etsy at Pragmatic Effects.
12 13

10. life is reckoned to be 432 crore years. That's a kalpa Prithvi is formed water in the Raivatha manvanthara.
while a para is 36,000 times one kalpa or 31,10,400 Out of these panchabhoothas (the five elements)
crore years. That's how long this ‘minor’ star, our Sun, vegetation is formed in the Chaakshusa manvanthara.
will live ! These six elements — each accounting for 30.85 crore (or
Ashta Vamshathi thaame l Kaliyuge l 308 million) years of the kind we know — eventually lead
Each kalpa has its day and night. The day is the to the formation of all living organisms, including man,
existence of Prithvi in the present form of its five in the Vaivasvatha manvanthara.
elements. Night is the 'death' of Prithvi, when Earth We're thus in the seventh manvanthara, the completion
relapses into a state of plasma called Akash (which can of which will account for 216 crore years from the time
loosely be reckoned as the gaseous forms that the Earth Earth underwent its birth pangs during this 27th
with morph into), in contrast to anthariksh (space) and lifecycle.
vayu (air), and continues in that state until another 'day' Each manvanthara has 71.4 chaturyugas from the base
of a new kalpa is born. unit of 432,000 years that makes one yuga. Earth thus
Now if this is not complicated enough, the kalpa (or has a little over 44 more Chaturyugas to complete this
Earth’s ‘one life’) itself has been divided into 14 parts lifecycle.
representing as many changes of state that Earth In the present Vaivaswatha manvanthara, we have
undergoes from the beginning of life to the final throes of completed 27 chaturyugas and are now in the 28th
death. Each such phase of change is called a [Ashta Vamshathi thaame). In this chaturyuga, we have
manvanthara. The 'kalpa' therefore has 14 completed Kruta, Treta, Dvapara and have entered
manvantharas as it undergoes its 14 cycles of change. Kaliyuga.
The first change is called Swayambhoova manvanthara, Prathamapaade l
signifying the formation of Akash. Part of Akash Kaliyuga itself has four spans, each accounting for
becomes Vayu and this phase is called Swarocheesham 108,000 years. Since we're in the 5001st year (see The
manvanthara. Vayu transforms into Agni (during Canvas of Time in this section), we obviously are in the
Authami manvanthara). From Agni is formed Prithvi Prathama paada.
(during Thaamasa manvanthara). From Vayu, Agni and
14 15

11. The lunar laya
The thithi is the moment of the new moon, or the
point when the longitudes of the sun and moon
are equal—amavasya, meaning 'dwelling
together'.
Thithi is the time occupied by the moon in
increasing its distance from the sun by 120.
The length of the thithi varies constantly. When
the difference between longitudes is 1800, it is
the purnima.
Nakshatra, as we have seen above, is 13020". The
moon travels nearly one nakshatra daily.
Toga is the period of time when the joint motion
in the longitude of the sun and the moon is
increased by 13020".
Karana is half a thithi, or the time during which
the differences in longitude of the sun and the
moon increase by 60. That's roughly a 'week' by
Western reckoning.
Keep to Lunar Time
To go on the lunar day, merely adjust your watch
"Tearful Soft Watch” by Salvador Dali to lose two minutes and five seconds every hour.
16 17

12. The amazing accuracy
of solar orbits
A solar year is the period of the earth’s rotation on its
axis. This year has a three-fold system:
(a) The sidereal year, when the earth makes one
revolution round the sun. Standard length: 365
days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, 9.29 seconds.
(b) The tropical year, when the earth in its revolution
passes from one equinox or tropic to the same again.
Standard length: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes,
45.37 seconds.
(c) The anomalistic year when the earth moves from the
apehelion to the perihelion or vice-versa of its
ellipse. Standard length: 365 days, 6 hours, 13
minutes, 46.61 second.
Does the description appear too technical? It should be.
For, what we have at hand is one of the most refined and
accurate measurements of time.
The break-up of the day (or years) into such precise
segments is truly astonishing and is unrivalled by any
other system in the ancient world.
It is perhaps a legacy of this accuracy which many
explain as reason for the incredibly complex and
technically perfect architecture of India’s old temples.
Salvador Dali
Surely the ancient system of mathematics had provided calendar, specifically
a Detail of "The
a base upon which future technology and engineering disintegration of the
persistence of
could be built?
memory" painting
18 19

13. Prabaadi samvatsare I Dakshinaayane I
The year, 2500 was called Prabaadi samvatsara — which
The Stonehenger marked
is among the 60 names of samvatsaras. Why 60? The time, too
number signifies half the ideal lifespan of a human(120 There are other major calendar systems of the world.
years). One samvatsara or year, of course, represents England's Stonehenge, dating back to B.C. 2000, is perhaps
one orbit of Prithvi around our sun. And in each orbit, the most famous. Observations were made by lining up stones
Earth tilts from north to south and vice-versa. This with a marker and watching for the appearance of the Sun or
tilting — or Earth's heartbeat—is called Ayanas. Moon against that point on the horizon that lay in the same
The north-south tilt is called Uttarayan and the south- straight line.
north tilt called Dakshinayan. This rhythmic tilt keeps Today more than 600 structures, perhaps from Stonehenge,
the energy forms of Earth alive and moving. have been discovered across Britain.
Sharad rithau I Shukla pakshe I Bhaadrapada maase I The Western Julian system, with its long history of
One revolution of moon and earth is called maasa. It's monarchical revisions, owes much to Sosigenes (an
fixed for eternity, always constant, unchanging. A Alexandrian astronomer). Pope Gregory XIII refined it with the
maasa is divided into two parts — Shukla paksha, when help of Christopher Clavius in 1582 when the Trench scholar,
the energy of Earth rises during the moon's ascendant, Joseph Justus Scaliger designed the 7,980-year cycle.
and Krishna paksha, which denotes the decline of This Gregorian calendar had a tropical year of 365.2422 days.
Earth's energy. The maasa is divided into 30 spans, each Other ancient and sophisticated calendars are the Athenian,
called thithi which is a little less than a day; 354 such Egyptian, Incan, Aztec and Mayan.
thithis make a lunar year. The Jewish calendar, a highly complex system, is 'lunisolar',
where the years are solar and months lunar. The calendar
I Beg Your Pardon ? employs a lunar cycle of 19 years (thus paralleling the 19-year
Metonic cycle devised by the Athenian astronomer, Meton, in
Albert Einstein defined relativity in the following B. C. 432). The Jewish era today is dated from B. C. 3761.
way: "Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems The Islamic calendar is lunar, beginning with the approximate
to be a minute; sit on a hot stove for a minute and it New Moon and dating from the flight of Prophet Mohammed
seems like an hour— that's relativity.” from Mecca to Madina in A.D.622.
20 21

14. So When Exactly is
the Millennium?
January 1, 2001, is not, strictly speaking, the start of
the new Millennium. It's more complicated than that.
The basis of our current calendar comes from
calculations made in A.D. 531 by a monk called
Dionysius Exiguus, known affectionately in scientific
circles as Dennis the Short.
In the Dionysian cycle, the first year starts at the
beginning of the first full calendar year of the reign of a
new emperor. Since our calendar is based on the birth
of Jesus Christ, who was born on December 25 in the
year B.C.1, the Millennium should be celebrated on
December 25, 2000.
But even that is not the real Millennium. That is the
anniversary of a non-event, say some people, because
Christ was already born several years before — exactly
when, is a very complicated and controversial
business.
But we know for sure Christ was indeed around
earlier because he was born when King Herod was still
ruling Judea. And Herod is known to have died before
The disintegration of the persistence of memory, 1952 by Salvador Dali
A.D. 1. And so, Christ must have been born a few
22 23

15. years earlier than we thought, meaning we've missed
the Millennium change entirely.
So you see... if you reckoned there is something
It beats nuclear
mystical about the year 2000, think again. time-keepers
The relationship between Earth and its Moon also The ancient Indian calculation of time is easily
means we will miss the Millennium, albeit by a few superior to even present nuclear time-keeping
seconds. Each year, the Moon moves further away devices. The Hindu 'truth' is obtained when one
from Earth, slowing our spinning planet by about a divides a second (in the Western system) into
second annually. Almost every December 31, you get 33,750 equal parts!
an extra second. So for those of you who count down The Hindu panchanga system (analogously
to the Millennium, remember to go, five, four, three, derived in its etymology from the five senses or
two, one, ONE. Don't celebrate a second too early. the five limbs) is far more complicated and
dynamic than Western calendars. There are five
basic elements in the time division:
The week is born The vaara (weekday) is the natural solar day
(saavan divas) beginning at sunrise. This vaara
By A.D. 4, Constantine I introduced the seven-day
has numerous sub-divisions:
week in Rome. The idea was borrowed from the
1 sura (prati pala) - 0.006 sec
Assyrians. The days were given Germanic names after
60 palas = 1 ghatika = 24min
the known celestial bodies of that time, in order of,
60 prati palas = 1 vipala or 0.4 secs
what was then believed, their decreasing distance
60 ghatikas = 1 divasa
from the Earth. They were Saturn, the Sun, the Moon, 60 vipalas = 1 pala or 24 seconds
Mars (Tiu), Mercury (Woden), Jupiter (Thor) and A further refinement was the division:
Venus (Freya). 10 vipalas = 1 prana (4 seconds); and
6 pranas = 1 pala (24 seconds)
24 25

16. Why Buy a Zed Home?
Tide doesn't wait for none Ÿ You save money
Ÿ 25-30% annual savings in your
The calendar has often gone haywire down the centuries. In
maintenance bills.
B.C. 4, there was confusion as to the exact date of Easter which
Ÿ Power needs for BCIL homes are
had to be calculated from the spring equinox. More than a generated within campus through
thousand years earlier, the Council of Nicaea, while laying down technologies like bio-solar systems
rules to calculate the date of Easter, had assumed that the and solar hybrids.
spring equinox would always arrive on March 21. In 1545, Ÿ Back-up power is with biodiesel or
however, it came on March 11. This was because the average other environment-friendly alternate
length of the Julian year was 365.25 days, which was longer
fuel sources.
Ÿ Water management that reduces
than the actual tropical year by 0.0078 days. Though this
reliance on municipal sources
difference might seem small, in 1,000 years, it magnifies to 7.8
Ÿ Organic and kitchen waste treated in
days! house to convert waste to wealth
Thus a change in the calendar was affected by Pope Gregory XIII
in 1582. After examining proposals from various scholars, the Ÿ You make money
one considered most suitable was one by Aloysius Lilius. Ten Ÿ Eco-homes that can generate revenues
days were to be dropped all at once from the prevailing calendar through carbon credits
to bring the spring equinox back to its designated date of March Ÿ BCIL's T-Zed homes has saved about
21. 600 tonnes of carbon emission by
Some 500 years later, as we move forward in time and using soil stabilized blocks-no bricks
or concrete blocks or clay tiles or clay
technology, new facts are being discovered about the Universe.
blocks
Tidal frictions are slowing down the Earth's rotation. The
Ÿ Value-adds in your home that 'green'
tropical year is progressively shrinking in length. These construction brings—car
seemingly minute changes can have drastic and unforeseen
effects in future, as the chaos theory predicts. All this means
# 397, 13th Cross, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore - 560 080
that the Gregorian Calendar will undergo some change in the Phone:+91 80 4018 4018 [30 Lines] Fax:+91 80 4018 4019
next few centuries. www.ecozed.com sales@ecozed.com
26