The Vedic calendar is not a manmade invention but a cognition of the functioning of natural law, both gross and subtle, in the universe. Simply putting attention on this calendar can help bring our awareness into greater harmony with the functioning of natural law.
The Vedic calendar is one aspect of Vedic civilization. Although this civilization has primarily been located in India in historical times, the rules for the Vedic calendar can be apply to any place in the world and give different results from place to place.
A printed Vedic calendar for time period such as a month or a year is called a pañchāngam. Many sites can generate a pañchāngam for India, but the author has found that only a few can generate panchangams for other places.
The best site the author knows of for generating a printed pañchāngam anywhere in the world is My Panchang • mypanchang.com, which is duplicated at mypanchangam.com.
Unfortunately, the pages that are generated by this site are suitable for printing only after several steps of modification, to remove ads and other extraneous material. This section steps you through this process.
The following instructions assume you are using Firefox as your browser. Other browsers should work in a similar manner.
- Go to mypanchang.com or mypanchangam.com.
- Scroll down to the box titled Panchangam.
- Select the Year, and select the Country, State, and City to the location closest to you. (Do not click List of Cities.) Nearness in longitude is more important than nearness in latitude. (For Fairfield, Iowa, the nearest location is Coralville, Iowa.)
- Click Panchangam. This takes you to a page titled Panchang for <place><year>.
- Click the desired month.
- In the middle column, headed Purnimant Panchangam:
- For text in Devanagari, click हिन्दी/संस्कृत पंचांग. (Sometimes this option does not appear until the year has begun.)
- For text in Roman script, click Panchangam - Horizontal.
- Save the new and full moon images as follows.
Full moon
New moon - Right click on each moon image above.
- Select Save Image As.
- Leave File name and Save as type unchanged.
- Click Save.
- Save the calendar page as follows.
- Use File | Save Page As or press Ctrl-S.
- Set Save as type to Web page, complete. (Do not use Web page, HTML only as this does not save enough data.)
- Set File name to something meaningful, such as Panchangam01.htm.
- Click Save.
- For additional months in the same year, click the links near the top of the calendar page, and save these pages.
- Exit Firefox.
- The complete save creates a subfolder for the file which contains auxilliary files. You can delete these subfolders, as the changes below will eliminate the need for them.
- For a Devanagari text page, open the saved files in a text editor and edit them as follows. If you don’t have a text editor: on Windows use Notepad; on a Mac use TextEdit with Preferences > Format set to Plain Text.
- The second line in the file should be <center>. About 20 lines further down, there should be a line </center>. Delete these two lines and all the lines between them.
- About 50 lines below this, there should be a line that starts with </tbody></table><font … >. Delete all text from <font … > to the end of the file, except for the last line, which should be </body></html>.
- Search for Fullmoon.gif and Newmoon.gif and delete the any path in front of the file name.
- Replace each occurrence of </u></b><br> with </u></b> followed by a space.
- At this point, the file can be printed on three or more sheets. If your editor can search and replace with regular expressions, you can make the file print on fewer sheets by:
- Deleting the material from each occurrence of नक्षत्र (nakshatra) up to but not including the next </span>.
- Deleting other unwanted text.
- You can further reduce the print size by:
- In months which have six weeks, moving the days in the sixth week to blank positions in the first week. Each week starts with <tr> and ends with </tr>, and each day starts with <td and ends with </td>.
- Reducing the print scale. See the printing directions below.
- Save changes and exit the text editor.
- For a Roman text page, open the saved files in a text editor and edit them as follows. If you don’t have a text editor: on Windows use Notepad; on a Mac use TextEdit with Preferences > Format set to Plain Text.
- Between the <head> and </head> tags, remove everything except the <title> … </title> tag.
- After </head>, remove the two comment lines.
- In the <body … > tag, remove all attributes, i.e. make it simply <body>.
- Starting with the line after <body>, remove all lines down to but not including the line beginning with <table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="98%">.
- Search for the next occurrence of </table>. After this, remove everything down to but not including </body></html>.
- Search for Fullmoon.gif and Newmoon.gif and delete the any path in front of the file name.
- Replace all [Purnimant with a space followed by (Purnimant.
- Replace all ]</th> with )</th>.
- At this point, the file can be printed on two or more sheets. If your editor can search and replace with regular expressions, you can make the file print on fewer sheets with the following.
- Delete the material from each occurrence of Shaka: up to but not including the next <b>Chandramasa:
- Delete the material from each occurrence of <br><b>Y: (yoga) up to but not including the next </span>.
- Delete other unwanted text.
- You can further reduce the print size with the following.
- In months which have six weeks, move the days in the sixth week to blank positions in the first week. Each week starts with <tr> and ends with </tr>, and each day starts with <td and ends with </td>.
- Reduce the print scale. See the printing directions below.
- Save changes and exit the text editor.
- Open up the file in Firefox. All the ads and other extraneous material should now be gone, and the table should start at the top of the page.
- Prepare to print as follows.
- Click the ☰︎ (Open Application Menu) icon in the upper right corner and then click Print, or go to File > Print, or press Ctrl-P. This shows how the file will appear on a printed page.
- Set Orientation to Portrait.
- Under Scale, click Scale and set the percentage to 100. If the file is too big for the paper size, set the percentage to a lower value.
- Click Page Setup.
- Under Margins, choose Custom and set all margins to 0.2 inches if you are using letter size paper, or 5 millimeters if you are using A4 size paper. If you use Firefox to print other files, you may wish to record the old values in this area before you change them.
- Check Print background.
- Finally, Print each file.
The following material refers to information in the pañchāngam described in the previous section, from My Panchang. Much of this material also applies to other pañchāngam.
Days of the week
The column headers are the days of the week.
| रविवार | Ravivāra | Sunday |
| सोमवार | Somavāra | Monday |
| मंगलवार | Maṅgalavāra | Tuesday |
| बुधवार | Budhavāra | Wednesday |
| गुरुवार | Guruvāra | Thursday |
| शुक्रवार | Śhukravāra | Friday |
| शनिवार | Śhanivāra | Saturday |
Daily information
The first seven lines in each box show important information for each day. (Lines after the seventh are more technical.)
| 1 | सूर्योदय | Sūryodaya | Sunrise | |
| 2 | सूर्यास्त | Sūryāsta | Sunset | |
| 3 | चंद्रोदय | Chandrodaya | Moonrise | |
| 4 | (मास) | (Māsa) | Lunar month (see below) | |
| 5 | शुक्ल / कृष्ण पक्ष | Śhukla / Kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha | Bright / Dark fortnight (see below) | |
| 6 | तिथि | Tithi | Lunar day (see below) | |
| 7 | नक्षत्र | Nakṣhatra | Asterism or lunar mansion | |
| राशि | Rāśhi | Sign | Western month |
|---|---|---|---|
| मेष | Meṣha | Aries | April-May |
| वृषभ | Vṛiṣhabha | Taurus | May-June |
| मिथुन | Mithuna | Gemini | June-July |
| कर्क | Karka | Cancer | July-August |
| सिंह | Siṃha | Leo | August-September |
| कन्या | Kanyā | Virgo | September-October |
| तुला | Tulā | Libra | October-November |
| वृश्चिक | Vṛiśhchika | Scorpio | November-December |
| धनु | Dhanu | Saggitarius | December-January |
| मकर | Makara | Capricorn | January-February |
| कुम्भ | Kumbha | Aquarius | February-March |
| मीन | Mīna | Pisces | March-April |
Solar months
A solar month is the time the sun takes to transit a given rāśhi. These months do not have separate names, but we will use a rāśhi name as the name of a solar month. For example, when we say “Meṣha”, we mean the solar month during which the sun transits Meṣha, and when we say “rāśhi”, we mean a solar month.
Māsas
A māsa is a Vedic month. A māsa ends on either the full or new moon and lasts for 29 or 30 days, or exactly 30 lunar days (see below). The full moon is called pūrṇimaḥ, and the new moon amāvasyā. In most of north India, a māsa ends on the full moon. Such a month is called a pūrṇimānt (full moon end) māsa. In the rest of India, generally the south, a māsa ends on the new moon and is called amāvasyānt (new moon end) māsa.
| मास | Māsa | Western month for pūrṇimānt māsa | Western month for amāvasyānt māsa |
|---|---|---|---|
| चैत्र | Chaitra | March-April | March-April or April-May |
| वैशाख | Vaiśhākha | April-May | April-May or May-June |
| ज्येष्ठ | Jyeṣhṭha | May-June | May-June or June-July |
| आषाढ | Āṣhāḍha | June-July | June-July or July-August |
| श्रावण | Śhrāvaṇa | July-August | July-August or August-September |
| भाद्रपद | Bhādrapada | August-September | August-September or September-October |
| आश्विन | Āśhvina | September-October | September-October or October-November |
| कार्तिक | Kārtika | October-November | October-November or November-December |
| मार्गशीर्ष | Mārgaśhīrṣha | November-December | November-December or December-January |
| पौष | Pauṣha | December-January | December-January or January-February |
| माघ | Māgha | January-February | January-February or February-March |
| फाल्गुन | Phālguna | February-March | February-March or March-April |
Pakṣhas
Within a month, a day is identified with a pakṣha and a tithi.
The pakṣha is the fortnight or half month. When the moon is waxing (going from new to full), it is called śhukla pakṣha (bright fortnight). When the moon is waning (going from full to new), it is called kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha (dark fortnight).
The śhukla pakṣhas of pūrṇimānt and amāvasyānt māsas always have the same māsa name. But the kṛiṣhṇa pakṣhas always have different names: the pūrṇimānt name is one month ahead of the amāvasyānt name.
The tithi is a lunar day and is explained below.
Types of māsas
- Since the lunar month lasts 29.5 days, and a solar month, a rāśhi, lasts an average of 30.4 days, there is usually one new moon for any given rāśhi. In this case, the lunar month is an ordinary māsa.
- About once every 3 years, there are two new moons for a rāśhi. Then another māsa is added, called an adhika māsa.
- Rarely, at most once every 19 years, there is no new moon for a rāśhi. One of the māsas is skipped, and the next māsa is called a kṣhaya māsa.
Ordinary pūrṇimānt māsas
- Starting with the new moon that occurs during a rāśhi, the preceding full moon is the end of the pūrṇimānt māsa.
- The day after the full moon preceding this one is the beginning of the pūrṇimānt māsa.
- The first māsa is Chaitra, which occurs when the rāśhi is Mīna. Other māsas correspond to the other rāśhis in a parallel sequence given by the above two tables.
Ordinary amāvasyānt māsas
- The new moon that occurs during a rāśhi is the end of the amāvasyānt māsa.
- The day after the new moon preceding this one is the beginning of the amāvasyānt māsa.
- The first māsa is Chaitra, which occurs when the rāśhi is Meṣha, which is April 14 to May 14, roughly. Other māsas correspond to the other rāśhis in a parallel sequence given by the above two tables.
Example ordinary māsas
The following example is for two rāśhis and māsas in 2012.
| Rāśhis | ||
|---|---|---|
| March 14 to | April 13 | Sun in Mīna |
| April 13 to | May 14 | Sun in Meṣha |
| New and full moons | ||
| March 7 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Kumbha |
| March 22 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Mīna |
| April 6 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Mīna |
| April 20 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Meṣha |
| May 5 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Meṣha |
| May 20 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Vṛiṣhabha |
| Pūrṇimānt pakṣhas | ||
| March 8 to | March 22 | Chaitra kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| March 23 to | April 6 | Chaitra śhukla pakṣha |
| April 7 to | April 20 | Vaiśhākha kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| April 21 to | May 5 | Vaiśhākha śhukla pakṣha |
| Amāvasyānt pakṣhas | ||
| March 8 to | March 22 | Phālguna kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| March 23 to | April 6 | Chaitra śhukla pakṣha |
| April 7 to | April 20 | Chaitra kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| April 21 to | May 5 | Vaiśhākha śhukla pakṣha |
Adhika māsas
There is usually one new moon for each rāśhi, but about once every 3 years, there are two new moons for a given rāśhi. When this happens, a second, extra month, or leap month, is added after the first month. The extra month is called adhika (additional), e.g. Adhika Chaitra.
Pūrṇimānt adhika māsas
- The pakṣha ending with the first new moon is an ordinary kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha, except it is named after the new moon in the next rāśhi.
- The māsa ending with the second new moon in the rāśhi is an adhika māsa named after the new moon in the next rāśhi.
- The pakṣha following the second new moon is an ordinary śhukla pakṣha, except it is prefixed with the word nija (innate) or śhuddha (purified).
Amāvasyānt adhika māsas
- The māsa ending with the first new moon in the rāśhi is an ordinary māsa.
- The māsa ending with the second new moon in the rāśhi is an adhika māsa named after the next new moon, which is in the next rāśhi.
- The māsa ending with the next new moon takes its usual name prefixed with the word nija (innate).
Example adhika māsa
The following example is for an adhika māsa in 2012.
| Rāśhis | ||
|---|---|---|
| July 15 to | August 16 | Sun in Karka |
| August 16 to | September 16 | Sun in Siṃha |
| September 16 to | October 16 | Sun in Kanyā |
| New and full moons | ||
| July 18 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Karka |
| August 1 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Karka |
| August 17 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Siṃha |
| August 31 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Siṃha |
| September 15 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Siṃha |
| September 29 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Kanyā |
| October 14 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Kanyā |
| Pūrṇimānt pakṣhas | ||
| July 19 to | August 1 | Śhrāvaṇa śhukla pakṣha |
| August 2 to | August 17 | Bhādrapada kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| August 18 to | August 31 | Adhika Bhādrapada śhukla pakṣha |
| September 1 to | September 15 | Adhika Bhādrapada kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| September 16 to | September 29 | Nija Bhādrapada śhukla pakṣha |
| September 30 to | October 14 | Āśhvina kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| Amāvasyānt pakṣhas | ||
| July 19 to | August 1 | Śhrāva śhukla pakṣha |
| August 2 to | August 17 | Śhrāva kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| August 18 to | August 31 | Adhika Bhādrapada śhukla pakṣha |
| September 1 to | September 15 | Adhika Bhādrapada kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| September 16 to | September 29 | Nija Bhādrapada śhukla pakṣha |
| September 30 to | October 14 | Nija Bhādrapada kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
Kṣhaya māsas
More rarely, roughly once a century, there is no new moon for a rāśhi. In this case, one or both pakṣhas in the māsa for that rāśhi are skipped, and both pakṣhas in the next māsa are called kṣhaya (loss or collapse).
A kṣhaya māsa is always preceded or followed by an adhika māsa. The last kṣhaya māsa was in 1983, and the next will be in 2124.
A kṣhaya māsa is possible because the earth’s orbit is not perfectly circlar, but is slightly elliptical, which changes the length of the solar months, and because the position of Rāhu and Ketu (the ascending and descending lunar nodes) slightly change the length of the lunar month. A kṣhaya māsa is rare because the lunar month averages one day longer than the solar month, and the possible changes in the lengths of each are small.
A kṣhaya māsa can only occur during the solar months of Vṛiśhchika, Dhanu, and Makara, when the earth is near perihelion (closest approach to the sun). At these times, the earth is moving more quickly and the solar months are slightly shorter.
Conversely, an adhika māsa is more likely during the opposite months, when the earth is near aphelion (farthest egress from the sun). But since the lunar month averages one day longer than the solar month, an adhika māsa is much more likely than a kṣhaya māsa, and an adhika māsa can occur at any time of year.
Example kṣhaya māsa
The following example is for the kṣhaya māsa in 1983.
| Rāśhis | ||
|---|---|---|
| December 15 16:15 to | January 14 14:27 | Sun in Dhanu |
| January 14 14:27 to | February 13 3:27 | Sun in Makara |
| February 13 3:27 to | March 15 0:22 | Sun in Kumbha |
| March 15 0:22 to | April 14 8:54 | Sun in Mīna |
| April 14 8:54 to | May 14 19:17 | Sun in Meṣha |
| New and full moons | ||
| December 15 3:18 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Vṛiśhchika |
| December 29 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Dhanu |
| January 14 10:30 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Dhanu |
| January 28 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Makara |
| February 13 6:02 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Kumbha |
| February 27 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Kumbha |
| March 14 23:13 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Kumbha |
| March 28 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Mīna |
| April 13 13:28 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Mīna |
| April 27 | Pūrṇimaḥ | Sun in Meṣha |
| May 12 14:25 | Amāvasyā | Sun in Meṣha |
| Pūrṇimānt pakṣhas | ||
| December 15 to | December 29 | Mārgaśhīrṣha śhukla pakṣha |
| December 30 to | January 14 | Pauṣha kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| January 14 to | January 28 | Kshaya Māgha śhukla pakṣha |
| January 29 to | February 12 | Kshaya Māgha kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| February 13 to | February 27 | Adhika Phālguna śhukla pakṣha |
| February 27 to | March 14 | Adhika Phālguna kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| March 15 to | March 28 | Nija Phālguna śhukla pakṣha |
| March 29 to | April 13 | Chaitra kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| April 14 to | April 27 | Chaitra śhukla pakṣha |
| April 28 to | May 12 | Vaiśhākha kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| Amāvasyānt pakṣhas | ||
| December 15 to | December 29 | Mārgaśhīrṣha śhukla pakṣha |
| December 30 to | January 14 | Mārgaśhīrṣha kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| January 14 to | January 28 | Kshaya Māgha śhukla pakṣha |
| January 29 to | February 12 | Kshaya Māgha kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| February 13 to | February 27 | Adhika Phālguna śhukla pakṣha |
| February 27 to | March 14 | Adhika Phālguna kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| March 15 to | March 28 | Nija Phālguna śhukla pakṣha |
| March 29 to | April 13 | Nija Phālguna kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
| April 14 to | April 27 | Chaitra śhukla pakṣha |
| April 28 to | May 12 | Chaitra kṛiṣhṇa pakṣha |
Tithis
The tithi is the number of the day within the pakṣha. These numbers run from 1 to 15, except the 15th day is called pūrṇima (full moon day) or amāvasya (new moon day). For example, in 2009, March 2 was the 6th day of the bright fortnight of Phālguna, and thus the Vedic term for that date is Phālguna Śhukla Ṣhaṣhṭī.
| तिथि | Tithi | Lunar day |
|---|---|---|
| प्रतिपदा | Pratipadā | first (day following full or new moon) |
| द्वितीया | Dvitīyā | second |
| तृतीया | Tṛitīyā | third |
| चतुर्थी | Chaturthī | fourth |
| पंचमी | Pañchamī | fifth |
| षष्टी | Ṣhaṣhṭī | sixth |
| सप्तमी | Saptamī | seventh |
| अष्टमी | Aṣhṭamī | eighth |
| नवमी | Navamī | ninth |
| दशमी | Daśhamī | tenth |
| एकादशी | Ekādaśhī | eleventh |
| द्वादशी | Dvādaśhī | twelfth |
| त्रयोदशी | Trayodaśhī | thirteenth |
| चतुर्दशी | Caturdaśhī | fourteenth |
| पूर्णिमा / अमावस्या | Pūrṇimā / Amāvasyā | full/new (moon day) |
The tithi is also called a lunar day. It differs slightly from the ordinary day, the solar day. The Vedic solar day begins at sunrise, not midnight. A tithi may begin and end at any time during a Vedic solar day. However, customarily an entire solar day is associated with the tithi that is in effect at sunrise. In the pañchāngam, the ending time of each tithi is shown along with the name of the tithi. If this ending time occurs after midnight and before sunrise the solar next day, then the ending time is indicated by an hour number over 24, e.g. “25:47+” means 1:47 a.m. the next calendar day.
The time from one new or full moon to the next is 30 tithis but only 29.5 solar days. Moreover, tithis are measured along the ecliptic rather than the moon’s orbit, so their length varies somewhat over a month. Sometimes a tithi is longer than 24 hours and sometimes it is shorter. A solar day usually comprises parts of two adjacent tithis, but sometimes it comprises an entire tithi and parts of two others, and sometimes it comprises only part of one tithi. Therefore, from one solar day to the next, the tithi associated with the day usually increases by one tithi each day, but sometimes it increases by two tithis, and sometimes the tithi stays the same from one day to the next.
A complementary type of pañchāngam that identifies special days in the Vedic calendar is available at Global Good News—Celebrating the Vedic Calendar • calendars.globalgoodnews.com/vedic/vedic-calendar.htm.
The dates of special days on this calendar are calculated for Western Europe. In other areas, the dates may be a day earlier or later.
This pañchāngam also needs some special treatment to print out properly. The following instructions assume you are using Firefox as your browser.
- Go to Global Good News—Celebrating the Vedic Calendar • calendars.globalgoodnews.com/vedic/vedic-calendar.htm
- Click on the desired month.
- Right click on the calendar image.
- Select Save Image As.
- Save the image file to a temporary location.
- Exit Firefox.
- Open the saved image file with an image browser such as IrfanView or a web browser.
- Print the file from the image browser or web browser.
Lifetime of the devas
| दैविक वार | Daivika vāra | Day of the devas | 1 year | |
| दैविक मास | Daivika māsa | Month of the devas | 30 days of the devas | 30 years |
| दैविक वर्ष | Daivika varṣha | Year of the devas | 12 months of the devas | 360 years |
| दैविक जीवन | Daivika jīvana | Lifetime of the devas | 100 years of the devas | 36,000 years |
| चरणाः | Caraṇā | 12 lifetimes of the devas | 432,000 years |
The chaturyuga
| सत्ययुग | Satya Yuga | 4 caraṇās | 1,728,000 = 1.7 × 106 years |
| त्रेतायुग | Tretā Yuga | 3 caraṇās | 1,296,000 = 1.3 × 106 years |
| द्वापरयुग | Dvāpara Yuga | 2 caraṇās | 864,000 = 8.6 × 105 years |
| कलियुग | Kali Yuga | 1 caraṇā | 432,000 = 4.3 × 105 years |
| चतुर्युग | Chaturyuga = Sat + Tretā + Dvāpara + Kali | 10 caraṇās | 4,320,000 = 4.3 × 106 years |
Our current position in the above cycles
We are currently in Kali Yuga, which spans 1 caraṇā. Sūrya Siddhānta states that Kali Yuga began at midnight on 18 February 3102 BC. Therefore, as of February 2000, Kali Yuga is 5101 years old, about 1.2% of the way through Kali Yuga. In terms of the above cycles, 2000 is the 2nd day of the 3rd month of the 15th year of the 1st lifetime of the devas.
Avatārs of Viṣhṇu and the caraṇās
An avatār of Viṣhṇu appears near the end of each caraṇā.
| First caraṇā | 1/4 of the way through Sat Yuga | मत्स्य | Matsya |
| Second caraṇā | 1/2 of the way through Sat Yuga | कूर्म | Kūrma |
| Third caraṇā | 3/4 of the way through Sat Yuga | वराह | Varāha |
| Fourth caraṇā | end of Sat Yuga | नृसिंह | Nṛisiṃha |
| Fifth caraṇā | 1/3 of the way through Tretā Yuga | वामन | Vāmana |
| Sixth caraṇā | 2/3 of the way through Tretā Yuga | परशुराम | Paraśhurāma |
| Seventh caraṇā | end of Tretā Yuga | राम | Rāma |
| Eighth caraṇā | 1/2 way through Dvāpara Yuga | बलराम | Balarāma |
| Ninth caraṇā | end of Dvāpara Yuga | कृष्ण | Kṛiṣhṇa |
| Tenth caraṇā | end of Kali Yuga | कल्कि | Kalki |
Other sources list Buddha as an avatār of Viṣhṇu and do not list Balarāma. Buddha appeared about 2,000 years after the end of Dvāpara Yuga and the beginning of Kali Yuga.
The cycles containing chaturyugas
| चतुर्युग | Caturyuga | Chaturyuga | 4,320,000 = 4.3 × 106 years | |
| निःसन्धि मन्वन्तर | Niḥsandhi manvantara | Manvantara without sandhi | 71 Chaturyuga | 306,720,000 = 3.1 × 108 years |
| ससन्धि मन्वन्तर | Sasandhi manvantara | Manvantara with sandhi | Manu | 308,448,000 = 3.1 × 108 years |
| निःसन्धि कल्प | Niḥsandhi kalpa | Kalpa without sandhi | 14 Manvantara | 4,318,272,000 = 4.3 × 109 years |
| ससन्धि कल्प | Sasandhi kalpa | Kalpa with sandhi | Day of Brahmā | 4,320,000,000 = 4.3 × 109 years |
| ब्रह्मामास | Brahmāmāsa | Month of Brahmā | 30 Days of Brahmā | 129,600,000,000 = 1.3 × 1011 years |
| ब्रह्मावर्ष | Brahmāvarṣha | Year of Brahmā | 12 Months of Brahmā | 1,555,200,000,000 = 1.6 × 1012 years |
| ब्रह्माजीवन | Brahmājīvana | Lifetime of Brahmā | 100 Years of Brahmā | 155,520,000,000,000 = 1.6 × 1014 years |
| विष्णुःजीवन | Viṣhṇuḥjīvana | Lifetime of Viṣhṇu | 1000 Lifetimes of Brahmā | 155,520,000,000,000,000 = 1.6 × 1017 years |
| शिवःजीवन | Śhivaḥjīvana | Lifetime of Śhiva | 1000 Lifetimes of Viṣhṇu | 155,520,000,000,000,000,000 = 1.6 × 1020 years |
| देवीजीवन | Devījīvana | Lifetime of Devī | 1000 Lifetimes of Śhiva | 155,520,000,000,000,000,000,000 = 1.6 × 1023 years |
There is a sandhi (transition time) of the length of Sat Yuga (1.728 million years) between manvantaras, which is not part of any chaturyuga. There is another sandhi, also of the length of Sat Yuga, between kalpas, which is not part of any manvantara. In his commentary to Bhagavad Gītā 4:1, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi states that the lifetime of Devī is the longest in creation.
Our current position in the above cycles
Sūrya Siddhānta 1:23 states that we are currently in the 28th chaturyuga of the current manvantara. Using this data, as of February 2000, our position is:
| Within the current chaturyuga | 1,728,000 + 1,296,000 + 864,000 + 5101 = 3,893,101 years | 90% |
| Within the current manvantara | 27 × 4,320,000 + 3,893,101 = 120,533,101 years | 39% |
| Within the current kalpa | 6 × 308,448,000 + 120,533,101 = 1,971,221,101 years | 46% |
| Within the current month of Brahmā | 1,971,221,101 years | 2% |
| Within the current year of Brahmā | 1,971,221,101 years | 0.1% |
| Within the current lifetime of Brahmā | 50 × 1,555,200,000,000 + 1,971,221,101 = 77,761,971,221,101 years | 50% |
This data does not give any information about our current position within the lifetimes of Viṣhṇu, Śhiva, or Devī.
There are many systems for the divisions of a day. Here we present three such systems.
60 ghaṭī system
| 1 day | 60 ghaṭī | 24 hours |
| 1 घटी ghaṭī | 60 vighaṭī | 24 minutes |
| 1 विघटि vighaṭī | 60 liptā | 24 seconds |
| 1 लिप्ता liptā | 60 viliptā | 0.4 sec |
| 1 विलिप्ता vilipta | 60 para | 6.67 × 10-3 sec |
| 1 पर para | 60 tatpara | 1.11 × 10-4 sec |
| 1 तत्पर tatpara | 1.85 × 10-6 sec |
30 muhūrta system
| 1 day | 30 muhūrta | 24 hours |
| 1 मुहूर्त muhūrta | 12 kṣhaṇa | 48 minutes |
| 1 क्षण kṣhaṇa | 30 kalā | 4 minutes |
| 1 कला kalā | 30 kāṣhṭha | 8 seconds |
| 1 काष्ठ kāṣhṭha | 18 nimeṣha | 0.267 sec |
| 1 निमेष nimeṣha | 30 tatpara | 1.48 × 10-2 sec |
| 1 तत्पर tatpara | 100 truṭi | 4.94 × 10-4 sec |
| 1 त्रुटि truṭi | 4.94 × 10-6 sec |
24 hour system
A third system divides the day into 24 होरा horā. This system, when combined with subdivisions of 60 as in the 60 ghaṭī system, is identical to the Western system.