z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 06.indd MK SJ DK 23 9 2013/YS 9 11 2013 309
RIDDLE NO. 24
309
What is Kalpa is stated by the Vishnu Purana in the following brief text :
“Kalpa (or the day) of Brahma.”
These are the periods in which time is divided. The time included in these periods may next be noted.
The Varsha is simple enough. It is the same as the year or a period of 365 days. The Yuga, Maha Yuga, Manwantara and Kalpa are not so simple for calculating the periods. It would be easier to treat Yuga, Maha Yuga etc., as sub-divisions of a Kalpa rather than treat the Kalpa as a multiple of Yuga. Proceeding along that line the relation between a Kalpa and a Maha Yuga is that in one Kalpa there are 71 Maha Yugas while one Maha Yuga consists of four Yugas and a Manwantara is equal to 71 Maha Yugas with some additional years.
In computing the periods covered by these units we cannot take Yuga as our base for computation. For the Yuga is a fixed but not uniform period. The basis of computation is the Maha Yuga which consists of a fixed period.
A Maha Yuga consists of a period of four Yugas called (1) Krita, (2) Treta, (3) Dwapara and (4) Kali. Each Yuga has its period fixed. Each Yuga in addition to its period has a dawn and a twilight which have fixed-duration. Actual period as well as the period of the dawn and the twilight are different for the different Yugas.
Yug Period Dawn Twilight Total
Krita .. 4000 400 400 4800
Treta .. 3000 300 300 3600
Dwapara .. 2000 200 200 2400
Kali .. 1000 100 100 1200
Maha Yuga ..... ... ... 12000
This computation of the Maha Yuga is in terms of divine years i.e.
12000 divine years or years of Brahma make up one Maha Yuga at the rate of one year of men being equal to one divine day the Maha Yuga in terms of human or mortal years comes to (360 × 12000) 43,20,000 years.
Seventy-one Maha Yugas make one Kalpa. This means that a Kalpa is equal to (43,20,000 × 71) 3,06,72,000.
Coming to Manwantaras one Manvantara is equal to 71 Maha Yugas plus something more. The period of a manvantara is equal to