Discover

A 'kalpa' is a Sanskrit word meaning an aeon, or a long period of time in Hindu (cf. Hindu Time Cycles ) and Buddhist cosmology.

Contents

Buddhism

Hinduism

Miscellaneous

References

External links

Buddhism

In Buddhism, there are four different lengths of kalpas. A ''regular'' kalpa is approximately 16 million years long, and a ''small'' kalpa is 1000 regular kalpas, or 16 billion years. Further, a ''medium'' kalpa is 320 billion years, the equivalent of 20 small kalpas. A ''great'' kalpa is 4 medium kalpas, or 1.28 trillion years. ^[1]

Hinduism

In Hinduism (cf. Hindu Time Cycles), it is equal to 4.32 billion years, a "day (day only) of Brahma" or one thousand mahayugas, measuring the duration of the world (scientists estimate the age of the universe at 13.7 billion years, cf. Age of the universe). Each kalpa is divided into 14 manvantara (each lasting 306,720,000 years). Two ''kalpa''s constitute a day and night of Brahma. A "month of Brahma" is supposed to contain thirty such days (including nights), or 259.2 billion years. According to the Mahabharata, 12 months of Brahma constitute his year, and 100 such years the life cycle of the universe. Fifty years of Brahma's are supposed to have elapsed, and we are now in the ''shvetavaraha-kalpa'' of the fifty-first; at the end of a Kalpa the world is annihilated.

Miscellaneous

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the 4.32 billion year Kalpa as "the longest measure of time." ^[2]

References

1. Buddhism A to Z, , Ronald, Epstein, The Buddhist Text Translation Society, , ISBN 0-88139-353-3
2. Guinness Book of World Records 1981, , Norris, McWhirter, Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., , ISBN 0-80690-196-9

External links

★ Vedic Time Measurement, Detailed description by Gurudev

★ Vedic Time Travel, Elaborate depiction by Vinay Mangal