Time Units

Kaal (काल)

• Kaal is one of the six Dravyas (षड्द्रव्य) in Jain philosophy.
• It is Ajiva, eternal, and associated with change in other Dravyas.
• Nishchaya Kaal: Time as an independent Dravya.
• Vyavahara Kaal: Conventional measurement of duration.

Numerical classifications

• Sankhyata (संख्यात): Countable.
• Asankhyata (असंख्यात): Innumerable, but not infinite.
• Ananta (अनंत): Infinite.

Conventional Time Units

Samaya (समय)

• The smallest indivisible unit of time.
• A theoretical unit, not dealt in terms of fraction of modern nano-seconds or smaller units.

Avalika (आवलिका)

• A duration comprising innumerable Samayas.
• Its exact conversion into larger units depends on the traditional calculation scheme used.

Larger units

• These are conventional calendar relationships, not all fundamental units of Kaal Dravya.
• The relationship between Avalika and Muhurta should be taken from a single, specified textual tradition rather than combining different conversion schemes.

Palyopam (पल्योपम)

• An immensely long duration defined through a traditional analogy.
• It is used in Jain cosmology to describe durations beyond ordinary counting.

Hair-pit analogy

1. Imagine a pit measuring one Yojana(12 to 15 km) in length, breadth and depth.
2. Fill it to the brim with tiny pieces of hair.
3. Remove one piece every 100 years.
4. The time taken to empty the pit represents a Palyopam in this version of the analogy.

• Details of the pit, hair and filling method vary across descriptions.
• A Palyopam should not be converted into an exact number of modern years without a complete, specified calculation.

Types of Palyopam

The classification and construction should be recorded according to the source being followed. Commonly encountered terms include:

• Uddhar Palyopam (उद्धार पल्योपम)
• Addha Palyopam (अद्धा पल्योपम)
• Kshetra Palyopam (क्षेत्र पल्योपम)
  These are not interchangeable names. Verify the complete classification and calculation before adding further types.

Sagaropam (सागरोपम)

• A cosmological duration vastly greater than a Palyopam.
• Used to express extremely long lifespans and cosmic durations.

Numerical relationship

• Koti (कोटि): 10⁷.
• Kotakoti (कोटाकोटी): 10¹⁴.
  Some secondary sources state the Sagaropam relationship using one Kotakoti Palyopams, while others use ten Kotakoti Palyopams. These conventions must not be mixed.
• Record the precise relationship only after confirming it from the chosen Agam, commentary or teaching text.
• Avoid assigning a fixed modern-year value to a Sagaropam without first defining the Palyopam calculation.

Pudgal Paravartan Kaal (पुद्गल परावर्तन काल)

• Pudgal (पुद्गल): Matter.
• Paravartan (परावर्तन): Passing through or completing a cycle.
• Describes immense cycles associated with the soul's transmigration and its relationship with matter, space, time or states.
• It is not simply another fixed-duration unit like a year or Muhurta.

Classification

Pudgal Paravartan is classified into four domains, each with Badar and Sukshma forms, giving eight types.

1. Dravya Pudgal Paravartan (द्रव्य पुद्गल परावर्तन)

Concerns material particles and the material groupings associated with the soul.

• Badar: The relevant material particles across the specified material forms.
• Sukshma: The relevant particles considered within a specified material form.

Traditional explanations discuss body-related and other Varganas, including Audarika, Vaikriya, Tejas, Bhasha, Shvasochchhvas, Mano and Karmana. The exact grouping should follow the source text.

2. Kshetra Pudgal Paravartan (क्षेत्र पुद्गल परावर्तन)

Concerns space-points in the inhabited universe.

• Badar: Traversal of the relevant space-points without a prescribed order.
• Sukshma: Traversal of the relevant space-points in the prescribed sequence.

3. Kaal Pudgal Paravartan (काल पुद्गल परावर्तन)

Concerns the relevant time-points of cosmic cycles.

• Badar: Traversal of the relevant time-points without a prescribed order.
• Sukshma: Traversal of the relevant time-points in the prescribed sequence.

4. Bhav Pudgal Paravartan (भाव पुद्गल परावर्तन)

Concerns the relevant states or dispositions associated with the soul.

• Badar: Traversal of the relevant states without a prescribed order.
• Sukshma: Traversal of the relevant states in the prescribed sequence.

Eight types at a glance

• These are conceptual categories, not eight denominations in a time-conversion table.
• The exact definitions and calculations should be checked against the relevant Jain text.
• Do not assign the same numerical duration to all eight types without textual support.

Magnitude and Duration of Pudgal Paravartan

Anant Pudgal Paravartan Kaal (अनंत पुद्गल परावर्तन काल)

• Describes an infinite extent of Pudgal Paravartan or cycles of transmigration, depending on context.
• Used to convey the beginningless wandering of the soul through samsara.
• Anant means infinite, not merely innumerable or extremely large.

Ek Pudgal Paravartan Kaal (एक पुद्गल परावर्तन काल)

• One complete cycle of Pudgal Paravartan, broadly described as the soul taking up and relinquishing all relevant material particles of the inhabited universe through successive embodiments.
• Encompasses innumerable Utsarpini and Avasarpini periods; it cannot be expressed as a fixed number of years.

Ardh Pudgal Paravartan Kaal (अर्ध पुद्गल परावर्तन काल)

• Literally, half a Pudgal Paravartan.
• An immense duration used in explaining the upper limit of samsara after attaining Samyaktva, even if the soul later falls from right faith.
• Not a fixed number of modern years.

Key distinction

• The four types — Dravya, Kshetra, Kaal and Bhav — classify Pudgal Paravartan by domain.
• Badar and Sukshma further classify each type.
• Ek, Ardh and Anant describe magnitude or duration in a different context; they are not additional members of the fourfold classification.

Relationship Between Time Concepts

flowchart TD
    A["Kaal (काल)"] --> B["Nishchaya Kaal"]
    A --> C["Vyavahara Kaal"]

    B --> D["Time as a Dravya"]
    C --> E["Conventional measurement"]

    E --> F["Samaya"]
    F --> G["Avalika"]
    G --> H["Muhurta"]
    H --> I["Day, Month, Year"]

    I --> J["Palyopam"]
    J --> K["Sagaropam"]

    L["Pudgal Paravartan Kaal"] --> M["Dravya"]
    L --> N["Kshetra"]
    L --> O["Kaal"]
    L --> P["Bhav"]

    M --> Q["Badar / Sukshma"]
    N --> R["Badar / Sukshma"]
    O --> S["Badar / Sukshma"]
    P --> T["Badar / Sukshma"]

Kalachakra (Wheel of Time) in Jainism

In Jainism, K alacakra (कालचक्र) means the Wheel of Time. Time is considered beginningless and endless, continuously rotating through cycles of rise and decline. Unlike a linear view of history, Jain cosmology sees the universe as passing through repeating time cycles.

This system of Kalachakra upcycle and downcycle exists only in 10/15 KarmaBhumi : 5 Bharat kshetras and 5 Airavat Kshetra

1. Time itself (k ala) exists everywhere in the universe.
2. Ara divisions are a special way of describing the changing social and spiritual conditions in certain human regions.
   • Only the 5 Bharat Kshetras and 5 Airavat Kshetras experience the dramatic cyclical "seasons of civilization" called the six Aras.
   • They describe changes in:
     • Human lifespan
     • Human height
     • Strength
     • Happiness
     • Morality
     • Availability of religion
     • Presence of Tirthankaras

Other regions do have time, but they do not necessarily have the six-Ara cycle.

• 5 Bharat Kshetras and 5 Airavat Kshetras experience:

  • Avasarpiṇi (decline)

  • Utsarpiṇi (rise)

  • Six Aras in each half-cycle

  • Huge fluctuations in lifespan, height, morality, and spiritual conditions.

• 5 Mahavide Kshetras does not experience these extreme fluctuations.
  • Conditions remain perpetually suitable for Dharma.
  • Tirthankaras are always present somewhere in Mah avideha.
  • Therefore, the practical effects of the Ara cycle are absent.
  • In a constant middle condition, comparable to the spiritually favorable eras (roughly the type of environment associated with the 3rd–4th Ara range).

The Two Halves of the Time Cycle

Each complete cycle consists of two periods:

1. Avasarpiṇi (Descending Cycle)

• Happiness, lifespan, strength, and morality gradually decline.
• Human conditions worsen over time.
• We are currently believed to be in the Avasarpiṇi of the present cycle.
• It has 10 Koda Kodi sagaropam

1. Sushama-Sushama
2. Sushama
3. Sushama-Dushama
4. Dushama-Sushama
5. Dushama ← Present Era
6. Dushama-Dushama

2. Utsarpiṇi (Ascending Cycle)

• Happiness, lifespan, strength, and morality gradually improve.
• Conditions progressively become better.
• It has 10 Koda Kodi sagaropam

6. Dushama-Dushama
7. Dushama
8. Dushama-Sushama
9. Sushama-Dushama
10. Sushama
11. Sushama-Sushama

The cycle repeats forever:

Utsarpini → Avasarpini → Utsarpini → Avasarpini ...

Six Aras (Epochs) in Each Half-Cycle

• The changing concept of the six Aras (epochs of the time wheel or Kalachakra) operates strictly and dynamically only in the Bharat and Airavat Kshetras.
• In the permanent Bhogabhumi (Lands of Enjoyment) and the stable zones of Mahavideha Kshetra, time passes, but the structural environmental shifts, physical degeneration, or moral changes of the six Aras do not apply.
• Both Avasarpiṇi and Utsarpiṇi are divided into six eras called Aras.

In Utsarpiṇi, these occur in reverse order.

Current Era

According to Jain tradition, we are presently in the:

5th Ara (Dusam a) of the current Avasarpiṇi.

Characteristics

• Reduced lifespan compared with ancient times.
• Declining morality.
• Spiritual effort is still possible.
• Liberation (moksa) is generally considered not attainable directly from this era according to most Jain traditions.
• No new Tirthankaras appear during this period.

The 24 Tirthankaras of our current cycle, ending with Mahavira, appeared during the 3rd and 4th Aras.

Duration of the Aras

The first four Aras are unimaginably long, measured in vast units such as S agaropama and Palyopama.

The last two are comparatively shorter:

• 5th Ara: 21,000 years
• 6th Ara: 21,000 years

Traditional Jain calculations place the start of the 5th Ara shortly after the nirvana of Mahavira.