(Surya Siddhanta) Vedic concept of time - 2

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SrI:

Jai Sriman nArAyaNA!

 

As per Surya siddhanta (from 10th verse), 6 Pranamus are equal to one

Vighadiya. One Vighadiya is 24 seconds long. 60 Vighadiyas make Ghadiya, which

therefore is equal to 24 minutes. In other words, one minute consists of 2.5

Vighadiyas whereas one hour has 2.5 Ghadiyas.

 

60 Ghadiyas are said to equal one Stellar day, technically called one

Nakshatra Ahoratram. 60 Ghadiyas of the Hindu systema re equal to 24 hours of

the Western system. 30 stellar days make one Nkshatra Masam (month).

 

A day is counted by Hindus from one sunrise to the next, while Westerners

treat the time between two consecutive midnights as one day. A month is defined

by Hindus in four different ways. One is stellar month, as described in the

first paragraph. Second kind is called Saavana month;The time between two

consecutive sunrises is considered as one Saavana day and 30 such days

constitute Saavana month. The third type of the month is Lunar month.The time

between two consecutive new moon days is called lunar month, and it consists of

30 lunar tithis. The fourth type of month is a solar month. The zodiac is

treated as a circle having 360 degrees. The time taken by the sun to travel 1

degree of this circular zodiac is called one solar day. 30 such solar days

combine to make one solar month. The zodiac is divided into 12 (Rasi) signs,

namely Mesha, Vrishaba... and so on. Each sign occupies 30 degrees. The sun's

movement thru' one Rasi (sign)is completed on one solar month which is also

referred to as one Sankramana. Thus Sun's passage thru' Mesha is called Mesha

Sankramana.

 

To be continued....

nArAyaNA!

 

(From the souvenir "Vigraha Pratishthapana and Kumbhabhishekam Celebrations"

Sri Venkateswara temple, Bridgewater, NJ, June 1998. Author:K.V.Mallikharjuna

Rao B.E,B.Ed, M.A.)