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Old Indianmeasures are still in use today, primarily for religious purposes in Hinduism and Jainism. They also are employed in the teachings of Surat Shabda Yoga.
Time
The Hindu metrics of time (Kaala Vyavahara) can be summarized as below.
15 Laghus make one Nadika, which is also called a danda. This equals the time before water overflows in a six-pala-weight pot of copper, in which a hole is bored with a gold probe weighing four masha and measuring four fingers long. The pot is then placed on water for calculation.
6 or 7 Dandas make one Yamah, or 1/4th of a day or night.
4 Praharas or 4 Yamas are in each day or each night.
Lunar metrics
a tithi (also spelled thithi ) or lunar day is defined as the time it takes for the longitudinalangle between the moon and the sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately 19 to approximately 26 hours.
2 Ayanas (six month periods, see above) = 1 year or one day (day + night) of the devas
360 days of the devas = 1 year of the devas
12,000 years of the devas = 4 Yugas
Reckoning of time for Brahma.
12,000 years of the Devas = 1 day of Brahma (4320,000,000 human years). This day is divided into 10, 000 parts called charanas. The charanas are divided as follows:
The cycle repeats itself so altogether there are 1000 cycles of yugas in one day of Brahma.
One cycle of the above four yugas is one mahayuga (4.32 million solar years)
A manvantara consists of 71 mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Each Manvantara is ruled by a Manu.
After each manvantara follows one Sandhi Kala of the same duration as a Krita Yuga (1,728,000 = 4 Charana). (It is said that during a Sandhi Kala, the entire earth is submerged in water.)
So, the day of Brahma equals: -
(14 times 71 mahayugas) + (15 x 4 Charanas)
= 994 mahayugas + (60 Charanas)
= 994 mahayugas + (6 x 10) Charanas
= 994 mahayugas + 6 mahayugas
= 1000 mahayugas
as is confirmed by the Gita statement "sahasra-yuga paryantam ahar-yad brahmano viduh", meaning, a day of brahma is of 1000 (maha-)yugas. Thus a day of Brahma, kalpa, is of duration: 4.32 billion solar years. Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma
30 days of Brahma = 1 month of Brahma (259,200,000,000 human years)
12 months of Brahma = 1 year of Brahma (3,110,400,000,000 human years)
50 years of Brahma = 1 parardha (155,520,000,000,000 human years)
2 parardhas = 100 years of Brahma = The lifespan of Brahma (311,040,000,000,000 human years)
Alternately, the reigns of 7 Rishis, Indra and Manu = 1 Manwantara(excluding sandhikalas) = 71x12,000(excluding sandhikalas) = 852,000(excluding sandhikalas) years of the gods
14 Manwantaras + 15 sandhikalas = a day of Brahma
Vedic Time Units greater than a Kalpa
Ancient vedic cosmology takes into account handful of time spans which are even greater than one Kalpa or a day of Brahma. One such unit is a "Maha-Kalpa" which is composed of 36000 such days of Brahma. One Maha-Kalpa is considered as the lifetime of Brahma. There are time units which are larger than one Maha-Kalpa. The largest of them has been calculated as several quadrillions of human years. This precise and massive calculations indicate one important aspect of vedic time system, that, whenever the term "Infinity" has been mentioned in Vedas, it does not indicate something very large. Instead, it appears that the term is meant to refer its literal synonym itself.
