Last Updated on May 20, 2022 by astrologerbydefault
A small post.
Jyotish is a way of calculating ‘change’. most commonly this change is estimated with respect to Time, or Kaal. We try to determine how things will change with Time. ie we try to determine the role of Kaal in determining the direction of our existence. How we change with ‘Time’.
Kaal काल in Sanskrit (Devbhasha Samskrutam) has a several meanings ie fate, destiny, body of time, black, attribute-less, tenses of grammar, era, iron, perfume, time of death, time of annihilation, end, part, section, prosody, measure of time, fixed point, pupil of the eye, names of some trees etc.
Simply put, the ‘change’ in our lives is broadly understood as Kaal. It is not a fixed thing and is always relative to something else. Time is the change that we sense in one thing when we compare it to another thing, ie it is basically a measure of ‘change’. We study how things change, how to quantify this change and the quality of this change.
We understand a ‘year’ to be 365 days and a leap year every 4th year. But in Jyotish, as per the Surya Siddhant there are 4 broad categories of years or varsh. We humans have 4 ways of measuring one ‘day’. Thus there are 4 types of ‘months’ and 4 types of ‘years’ that we use.
- Saura – One Saura day is the time that the Sun take to change his position from one degree to the next. ie the time take to traverse one degree of the zodiac. 30 saura days make up one saura month, ie the time taken by the Sun to cover 30deg of a rashi.
Saura calculations are used for things related to the Sun in astronomical terms, Solstices, equinoxes, sankrati-s, times of eclipses etc. - Savana – One Savana day is the time interval from one sunrise to the next sunrise. ie the time taken for the Sun to be successively visible at the eastern horizon. This duration can vary depending on the latitude of the place in question, the season etc. This is the commonly used system at the current times in routine civil life.
- Nakshatra – In this system, one day is the time taken by the Moon to traverse one Nakshatra. Here one ‘nakshatra month’ is the time he takes to traverse all 27 Nakshatra. 12 such months make a Nakshatra year.
- Chandra – In this system, a day is called a Tithi and this is calculated based on the difference of degrees between the Sun and the Moon in the skies.
1 Tithi is the time interval which is equivalent to a distance of 12 deg between the Sun and the Moon as seen from the Earth. 1 tithi is shorter than one saura day by 1/60.
A Chandra Maas (lunar month) begins from the Shukla Pratipada (first day of bright fortnight) and ends on the Amavasya (ie no moon day or the last day of the dark fortnight). Thus the tithi-s repeat every 29.5 days.
We use the 4 types of years, Saura, Savana, Nakshatra and Chandra even now. Regular people stick to the savana ie civil calender, but Brahmins and people who perform typical pujas will use the other systems too. These 4 systems are continually corrected so that they match up every 5 Saura years. This is called the 5-year Yug cycle. And we call it the Luni-solar year.
Jyotish is highly complex and we must be proud of our heritage. But as most of it is lost we have to make attempts to research and relearn by studying what we can. Starting to learn Sanskrit, ie our real mother tongue would be a good beginning. So that we can at least read what our original books are actually saying. Understanding those would be the next step.
31 responses to “Four ways of estimating Time”
Namaste!
What needs to be done when there is an inclination towards both spirituality and materialistic pursuits, especially while beginning on the path of spirituality?
Would the path of spirituality be greater than materialistic desires by having a Leo Ascendant with Sun and Mercury in 1st (Leo), Ketu with Mars in 4th, Jupiter in 5th and Moon in 8th house?
Which path to choose when there is a strong desire for both spiritual as well as luxurious lifestyle?
Hi there
do your mantra, and things will be smoothened with its power.
focus on what you want , not on what you do not want.
Namaste,
I’ve read your post ‘Forgive yourself to Heal yourself’ also one answer you gave to your follower on ‘how to get over guilt’.
Still I feel I need to ask you this
……………………………………………
Can this kind of runanubandha be addressed with the support of our ancient wisdom. Please throw some light if possible.
Hi there
what happened its over, its the past, you have to focus on the present moment. reliving these things causes heart-ache again and again. why think of it again? why give so much power to your mind?
if your mind starts to wander back to the hurt, or whenever you feel stressed out about your past, listen to the Shri-sukta, its a 4 min recital. or recite it in your mind. think of the Devi Laxmi, She is the Jagat-janani, your real mother. request her love and kindness. or keep her image as wallpaper on your phone. ‘prosperity’ ‘auspiciousness’ Shri, will pull you out of it.
its tragic that these things happen and quite frequently.
and whatever happens is as a result of your choice at birth, trust your higher self, whatever karmic imbalances you had to undergo, they are over. forgive yourself for having to go through this. take yourself out of the picture. and trust the law of karma to act on the person who hurt you.
Mam,
Does planets in certain nakshatra grant celibacy?
Your favourite ascendant – cancerians have 7 lord saturn in shravana nakshatra which is ruled by moon. Happen to be their ascendant lord. But this saturn has only mercury aspecting from lagna
Though we know saturn means delay in the matter where its placed but how to judge from the nakshatra its sitting in as per parashari
Does nakshatra translate into physical results or only shows qualitative aspects.
Hi there
https://psychologicallyastrology.com/2020/05/22/judge-a-true-ascetic-from-the-horoscope/
yes, some nakshatra prefer their individuality so much that they cannot bear being with anyone else. for that the rest of the chart will also be necessary. you cannot predict things from just one position.
for your personal readings, consult your regular astrologer
Yeah was going through index to see if there is an article on qualitative aspects of nakshatra’s. Their behaviours and combinations.
Hence, thought of asking if nakshatra can be so powerful to overcome planetary energies.
Thanks
Ma’am, thank you for another excellent post! I have a question about the difference in starting the lunar month at the new moon versus starting with the full moon. I have noticed that different astrologers use different systems for the lunar month. My astrology teacher made a comment that “purnimanta masa is satya lunar month and amanta is samsara (maya).” But I’m not sure I understand this comment. Please enlighten, and thank you in advance!
Hi there
this from the shatapath brahmana.
a 30yr cycle, ie the Dakshainyah yajnya was devised and one month, kshaya maas, was dropped every 30yrs to maintain the correct calendar.
in these 30yrs the first 15yrs had the amant months and the next 30yrs had purnimant months.
this is the origin of the purnimant and amant months.
right now, i dont think our calenders are being meticulously corrected.
and with the invaders killing our Brahmins, we lost it all. we lost our culture, our math, our jyotish, we lost so much.
so its possible that some areas of India are stuck in purnimant and some are stuck in amant.
how do you expect me to know what your teacher meant? do ask him to enlighten you on his words.
Thanks for the reply! I asked you because I thought possibly the statement was referring to a general principle. Also, I very much respect your knowledge and figured if anyone can explain it to me, it will be you! I have learned so much from your blog. (I notice that many Jyotish apps give the option of setting the lunar month to the new moon or the full moon. But none of them explain why to set it one way or the other.)
As for asking Guruji directly: wish I could, but I am in a large online class and learning the subject from pre-recorded videos much of the time. Even during live online sessions, it can be difficult to get a question answered because so many others have questions also.
Hello,
First, I want to thank you for writing blogs and also answering questions that bother many of us. Thank you your service to humanity.
Second, you advised me to try Shri Sukta and I have been practicing it once everyday after first 21 days when I listened to it twice. It is showing positive effects (very tiny) but my mental peace is still lacking in me.
Can a person not know what they want?
Can a person only want to not be happy or want pain?
I am sorry but I didn’t know whom to ask. All the psychologists that I have approached have only provided me with generic answers. So after reading your previous post on Moon, I believe something is wrong with my moon or the mind.
Third, after reading your blogs I am usually curious and want to ask many relevant and irrelevant questions. But I refrain myself from doing so because I don’t want to cause nuisance.
I want to talk about Sane Guruji (Indian freedom fighter, national teacher and renowned author in Marathi Literature). He had a childhood which consisted of reciting shlokas and stotras and reading geeta, practicing spirituality. Yet, he committed suicide at the age of 50. I am flabbergasted to know that in spite of all the spirituality his suicide couldn’t be prevented. Am I thinking right or am I wrong?
Thank you.
Hi there
keep doing your practice,
the mishaps of several years/lifetimes will take some time to rebalance.
mantra-puja is a life time thing.
i never read about Sanegurujis life nor read what he wrote. when i read your comment i searched the internet on him.
but i know one thing that its irrational to feel bad about someone else’s death. or to become disappointed so such an extent that one wants to end physical existence.
he must have had the indications in his horoscope, eg afflicted moon, mercury and sun must have been there. and whatever he was doing was not a remedy for his typical imbalances.
Hello ma’am,
Rahu/ketu behave as per their nakshtra and sign lord. But what if rahu is in ketu’s nakshatra and vice versa? My ketu is in aardra nakshatra….
Can we generalize on whether nakshatra lord or sign lord has more influence on rahu/ketu or it depends on which lord is strongest?
Hi
Fr nakshatra the nakshatra devata are important.
And the nakshatra pada are the navamsha owned by the signs.
Planets do not own the nakshatra per se. The linked planet concept comes frm the vimshottari ststem.
Ma’am, from where can we buy the genuine amethyst or clear quartz crystal? Can you please recommend or provide any authentic online shopping site for it.
Regards.
I K Dixit
Hi there
i do not recommend any shop, this you have to find for yourself.
OK Ma’am.
Hello,
First, I want to thank you for writing blogs and also answering questions that bother many of us. Thank you your service to humanity.
Second, you advised me to try Shri Sukta and I have been practicing it once everyday.
Can a person not know what they want?
Can a person only want to not be happy or want pain?
Thank you
Hi there
i can know only what i want.
i cannot comment on what you want. that is for you to find out. keep doing your Shri sukta maybe you will.
Thank you 🙂
Mam, will listening shri sukta with good intentions help or you have to chant it for effectiveness.
Sometimes its difficult to remember it (maybe over a period regular listening will make it by heart)
Mantra is all about energy sent. Correct pronunciation is rare even on youtube videos. What to do?
Hi there
https://psychologicallyastrology.com/2020/02/20/the-sure-shot-solution-to-prosperity/
buy this version
and best is to recite it
if not then you can also listen to it
Madam ji
In one of the blogs u said writing about moon and 16 kalas and its significance . Does this thithi system is same ? Thought about asking u for a long time about that article on that but since we know your time constrains its difficult…sorry in advance if the question sound childish..🙏
Hi there
yes, the tithi are derived from the energies of kala.
the tithis are not just names, they are conscious energies, with specific deities associated with them
kala are also the basis of the Ramal shastra.
Ramal went to china and became IChing and to europe via middle east and became geomancy.
Hello!
I’m a first time visitor to your site and its very well put.
I’m particularly impressed by your articles on moon, cancer ascendant, the various planets. I’m on a voracious consumption of your work and I would like to invite you to address a particular academic aspect which is extremely interesting but hardly discussed properly (in general).
Moon and Mars have a special relationship. They are friendly to each other but get debilitated to each other’s house. For the Cancer Ascendant, owned by Moon, Mars is a yogakaraka (by ownership of 5th & 10th House).
This is where things get really interesting: In Cancer Ascendant alone, there arises a rare but remarkable combination – The First Lord Moon can be placed in fifth house scorpio and the fifth/tenth lord Mars can be placed in the 1st house. They exchange houses, get mutually debilitated but also result in not only a mahaparivartna yoga, but also the independent yoga of Mars as yogakaraka in first house.
As you have pointed out, Cancer ascendant is a particularly difficult lagna which however dangles the great prize within reach. It also permits exceedingly strange positions like the above which cannot happen in any other lagna.
I request you to please apply your razor sharp mind to this issue and publish your perspective.
Thanks and eagerly expecting,
Another passenger looking at the sky for guidance in the sands of life.
Hi there
i know what you are asking me to write on, but i do not want to write on this.
as it is, i had to drastically tone down the cancer ascendant post as i got a few comments that it sapped their will to live.
just one word of advice to cancer asc people is to do some mantra puja. stick to it for your life-time, come what may, do not ever let your mantra slip away from you.
and Gayatri mantra is the best as its compulsory for Sanatan Dharmi people.
Pranaam Madam,
Thanks for this amazing post. I am truly awed and have no words to describe the depth of the knowledge of our heritage. And my sincere gratitude to you Madam for your superb writing.
Our ” modern” education system has only made us techno savvy and not enabled us to understand our own real treasure of knowledge.
They go to read books from the west on metaphysics, whereas our own Vedic heritage and teaching has always understood and decoded the concept of “time”.
Best regards,
Hi there
we are from Bharat, the oldest civilisation on Earth and we should be proud of our heritage.
Unfortunately our precious Sanskrit was stolen from us. this is the biggest loss.
we were brainwashed into believing that Sanskrit is a ‘dead language’ or ‘brahminical’ or whatever
all our books are translated into nonsense and injected with poison to make us hate our heritage.
eg Our Shiv-lingam is the moorti of the Advaita and not some nonsense thing
eg our brahmins were poor people. they had to be as they could not work, nor earn money and only get dakshina or as bhiksha. just go thru the panchatantra, all stories start with ‘there was a poor brahmin… ‘
unfortunately all genuine Brahmins were killed by the invaders thus our society lost its backbone. in the present age there are very very few real brahmins left alive.
even more unfortunate was that stupid people, Rakshasi pravrutti people, Asur-s, Danav-s have translated our precious books and our current generation refers to this trash.
in our books, the Rishi-s never talk about humans.
never ever think that our deities are humans. they are all conscious energies, intelligence, awareness
‘Kaal’ is the conscious energy of change
My only request is everyone must learn sanskrit. its so easy, its so beautiful, so logical, so simple.
its the original language of everyone living on this earth.
https://psychologicallyastrology.com/2020/05/29/learn-devbhasha-samskrutam-aka-sanskrit/
only if we can learn this, it will take max 3 months can we really understand the grandness of what our Rishis said. the eternal truths.
Pranaam Madam,
My heartfelt gratitude for the valuable reply. I have sincerely started with Devbhasha Sanskrutam. It is indeed amazing madam , as I have begun to discover, in my very humble opinion, that Devbhasha Sanskrutam is at the same time both the foundation and the ultimate of language and speech. It makes thus absolute sense that it is the real light that points us to the grandness of our Vedic heritage.
I feel really very sad and pained about how this knowledge has been obscured and indeed we have been conditioned to not respect our own heritage by such terrible brainwashing. It is time for us to finally awaken to the real. Thanks again sincerely Madam.
Best regards,
You are so kind and I just want to thank you so much for answering so many questions. Thank you once again.
Hi Tejaswini! Could you please consider sharing your knowledge of five or more planetary conjunctions. Thank you. Haribol!