On Time

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

 

 

" On Time "

 

 

 

The supply of almost all natural resources in this world can be augmented.

Land, though its total extent is limited, can be made available in larger

quantities by reclaiming it from the sea, as has been done at various places.

There are numerous ways of increasing the supply of water. Similarly, the supply

of material resources can also be augmented by adopting suitable strategies.

There is, however, one element, which pervades our daily lives and dictates our

activities, the supply of which can never be increased. When we come to this

earth, we are allotted a fixed quantity of this magical element, and no amount

of endeavour on our part can increase it by even a negligible percentage. While

the shortage of other resources can be made good by borrowing or buying the same

from those who have an abundant supply, this unique element can never be bought

or borrowed or even stolen.

 

This exceptional element is nothing other than TIME. Everyone will agree that

its supply is limited and that not even a single extra minute or second can be

acquired by us from any other person or source, for whatever consideration. Even

if we are prepared to pay a fortune, we cannot buy ourselves one more second

than we are entitled to. It is the only asset, apart from wisdom, that is

burglarproof, for no one can steal it from anyone else. Much as we would like it

not to, Time is always on the move, and ticks on and on, irrespective of our

preferences in the matter-it waits for nobody, however important he be. " Time

and Tide wait for no man " says the adage.

 

 

 

Realising the value of Time, management gurus have come up with any number of

strategies for Time Management. Since no fresh supplies of Time can be created,

we have to manage what is available efficiently, without wasting even a second

of it.

 

 

 

Another unique feature of Time is that unlike other resources, whose use and

left over stock can be measured and monitored, one can never tell how much Time

we have left on this earth. No expiry date has been stamped on human beings,

when they are turned out of the factory of Creation. Counting from now on, the

time we have left in this birth could be five seconds, five minutes, five hours,

five days, five years or fifty- no one can tell, though astrologers make a good

buck professing to predict how long people would live.

 

 

 

However, though this ticket of Time has no return journey date specified on it,

it is not valid forever and return we must, one day or the other. And unlike

normal tickets, where we have the option of choosing the return date, the

Airline of Time doesn't afford us that privilege, and we must rush back the

moment we are called, irrespective of our readiness to undertake the journey.

Time is also the Great Leveller, and treats Prince, pauper and famed politician

alike-all have to obey its call, irrespective of their social, political,

economic or spiritual status. The all-knowing Gyani and the unlettered idiot,

the good man and the bad, the great artiste and the prosaic pundit-all are equal

in the eyes of Time, with no preference shown to anybody on any ground.

 

 

 

This element of uncertainty as to the remaining time and the time and place of

departure, make it essential that we regard every living second and minute as

precious and make full and profitable use of it, since no recycling of Time is

possible, as might be with other resources. A minute lost is lost forever,

beyond recapture and reuse.

 

 

 

Befitting its stature and influence on human lives, Time is allotted a high

pedestal in philosophy. It is counted as one among the principal subdivisions of

Matter.

 

 

 

Shastras indicate a realistic appreciation of Tatthvatrayam (the Three Elements)

as a prerequisite for any spiritual sAdhana-these are the Lord, the individual

soul (Jeevatma) and the non-sentient matter ( " achit " ). This 'achit' is again

classified into KAlam ,TriguNam and SuddhaSatvam. It is the KAlam(Time) about

which we are concerned now.

 

 

 

It is Time which acts as the principal aid, whether it is Creation or

Cosmic destruction. The Lord awaits the appropriate Time to undertake Creation.

In this sense, Time is an indispensable element of creation. The MahApraLayam or

Cosmic Destruction, is also undertaken at the right time, thus making time an

essential component of all activity, constructive or destructive. If creation

and destruction have Time as the deciding factor, can " stitthi " or existence be

far behind? The changes created beings undergo are also due to the Time factor.

This is evident not only from the Scripture, but also from what assails our

eyes, which show us a baby growing up first into a boy, then into an adult, pass

therefrom to middle-age and old age, all due to the inexorable passage of Time.

Time is thus the instrument of all change, small or big, good or bad.

 

 

 

Time, which determines the beginning and end of all created things, is itself

Timeless. It has neither a beginning nor an end, and is, like the Lord Himself,

" anAdi " .

 

" anAdi: BhagavAn KAla: na antOsya dvija vidyatE "

 

In this sloka, Time is glorified as " Bhagavan " , signifying the importance

accorded to it.

 

 

 

Those who have distaste for Mathematics would do well to skip what follows-

 

 

 

We are aware of the various divisions of time, based on the Roman

calendar-seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. The Shruti

speaks of many more components of time _ " kalA muhoortthA: KAshttAscha

ahOrAtrAscha sarvasa: ardha mAsA mAsA Ritava: Samsavatsarascha kalpatAm "

says the TaittiriyOpanishad.

 

 

 

Sri Vishnu Purana expounds this concept in detail and enumerates the myriad

measures of Time.

 

 

 

Fifteen " nimEshAs " make one " KAshttA " and thirty such KAshttAs one " KalA " .

Thirty KalAs comprise of one " Muhoorttham " and thirty Muhoortthams make a day

and a night ( " ahOrAthram " ). Thirty such days and nights make one month, which

consists of two " PakshAs " or fortnights. Two mAsAs or months make one " Rithu "

and three such Rithus one " ayanam " . Two ayanAs (DakshinAyanam and UttarAyanam)

make a Year or Samvatsaram. This is Time by the human calendar.

 

 

 

However, when it comes to the DEvAs, our one year is equal to their one day,

our DakshinAyanam being their night and UttarAyanam their day.

 

 

 

Thus the Divine Year consists of 360 human years. 4000 such Divine Years (or

14,40,000 human years) comprise of the Krita Yugam, 3000 Divine Years consist of

one TretA yugam, 2000 Divine Years form a DvApara Yuga and a mere 1000 Divine

Years (3,60,000 human years) Kali Yuga. These four Yugas together form a Chatur

Yuga or " MahA Yugam " . 71 Chatur YugAs make one " Manvantara " and fourteen

ManvantarAs one " Kalpam " . A Kalpam forms half-a-day in the life of BrahmA.

BrahmA " s Ayu: consists of hundred years of such days and nights- a really

mind-boggling figure by our standards.

 

 

 

We are now in the latter half of the BrahmA's life ( " Dviteeya ParArdham " ), in

the ShvEta VarAha Kalpam, Vaivasvatha Manvantaram, and the 28th Kaliyuga -

figures fail us if we try to calculate at which point of time we find ourselves

in, now.

 

When we consider our own lifespan in the background of a BrahmA's, we feel quite

insignificant, as inconsequential as a speck of dust among the millions

highlighted in a shaft of sunlight.

 

 

 

While Time is indeed constant and neither stretches nor shrinks, it appears to

drag on when we are doing something uninteresting and to simply fly away when

our occupation is a gripping one. Novelists are fond of saying, " the Bird of

Time flapped its wings twice and two years rolled away in a trice " . When two

lovers meet and their eyes lock, romantic writers tell us " Time stood still, for

what seemed to be aeons " . Irrespective of what anyone might say, Time neither

stands still nor flies away, but takes its measured steps spaced out uniformly.

This is a world characterised by constant change, things never remaining the

same in every succeeding second.And it is Time, which is the catalyst of such

change. When we speak of the " Ravages of Time " we are only paying tribute to the

inexorability and inevitability of this extraordinary element.

 

 

 

.. The Time available at our command is limited; the obstacles to learning and

good deeds are many. We should hence absorb what is of the essence, just as the

Swan imbibes pure milk out of a mixture of milk and water ( " alpascha KAlO

bahavascha vignA: yat sArabhootam tat upAdadheeta, hamsO ksheeram ivAmbu

mishram " ).

 

 

 

And what is the moral of the story? Just as most of us plan our business day, we

ought to chalk out a spiritual calendar too, resolving to learn and abide by one

Gita sloka a day, recite and draw inspiration from one Desika Sreesookti a day,

to flavour one ThirumAlai pasuram a day, to set a day and several others apart

at the earliest to undergo KalakshEpam and to imbibe from our Acharya the

essentials of our Satsampradaya, and to reserve a day, a golden day, to

surrender ourselves to the Lord through the Acharya.

 

 

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan, Sadagopan.