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Hindu units of time

concept of time in Hinduism

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ3089481 ↗
Source-derived summary

Hindu units of time are described in Hindu texts ranging from microseconds to trillions of years, including cycles of cosmic time that repeat general events in Hindu cosmology. Time (kāla) is described as eternal. Various fragments of time are described in the Vedas, Manusmriti, Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Mahabharata, Surya Siddhanta etc.

Sidereal metrics

Sidereal astrology maintains the alignment between signs and constellations via corrective systems of Hindu (Vedic)-origin known as ayanamsas (Sanskrit: 'ayana' "movement" + 'aṃśa' "component"), to allow for the observed precession of equinoxes, whereas tropical astrology ignores precession. This has caused the two systems, which were aligned around 2,000 years ago, to drift apart over the centuries.

Ayanamsa systems used in Hindu astrology (also known as Vedic astrology) include the Lahiriayanamsa and the Raman ayanamsa. The Fagan-Bradley ayanamsa is an example of an ayanamsa system used in Western sidereal astrology. As of 2020, zodiacal signs calculated using the Sri Yukteswar ayanamsa were around 23 degrees behind tropical zodiacal signs. Per these calculations, persons born between March 12 - April 12, for instance, would have the sun sign of Pisces. By contrast, persons born between March 21 - April 19 would have the sun sign of Aries per tropical calculations.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hindu units of time” as concept of time in Hinduism. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2020—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Hindu, units and time can be independently traced.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as concept of time in Hinduism. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3089481. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2020.

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This entry incorporates text from “Hindu units of time” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.