Siddhanta Shiromani (Crown of Treatises)

74

And so it was: at that very moment, with the commencement of the first lunar day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra caitra śukla pratipad The traditional New Year's Day in the Hindu calendar, marking the start of the lunar month, there began the manifestation and progression of days, months, eons, and so forth.

One might object: "Is not Time eternal and all-pervading, just like space, as declared in other scientific treatises?" Even in this work, it will be stated that because Time is beginningless, we must account for the days of the Creator original: "ब्रह्मणो" — brahmaṇo, referring to the lifespan/days of Brahma that have already passed. If the eternity of Time is established, how then can it be said to have a beginning at Creation sṛṣṭi, a duration of existence, and an end at the Great Dissolution pralaya?

To this, we reply: Time is understood as being both manifest and unmanifest. As it is stated in the Sūrya-Siddhānta The "Sun Treatise," one of the most important foundational texts of Indian astronomy:

"Time is the destroyer of beings; another Time is characterized by calculation. This is twofold: gross and subtle, also called Formed mūrta and Formless amūrta."

That which begins with a breath prāṇa A unit of time approximately equal to 4 seconds, based on the duration of a human breath is called Formed; that which is prior to or smaller than a breath is called Formless. In the dissolution generated by that unmanifest, all-pervading Time, there is an absence of breaths, days, and the like. This state of the manifest returning to the unmanifest is not considered an Absolute Dissolution ātyantika pralaya A final liberation where the cycle of rebirth and time ceases entirely for the individual.

Because at the dawn of a new Creation, Time acts as the "Agitator" original: "क्षोभक" — kṣobhaka that stirs the primordial principles of Spirit and Matter into motion. Thus, the "end" of Time at the dissolution is only figurative or relative. In this way, when the Great Unmanifest enters dissolution, all things dissolve into unmanifest Time. Subsequently, when Creation begins again and the progenitors such as Marichi One of the seven great sages (Saptarishi) and a mind-born son of the creator Brahma and others appear, Time once more manifests as breaths, divisions, days, months, years, and eons. Thus, the logic of the entire system remains faultless.