Time and methods of measuring it

Q: We were discussing the practice: are the timings also important? The concept of a second, of a minute is implanted in the mind during some centuries. Before that how did they measure the intervals?

A: Well, in India there were so many different methods of measuring time. We have hours, we have minutes, we had ghati, nadi, matra, one second was — listen like that (made a “tick” sound with fingers) this is one second. A pal is like a second and a matra is less than a second. And 24 minutes make a ghati. In 24 hours there are eight yams, 48 mahuts — they used to calculate from that point. Also one minish, one closing your eyes, or blinking of the eyes is one minish. These were the units of time in the beginning.

Q: You were also referring that in the times of Lahiri Mahasay the concept of time was not so well-known, so it was impossible to comment Gita from the point of view of time.

A: Now time is essentially observed as it is — the creator, the sustainer and the destroyer. It was not well-known then. But thanks to the advent of Physics and other arts of thinking, now we are becoming aware of the greatness of time. Krishna likes talking as Time, not as Krishna. You have to remember that also.

As a yogi, I will say that everything is the manifestation of time. And the whole creation is working like a clock. Different species are like seconds and minutes and hours, all the cultures. Bodies also called a sentence of time. They just count inside a particular field of time, that’s where they are taking birth.