Figure 1 - Sankalpa Mudra (Source: https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/10897/sankalpa-mudra)
If you have ever attended or participated in a traditional Hindu ritual, chances are you have the Sankalpa Mantra. A Sankalpa or a determination to perform the ritual is a prelude to a ritual. This mantra also in a fine example of geotagging from Vedic times as it describes the precise time and place starting from Brahma’s life.
The Sankalpa Mantra
As it is date and place dependent some relevant data needs to be gathered before commencing. E.g. If you were to do a puja today (28th June 2022) the Sankalpa Mantra would be as follows
Mama Upaatta Samastaduritaksyadwaara Shri Parameshawara Preetyartham Shube Shobhane Muhurte Om Vishnurvishnurvishnuh।
Adya Brahmana Dwitiya Parardhe Sri Shvetavarahakalpe Vaivasvatamanvantare Ashtavimshatitame Kaliyuge Prathame Pade Bhurloke Jambudvipe Bharatavarshe Bharatakhande New Zealand Kshetre Wellington Nagare Mero Dakshine Parshwe Shakabde Asmin vartamane vyvaharike Prabhavadii Shashti Samvatsaranam madhye Shubakrt Naama samvatsare Dakshinaayane Shishira Ritou Shraavana Maase Krishna Pakshe Amavasya Shuba Tithou Pushya Nakshatra Yuktaayam Guru Vaasara Yuktaayam
Shubha Yoga Shubha Karana Evam GunaVisheshanaVishishtaayam-Asyaam Shubatithou.
Then one goes about describing their lineage - their Gotra, Name, Star etc.
So what does this signify? Let us analyse this word by word
मम उपात्त समस्तदुरितक्षयद्वारा For removing all problems and pains in life
श्रीपरमेश्वरप्रीत्यर्थं For making the Lord Parameshwara happy
शुभे शोभने मुहूर्ते This auspicious time
अद्यब्रह्मणः Beginning from Brahma's life
द्वितीयपरार्धे We are now in 2nd Parardha (half) of Brahma's life
श्रीश्वेतवराहकल्पे In Shweta Varaha Kalpa
वैवस्वतमन्वन्तरे In the reigning period of the current manu Vivasvaan hence Vaivasvata
अष्टाविंशतितमे The 28th mahayuga of the current manvantara
कलियुगे We are in in Kali Yuga
प्रथमे पादे In the first quarter of this yuga
भूर्लोके In Earth
जम्बूद्वीपे The place where the ritual is performed. India was known as Jambudweepa
भारतवर्षे भरतखण्डे In the land of Bhaarat
न्यूज़ीलैंड क्षेत्रे In New Zealand
वेलिङ्टन् नगरे In Wellington City
शखाब्दे मेरोः दक्षिणे पार्श्वे To the south of the Meru mountain
अस्मिन् वर्तमाने व्यवहारिके In the current period now reigning
प्रभवादिषष्ठि-संवत्सराणां मध्ये Among the cycle of 60 years starting from Prabhava Nama Samvatsare (1987-88). There are 60 years in a cycle and each year has a name given below.
शुभकृत नाम संवत्सरे This year (Samvatsara) is named Shubakrith
दक्षिणायण अयने The year is divided in two halves following the movement of the sun - Uttaraayana (Northward – between 14th Jan to 14th June) or Dakshinaayana (Southward - between 15th June to 13th Jan)
शिशिर - ऋतौ Denotes the 6 seasons or Ritus – Vasanta (Spring), Greeshma (Summer), Varsha (Monsoon), Sharad (Autumn), Hemanta(Pre-Winter) & Shishira (Winter)
श्रावण मासे Month
कृष्ण पक्षे Shukla Paksha – 1st to 15th day of each Lunar month when the visible portion of the moon is increasing (waxing moon) OR Krishna Paksha – 16th to 30th day of each Lunar month when the visible portion of the moon is decreasing (waning moon).
अमावास्य शुभतिथौ One of the 15 days i.e. Amavasya
पुष्य नक्षत्रयुक्तायां Star of the day
गुरु वासरयुक्तायां Thursday
So what does this mean?
This is geo-tagging from the beginning of Brahma’s life. The below diagram depicts the stages of Brahma’s life and the elapsed time in each stage
Figure 2: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org
From a brief analysis of the Sankalpa mantra we infer that
We are in the first day (Shveta Varaha Kalpa is the 51st year). One Kalpa is 4,320,000,000 years or rather 4.32 billion years.
We are in the 28th Chatur Yuga and each of them is about 43,20,000 years.
Thus, we can conclude we are just a little bit over 4.4 billion years in this day of Brahma. Modern Science has calculated the age of the earth to be 4.5 billion years.
In fact, the scriptures go further into this cycle and estimate the age of the Universe to be about 155.5 trillion years based on the fact that we are in the 51st year of Brahma.
Isn’t it amazing that such big numbers were discussed thousands of years ago in ancient Sanskrit works? In my next blog, we will delve into the other end of the timescale and talk about really small numbers.
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