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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.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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