Kāla (time)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)

This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure. (November 2010)

Head of Kala carved on top of Kidal temple portal, East Java.

Kālá (Sanskrit: काल, IPA: [kɑːˈlə]) is a Sanskrit word which means "Time".^[1] It is also the name of a deity, in which sense it is not always distinguishable from kāla meaning "black". It often used as one of the various names or forms of Yama.

Etymology

Monier-Williams's widely used Sanskrit-English dictionary^[2] lists two distinct words with the form \.

• kāla 1 means "black, of a dark colour, dark-blue ..." and has a feminine form ending in ī – kālī – as mentioned in Pāṇini 4-1, 42.
• kāla 2 means "a fixed or right point of time, a space of time, time ... destiny, fate ... death" and has a feminine form (found at the end of compounds) ending in ā, as mentioned in the ṛgveda Prātiśākhya.

According to Monier-Williams, kāla 2 is from the verbal root kal "to calculate", while the root of kāla 1 is uncertain, though possibly the same.

Kāla as a deity

As applied to gods and goddesses in works such as the Devī Māhātmya and the Skanda Purāṇa, kāla 1 and kāla 2 are not readily distinguishable. Thus Wendy Doniger, translating a conversation between Śiva and Pārvatī from the Skanda Purāṇa, says Mahākāla may mean " 'the Great Death' ... or 'the Great Black One' ".^[3] And Swāmī Jagadīśvarānanda, a Hindu translator of the Devī Māhātmya, renders the feminine compound kāla-rātri (where rātri means "night") as "dark night of periodic dissolution".^[4]

As Time personified, destroying all things, Kala is a god of death sometimes identified with Yama. As a traditional Hindu unit of time, one kālá corresponds to 144 seconds.

Kāla in other cultures

In Javanese mythology, Batara Kala is the god of destruction. Batara Kala is depicted as giant, born of the sperm of Bathara Guru, the kings of gods.

In Borobudur, the gate to the stairs is adorned with a giant head, making the gate look like the open mouth of the giant. Many other gates in Javanese traditional buildings have this kind of ornament. Perhaps the most detailed Kala Face in Java is on the south side of Candi Kalasan.

References

See also

• Kalachakra
• Kālī
• Mahakala

v t e Hindu deities and texts Gods Trimurti Brahma Vishnu Shiva Ganesha Rama Krishna Murugan Hanuman Indra Surya more Goddesses Tridevi Saraswati Lakshmi Parvati Adi Parashakti Sati Durga Shakti Kali Sita Radha Mahavidya Navadurga Matrikas more Texts Vedas Rig Sama Yajur Atharva Upanishads Puranas Ramayana Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita more Hinduism Hindu mythology

v t e Time Key concepts Past history deep time Present Future futurology Eternity arguments for Immortality  Time portal Measurement and standards Chronometry UTC UT TAI Unit of time Hour Minute Second Sidereal time Solar time Time zone Metric time Decimal time Hexadecimal time Clock 12-hour clock 24-hour clock Astrarium History of timekeeping devices Horology Marine chronometer Sundial Water clock Calendar Day Week Month Year Tropical year Decade Century Millennium Gregorian Islamic Julian Solar Hijri Mayan Intercalation Leap second Leap year Chronology / history / archaeology / geology Astronomical chronology  /  Calendar era Chronicle Timeline Periodization Regnal year Big History  /  Dating methodologies  /  Geological time Geochronology Geological history Deep time Eon Era Period Epoch Age Chron Religion and mythology Dreamtime Kāla Kalachakra Prophecy Time and fate deities Wheel of time Philosophy A-series and B-series B-theory of time Causality Duration Endurantism Eternal return Eternalism Event Perdurantism Presentism Temporal finitism Temporal parts The Unreality of Time Physics Absolute time and space Arrow of time Chronon Coordinate time Planck epoch Planck time Proper time Rate Spacetime Theory of relativity Time dilation gravitational Time domain T-symmetry Biology / psychology / sociology / economics / accounting / management Chronobiology Circadian rhythms  /  Mental chronometry Specious present Time perception  /  Time discipline  /  Time use research Time value of money Time-based currency Time banking Term  /  Accounting period Fiscal year  /  Time management Punctuality Procrastination Time clock Timesheet Time tracking software Related topics Carpe diem Clock position Space System time Tempus fugit Time capsule Time signature Time travel

This article relating to a myth or legend from Asia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This Indonesia-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e