Kalpa (time)


A kalpa is a long period of time in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, generally between the creation and recreation of a world or universe.

Etymology

Kalpa in this context, means "a long period of time related to the lifetime of the universe." It is derived from कॢप् + -अ .

Hinduism

In Hinduism, a kalpa is a unit of time equal to 4.32 billion years. It corresponds to one day in the life of Brahma, the creator god, and represents the active, creative phase of the cosmic cycle. Each kalpa is made up of 1,000 Yuga Cycles, vast ages that repeat in a set pattern.
A kalpa is further divided into 14 manvantaras. Each manvantara lasts for 71 Yuga Cycles, or 306.72 million years. Before the first manvantara and after each one are transitional periods known as sandhyas, each as long as a Satya Yuga—1.728 million years.
At the end of each kalpa, the universe enters a period of rest and dissolution called pralaya, or the night of Brahma. This night is equal in length to the day—another 4.32 billion years. Together, one day and night of Brahma make up a full cosmic day, totaling 8.64 billion years.
Expanding further, a month of Brahma contains 30 such day-and-night cycles, which adds up to 259.2 billion years. A year of Brahma consists of 12 months, or 360 days and nights, equaling 3.1104 trillion years. Brahma's full lifespan is 100 of these divine years—a span of 311.04 trillion years, known as a maha-kalpa.
According to the traditional time-keeping, 50 years of Brahma's life have already passed. We are currently living in the Shveta-Varaha Kalpa, which marks the first day of Brahma’s 51st year. At the conclusion of each kalpa, it is believed that the world is destroyed by fire, only to be recreated again when the next day of Brahma begins.
The definition of a kalpa equaling 4.32 billion years is found in the Puranas such as Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana.
The Matsya Purana lists the names of 30 kalpas, each named by Brahma based on a significant event in the kalpa and the most glorious person in the beginning of the kalpa. These 30 kalpas or days form a 30-day month of Brahma.
The Vayu Purana has a different list of names for 33 kalpas, which G. V. Tagare describes as fanciful derivations.

Buddhism

In the Pali language of early Buddhism, the word kalpa takes the form kappa, and is mentioned in the assumed oldest scripture of Buddhism, the Sutta Nipata. This speaks of "Kappâtita: one who has gone beyond time, an Arahant". This part of the Buddhist manuscripts dates back to the middle part of the last millennium BCE.
Gautama Buddha claimed an incalculable number of Buddhas lived in previous kalpas: Vipassi Buddha 91 kalpas ago, Sikhi Buddha 31 kalpas ago, and three prior Buddhas in the present kalpa. He confines his teachings to the present kalpa, the duration of which he doesn't arithmetically define, but uses a similitude:
A similar similitude is found in the Mountain Pabbata Sutta of the Pali Canon:
Described in the Vibhanga division of the Abhidhamma Pitaka are sixteen rupa brahma lokas and four higher arupa brahma lokas, each attained through the imperfect, medial or perfect performance of the four states of jhāna, granting a duration of life measured in kalpas that exceed the top-most heavenly loka of 9.216 billion years:
  • 1st jhāna leads to 3 lowest rupa lokas with respective lifespans of 1/3, 1/2 and 1 kalpa.
  • 2nd jhāna leads to 3 higher rupa lokas with respective lifespans of 2, 4 and 8 kalpas.
  • 3rd jhāna leads to 3 more higher rupa lokas with respective lifespans of 16, 32 and 64 kalpas.
  • 4th jhāna leads to 7 highest rupa lokas with respective lifespans ranging from 500 to 16,000 kalpas, and 4 still higher arupa lokas with respective lifespans of 20,000; 40,000; 60,000 and 84,000 kalpas.
At the termination of each kalpa, the lower three rupa brahma lokas, attained through the 1st jhāna, and everything below them are destroyed by fire, only to later again come into being.
In one explanation, there are four different lengths of kalpas. A regular kalpa is approximately 16 million years long, and a small kalpa is 1000 regular kalpas, or about 16.8 billion years. Further, a medium kalpa is roughly 336 billion years, the equivalent of 20 small kalpas. A great kalpa is four medium kalpas, or about 1.3 trillion years.
Gautama Buddha did not give the exact length of the maha-kalpa in terms of years. However, he gave several analogies to understand it.
  1. Imagine a huge empty cube at the beginning of a kalpa, approximately 16 miles in each side. Once every 100 years, you insert a tiny mustard seed into the cube. According to the Buddha, the huge cube will be filled even before the kalpa ends.
In one instance, when some monks wanted to know how many kalpas had elapsed so far, Buddha gave this analogy:
  1. If you count the total number of sand particles at the depths of the Ganga river, from where it begins to where it ends at the Bay of Bengal sea, even that number will be less than the number of passed kalpas.
Another definition of Kalpa is the world where Buddhas are born. There are generally 2 types of kalpa, Suñña-Kalpa and Asuñña-kalpa. The Suñña-Kalpa is the world where no Buddha is born. Asuñña-Kalpa is the world where at least one Buddha is born. There are 5 types of Asuñña-Kalpa:
  1. Sāra-Kalpa – The world where one Buddha is born.
  2. Maṇḍa-Kalpa – The world where two Buddhas are born.
  3. Vara-Kalpa – The world where three Buddhas are born.
  4. Sāramaṇḍa-Kalpa – The world where four Buddhas are born.
  5. Bhadda-Kalpa – The world where five Buddhas are born.
The previous kalpa was the Vyuhakalpa, the present kalpa is called the Bhadrakalpa, and the next kalpa will be the Nakshatrakalpa.