Samayā Explained

Samaya ^[1] or Samayam ^[2] is a Sanskrit term referring to the "appointed or proper time, [the] right moment for doing anything."^[3] In Indian languages, samayam, or samay in Indo-Aryan languages, is a unit of time.

Meaning

In contemporary usage, samayam means time in Dravidian languages such as Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil,^[4] and Sanskrit: samay in Indo-Aryan languages such as Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati.

Jainism

Meaning

Samaya represents the most infinitesimal part of time that cannot be divided further.^[5] The blink of an eye, or about a quarter of a second, has innumerable samaya in it. For all practical purposes a second happens to be the finest measurement of time. Jainism, however, recognizes a very small measurement of time known as samaya, which is an infinitely small part of a second.

Measurements

The following are measures of time as adopted by Jainism:

• indivisible time = 1 samaya
• innumerable samaya = 1 Sanskrit: avalika
• 16,777,216 Sanskrit: avalika = 1 Sanskrit: muhurta
• 30 Sanskrit: muhurtas = 1 day and night
• 15 days and nights = 1 Sanskrit: paksha (fortnight)
• 2 Sanskrit: pakshas = 1 month
• 12 months = 1 year
• innumerable years = 1 Sanskrit: palyopam
• 10 million million Sanskrit: palyopams = 1 Sanskrit: sāgaropam
• 10 million million Sanskrit: sāgaropams = l Sanskrit: utsarpiṇī or 1 Sanskrit: [[avasarpiṇī]]
• 1 Sanskrit: utsarpiṇī + Sanskrit: avasarpiṇī = 1 Sanskrit: kālchakra (one time cycle)

Example

When an Arihant reaches the stage of moksha (liberation), the soul travels to the Siddhashila (highest realm in universe) in one Sanskrit: samaya.

Hinduism

Sanskrit: Samayam is the basic unit of time in Hindu mythology. It is stated to be an epithet of Shiva in the Agni Purana.^[6]

Other uses

The samayachakra is the great chariot wheel of time which turns relentlessly forward.

Sanskrit: Samayam is a term used in Indian classical music to loosely categorize ragas into times of day. Each raga has a specific period of the day (praharam) when it is performed.

In Gandharva-Veda the day is divided into three-hour-long intervals: 4–7a.m., 7–10a.m., etc. The time concept in Gandharva-Veda is more strictly adhered to than it would be, for example, in Carnatic music.

See also

• Hindu cosmology
• Jain cosmology
• Palya
• Hasta
• Religious cosmology

Notes and References

1. Web site: www.wisdomlib.org . 2014-08-03 . Samaya, Samayā, Samāya, Shamaya: 30 definitions . 2023-01-05 . www.wisdomlib.org . en.
2. Book: Bodhi . The Suttanipata: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha's Discourses Together with Its Commentaries . 2017-09-26 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-61429-454-2 . 1531 . en.
3. Book: Monier-Williams . Sir Monier . A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymological and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages . Leumann . Ernst . Cappeller . Carl . 1999 . Asian Educational Services . 978-81-206-0369-1 . 1164 . en.
4. Book: Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich . A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages . 2003 . Otto Harrassowitz Verlag . 978-3-447-04455-4 . 258 . en.
5. Book: Jain, Vijay K. . Ācārya Kundakunda's Pravacanasāra – Essence of the Doctrine आचार्य कुन्दकुन्द विरचित "प्रवचनसार" . 2018 . Vikalp Printers . 978-81-932726-1-9 . 180 . en.
6. Book: Books, Kausiki . Agni Purana 1 : English Translation only . 2021-07-12 . Kausiki Books . 460 . en.