Vedic altars

Vedic altars are the precursors to the later Hindu temple.

This name comes from the sacred Hindu texts, called the Vedas. These scripts preached about all aspects of life. For example, Ayurveda, a study of how herbs and plants can aid in healing and general human health, is derived from the Hindu Veda about the ayur, or lifespan.

These altars where places where the gods where worshipped.

References

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola

Vedic meditation

Vedic Meditation (VM) is often mistakenly defined as Hindu Meditation. In fact, Vedic Meditation comes from the Veda - the body of knowledge from ancient India that is the source of Yoga, Meditation, and Ayurvedic medicine - and predates modern Hinduism.

It can be defined as a spiritual discipline aimed at awakening to the supreme. The normal Vedic meditation posture has the devotee on the floor with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. The purpose of VM is for the devotee to silently repeat a mantra, and thus awaken to the supreme self. The purpose is not to relax, or help a person's health (although followers claim it does), it is to experience deeper levels of mind.

Vedic meditation is over 5,000 years old; its origins are in India. Learning Vedic Meditation is relatively simple. The initiate is given a mantra by a teacher or guru based on Vedic Astrology. The mantra has no inherent meaning but is only a sound used silently (not spoken or chanted) in the mind to induce a relaxed, non-thinking state. The mantra is repeated until it becomes more and more "subtle". The meditator practices twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening - for 20 minutes in a comfortable upright position. There is no demand on the meditator to change his/her lifestyle in any way save that nothing interferes with his/her daily practice.

It is structured so that there is no formal organisation and meditators do not have to join any group to learn. Vedic Meditation has been gaining in popularity in recent years, and is taught world-wide by independent teachers.

Vedic timeline

The Vedic calculations of Time & creation

Brahma, the creator, creates and Shiva, the destroyer destroys the universe cyclically. The life of Brahma is 120 divine years called Mahakalpa. Everyday he creates 14 Manus one by one and they create and control the world. So there are fourteen Manus in one divine day called Kalpa of Brahma. The life of each Manu is called Manvantara and it has 71 eras of four quarters. Each quarter is has four Yugas - Krita or Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. The following are the complete calculations of Vedic units of time and periods.

The time taken to tear apart the softest petals of a lotus is called 'TRUTI'
100 Trutis make 1 Lub
30 Lub make 1 Nimesh
27 Nimesh make 1 Guru Akshar
10 Guru Akshar Make 1 Pran
6 pran Vighatika make 1 Ghatika or Dand
60 Ghati make 1 day and night
That means, in a day and night, there are 17,49,60,000,00 Trutis

Thus, according to Western science, there are 86,400 seconds in a day and night, whereas in Indian science, a day and night consists of 17,49,60,000,00 Trutis.
According to another system, the division of time is
1 day or 24 hours = 60 Ghatis
1 Ghati = 60 Vighati (also called Pala or Kala)
1 Vighati = 60 Lipta or (also called Vipala or Vikala)
1 Lipta = 60 Vilipta
1 Vilipta = 60 Para
1 Para = 60 Tatpara

As a lot of charts made in the olden days mention the birth time in Ghatis and Vighatis the following is the conversion to remember:
5 Ghatis = 2 hours
5 Vighati = 2 minutes

Another system of time at micro level is
60 Tatparas = 1 Paras
60 Paras = 1 Vilipta
60 Vilipta = 1 Lipta
60 Lipta = 1 Ghatika (Dand)
60 Ghatika = 1 Day & Night)

Therefore, it is clear that there are 46,65,60,000,00 Tatparas in a day and night.

The Vedic Units of Time – Macro level

SATYUG 4,32,000 YEARS X 4 = 17,28,000 YEARS
TRETA 4,32,000 YEARS X 3 = 12,96,000 YEARS
DWAPAR 4,32,000 YEARS X 2 = 8,64,000 YEARS
KALIYUG 4,32,000 YEARS X 1 = 4,32,000 YEARS
1 MAHAYUG (GRAND TOTAL OF ALL THE YUGAS) = 43,20,000 YEARS
71 MAHAYUG = 43,20,000X71 = 1 MANVANTAR
1 MANVANTAR = 30,67,20,000 YEARS
14 MANVANTAR = 4,29,40,80,000 YEARS
(There are 14 Manvantars)

The earth remains submerged in the water for the period of 8,64,000 years i.e. half the number of Satyug, before the start of each Manvantar, it also remains submerged in the water for the same number of years, i.e. 8,64,000 years, after the completion of each Manvantar.
So in 14 Manvantars the number of years
17,28,000 x 15 = 2,59,20,000
(Number of year in Satyug)
+ 14 Manvantar = 4,29,40,80,000
1 Kalpa = 4,32,00,00,000 years
One day & night of Brahma = 43,20,000 Mahayug x 100 = 43,20,00,000 years

Since the one moment in the life of Brahma is considered to be of our 100years, therefore the life of Brahma in 100 years will be
4,32,00,00,000 x 360 x 100 = 15,55,20,00,00,000 years

Present Age of Cosmos

The Present Age of Cosmos according to the Vedic System is as follows:

There are 14 Manvantaras altogether. The present period is passing through the seventh Manvantara called Vaivaswata Manvantara.

One Manvantara consists of 71 Mahayugs, out of which 27 Mahayugs have already passed. We are passing through the first phase of the Kali Yuga which itself is the third Yuga of the 28th Mahayuga and which has come after the passing of Satya Yuga, Treta and Dwapar Yuga.

The time period of Manvantara (exclusive period, when the earth is submerged in water, in the beginning and in the end) = 30,67,20,000 years

1) Multiplying these years by 6 = 30,67,20,000 x 6 (Because we are in the midst of 7th Manvantara, of the Svetvaaraah Kalpa and 6 Manvantaras have already passed) = 18,03,00,000 years The time period of Pralaya consists of 17,28,000 years since 7 Pralayas have passed, after the end of 6th Kalpa and before the beginning of 7th Kalpa, so 17,28,000x 7 = 12,096,000 years
Adding we have:
1,84,03,00,000 + 1,20,96,000 + 1,85,23,96,000 years
Therefore, after 1,85,24,16,000 years 'VAIVASVAT MANVANTARA' has started.

2) 27 Mahayugs with each Mahayuga consisting of 43,20,000 years. 43,20,000 x 27 = 11,66,40,000 years have passed
Total = 1,96,90,56,000 years

3) Now the time period of Kali Yuga in the 28th Yuga =
Time period of Satya Yuga = 17,28,000
Time period of Treta = 12,96,000
Time period of Dwapar = 8,64,000
TOTAL = 38,88,000
Since all the above three Yugas have already passed, it means that after 38,88,000 years, Kali Yuga came into existence.

4) Kali Yuga started on Bhadrapada, Krishnapaksha -13th day, in Vyatipaat yoga at midnight, in the Aashlesha Nakshatra(Feb 17/18 Midnight 3102 BC) and the age of the Kali Yuga has been fixed as 5111 years as till date that is Vikram Samvat 2057 = Shaka 1922 = 2009 AD.
Sum of all the three Yugs = the Sum of 27 Mahayugas and Manvantar + the time period of Kali Yuga till date.

Kalpa consist of 4,32,00,00,000 years and out of these 1,97,29,49,101 years have passed. Therefore, the earth's existence, according to the calculations devised by our ancient sages, comes up to 1,97,29,49,101 years till date. It is interesting to note that according to scientific calculations, the age of the cosmos is estimated between 1.5 and 2.0 billion years.

Summary

Vedic India has given the idea of the smallest and the largest measure of time.