Knowledge about Time

Vyasa said

Sanatkumara, omniscient sage, I have heard from you of feminine nature. Please affectionately tell me of the knowledge of time.

Sanatkumara replied

Earlier Parvati asked Parameshvara this. She had heard many divine accounts and, pleased, bowed to him. Parvati said: Bhagavan, divinity, by your favour I have understood everything from you, how to worship and the proper use of mantras. But I still have a doubt about the wheel of time. What are the signs of death? What is the measure of a lifespan? Protector, I am your beloved, please tell me. Asked so by Devi, Maheshvara answered.

Ishvara said

Beloved, I will tell you the truth of the most excellent text. Through this text men can know the time of death. The day, fortnight, month, half-year and year of death can be known through gross and subtle signs, inner and outer. Beautiful Uma, out of affection for you and for people's welfare and non-attachment I will tell you the truth; listen. If the body suddenly turns pale and loses half its complexion everywhere, know that death will come within six months. If the face, ears, eyes or tongue become paralysed, know death will come within six months. If a loud scream is not instantly heard by the ears, those who know time know death will come within six months. If, in contact with the sun, moon or fire, a person does not see the light and everything seems dark, he will live six months. If the left hand throbs for seven days he will certainly live only a month. If the limbs swell and the palate dries he will live a month. If there is a running nose and the three humours are present, he will live a fortnight. If the mouth and throat are dry his lifespan will be over at the end of six months. If the tongue turns thick and the teeth moist he will live only six months. These are the known signs of death. If a person cannot see his reflection in water, oil, ghee or a mirror, or if the image looks distorted, those who know the wheel of time know his lifespan is six months more.

Goddess, hear other indications of death. If a person sees his own shadow headless, or cannot see his shadow, he will not live more than a month. Parvati, I have spoken of signs of death seen in the limbs. I will now speak of the outer signs. If the solar or lunar disc seems devoid of rays or looks coated in a film, calamity will strike him within half a month. If a person cannot see Arundhati, or the moon seems to lack its auspicious marks, or he cannot see the stars, he will live only a month. If he looks at the planets and is confused about the directions, or cannot see Utathya, Dhruva or the solar disc, he will certainly die within six months. If a person sees a rainbow at night or a shower of meteors at midday, or sees himself surrounded by vultures and crows, he will not live more than six months. If the seven sages' constellation or the Milky Way are not seen in the sky, those who know time know his lifespan is no more than six months. If a person suddenly sees the sun or moon swallowed by Rahu, or the circle of the directions seems to whirl, he will evidently die within six months. If a man suddenly sees himself surrounded by blue bees, it is the supreme truth that his lifespan is only a month more. If a vulture, crow or pigeon attacks a person and settles on his head, he will soon die, within a month. I have thus told the outer evil omens. For people's welfare I will briefly say what must be done. When a man sees Kala located between his two hands, left and right, it is evident his time has come, as directly stated; it is like Kala standing between two fortnights. Briefly, he must purify himself, remember the divinity, bathe and control his senses. He must wash his hands with milk and the juice of red lac and knead them. Holding fragrances in his hands he must seek out the auspicious and inauspicious. Beloved, from the little finger to the thumb, in order, he must place the lunar days, pratipada and the others, on his hands. Then he should cup the hands together, cover his mouth and sit facing east. He must then remember and recite the nine-part mantra a hundred and eight times, looking carefully at every joint of his fingers. On any of these joints, if he sees a line in the form of a bee, he will know that his death will occur on that lunar day in the bright or dark fortnight.

I will now briefly speak of the time of death. Beloved, knowing what will and will not happen, he should decide his course accordingly. Time is reckoned as kshana, truti, lava, nimesha, kashtha, muhurta, day and night, fortnight, month, season, year, abda, yuga, kalpa and mahakalpa. Sadashiva, who takes life, reckons time differently. The three paths are the left, middle and right. According to followers of the left-hand way the measurement of sound starts from the fifth day and lasts to the twenty-fifth. For those who know time and sound, who follow the left-hand way, the measure is based on the elements, the gaps in them, the directions and the flags. For those who follow the right-hand path the measures are spoken of as the seasons, the transformation of the elements and their qualities, known to those who know the progress of prana. When the channel called ida and the others carry prana five days at a stretch he will not live more than a year; ten days, he will live a year; fifteen days, his life will be over after a year; twenty days, a sign that he will live six months. If the left channel carries it twenty-five days, a sign that his life will be over in three months; twenty-six days, he will live two months; constantly for twenty-seven days, he will live a month. This is the sign of the left channel, the signs of the flow of prana along the left. For counting days there are in order four categories of flow along the right, and within these four are said to be sixteen sub-categories, whose measures I will now tell accurately. Starting with six days, in order, the measures are like those along the left channel. If the flow is continuous for six days he will live two years, eight months and eight days. If seven days, he will live one year, seven months and six days. If eight days, two years, four months and twenty-four days. If prana flows nine days, he will live seven months and twelve days. If eleven days, one year, nine months and eight days. If twelve days, one year, seven months and six days. If the channel bears prana thirteen days, one year and four months. If the flow on the left is fourteen days, one year, six months and twenty-four days. If fifteen days, those who know time say nine months and twenty-four days. If sixteen days, ten months and twenty-four days. If seventeen days, nine months and eighteen days. If the flow on the left is constant eighteen days, eight months and twelve days. If prana flows twenty-three days he will certainly live twenty-four days. If twenty-four days, seven months and six days, and eighteen days may be added to this. This is what I have briefly told of days within months for the flow on the left; now hear of the right. If the flow lasts twenty-eight days he will live that many lunar days. If ten days, calamity is immediate. If thirty days, calamity will come after five days. If the flow is continuous for thirty-one days he will certainly live three days. When the sun channel bears prana for thirty-two instants he will live two days. I have told of prana on the right; I will now tell of the middle one. When the flow of prana speeds up and gathers in the face he will live a day. Those who know the ancient accounts call this the wheel of time, indicating the end of the lifespan. Ishvara said he had described this for the worlds' welfare and asked what else Devi wished to hear.