View source for Samayā

{{Short description|Sanskrit term for time}}
{{Other uses|Samaya (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Ashoka Chakra.svg|thumb|The [[Ashoka Chakra]] has a spoke for each of 24 hours in a day.]]
'''Samaya''' ({{Langx|sa|समय|lit=Time|translit=Samayā}})<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2014-08-03 |title=Samaya, Samayā, Samāya, Shamaya: 30 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/samaya |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> or '''Samayam''' ({{Langx|sa|समयम्|translit=Samayaṃ}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bodhi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftnADQAAQBAJ&dq=samaya%E1%B9%83&pg=PA1531 |title=The Suttanipata: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha's Discourses Together with Its Commentaries |date=2017-09-26 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-61429-454-2 |pages=1531 |language=en}}</ref> is a [[Sanskrit]] term referring to the "appointed or proper time, [the] right ''moment'' for doing anything."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Monier-Williams |first1=Sir Monier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUKaou4KcMC&dq=samayam+sanskrit+time&pg=PA1164 |title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymological and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages |last2=Leumann |first2=Ernst |last3=Cappeller |first3=Carl |date=1999 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0369-1 |pages=1164 |language=en}}</ref> In [[Languages of India|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 language|Tamil]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andronov |first=Mikhail Sergeevich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhB60gYvnLgC&dq=samayam+time&pg=PA258 |title=A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages |date=2003 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-04455-4 |pages=258 |language=en}}</ref> and {{lang|sa|samay}} in [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] languages such as [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hindi]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]].
==Jainism==
===Meaning===
Samaya represents the most infinitesimal part of time that cannot be divided further.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jain |first=Vijay K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qCxZDwAAQBAJ&dq=samaya+unit+of+time&pg=PA180 |title=Ācārya Kundakunda's Pravacanasāra – Essence of the Doctrine आचार्य कुन्दकुन्द विरचित "प्रवचनसार" |date=2018 |publisher=Vikalp Printers |isbn=978-81-932726-1-9 |pages=180 |language=en}}</ref> 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 {{lang|sa|avalika}}
* 16,777,216 {{lang|sa|avalika}} = 1 {{lang|sa|muhurta}}
* 30 {{lang|sa|muhurtas}} = 1 day and night
* 15 days and nights = 1 {{lang|sa|paksha}} (fortnight)
* 2 {{lang|sa|pakshas}} = 1 month
* 12 months = 1 year
* innumerable years = 1 {{lang|sa|palyopam}}
* 10 million million {{lang|sa|palyopams}} = 1 {{lang|sa|sāgaropam}}
* 10 million million {{lang|sa|sāgaropams}} = l {{lang|sa|utsarpiṇī}} or 1 {{lang|sa|[[avasarpiṇī]]}}
* 1 {{lang|sa|utsarpiṇī}} + {{lang|sa|avasarpiṇī}} = 1 {{lang|sa|kālchakra}} (one time cycle)
===Example===
When an [[Arihant (Jainism)|Arihant]] reaches the stage of [[Moksha (Jainism)|moksha]] (liberation), the soul travels to the [[Siddhashila]] (highest realm in [[universe]]) in one {{lang|sa|samaya}}.
==Hinduism==
{{lang|sa|Samayam}} is the basic unit of time in [[Hindu mythology]]. It is stated to be an epithet of [[Shiva]] in the [[Agni Purana]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Books |first=Kausiki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3ZJEAAAQBAJ&dq=samaya+time+puranas&pg=PT460 |title=Agni Purana 1 : English Translation only |date=2021-07-12 |publisher=Kausiki Books |pages=460 |language=en}}</ref>
==Other uses==
The samayachakra is the great chariot wheel of time which turns relentlessly forward.
{{lang|sa|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 ([[prahar|praharam]]) when it is performed.
In Gandharva-Veda the day is divided into three-hour-long intervals: 4–7{{nbsp}}a.m., 7–10{{nbsp}}a.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 (unit)|Hasta]]
* [[Religious cosmology]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*
[[Category:Units of time]]
[[Category:Hindu cosmology]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaya}}