[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v6.c82.53.2 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.53.2 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.53.2 - **Language:** English ### [v6.c82.53.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.53.2) winking of the eye) is defined by the Vāyu and Viṣṇudharmottara as the time required for pronouncing a short letter and the latter adds that a smaller unit than it cannot be (physically) apprehended. There is great divergence of views about the number and names of the minute units of time and their mutual relations. A few examples alone can be cited. Manu (I. 64) furnishes the following table: 18 nimeṣas = kāṣṭhā, 30 kāṣṭhās = kalā, 30 kalās = muhūrta, 30 muhūrtas = ahorātra (day and night). The Arthaśāstra⁶⁸¹ of Kauṭilya provides. 2 truṭas (i?) = lava, 2 lavas = nimeṣa, five nimeṣas = kāṣṭhā, 30 kāṣṭhās = kalā, 40 kalās = nāḍīkā, 2 nāḍīkās = muhūrta, 30 muhūrtas = ahorātra Some of the purāṇas contain the same⁶⁸² verse on the names and relations of small units of time viz 15 nimeṣas = kāṣṭhā, 30 kāṣṭhās = kalā, 40 kalās = nāḍikā, 2 nāḍikās = muhūrta, 30 muhūrtas = day and night together. It should be noticed that here the relation of nimeṣas to kāṣṭhā is different from that in Manu and Kauṭilya. The Arthaśāstra⁶⁸³ of Kauṭilya does not stand alone in speaking of \*truti\* (\*ṭṛṭi\*) as the smallest unit of time. The Sūryasiddhānta (quoted above) provides that truṭi is the smallest unit of time, that it is \*amūrta\* (not apprehended physically), that the prāṇa is the first \*mūrta\* (physically apprehended) unit of time, that 6 prāṇas are equal to a vināḍī, that 60 vināḍīs are equal to a nāḍikā, 60 nāḍīs are equal to an ahorātra. Utpala⁶⁸⁴ on Bṛ. S. - [Previous: v6.c82.53.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.53.1) - [Next: v6.c82.53.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.53.3) - [Up: v6.c82.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.53) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.53.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.53.2) · Pramāṇa