History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c38.s4.1

v1.c38.s4.1

The concepts of length, weight and time, in their origin and ramifications have been an integral part of the Indian religio- philosophical and social system. These concepts attempted to explain the limited material world on one hand and tried to speculate their relationship with unlimited world on the other. For linear measure they have developed a length - measured from aṅgula to yojana for practical purposes, but conceived as small a unit as aṇu and gave the diameter of earth as big as 10⁵ yojanas, associating them with number and extending it from beginning to infinity (ādi and ananta), which is one dimensional. Area and volume were obtained by length and breadth; length, breadth and height respectively by the same scale. Whether the Indian had clear picture of dimension upto 12th century is not known. As regards weight, the words, gaurava (density), gurūtva (gravity or heaviness), bhāra (weight) were used. According to Nyāya Vaiśesika, gravity is one of the attribute of matter and regarded it not as a force but as a causal factor associated with act of falling or rising. There was possibly no correlation with gravity and mass. But to equate māṣa with the volumes of one aṅgula of water is indeed a unique step. The word bhāra for weight was used by later scholars in the same sense as before. The number is also an attribute of matter and there are expressions from insignificant weight to a very large weight. The knowledge, view points, perceptions and numbers give it also some significance but not over practical uses. Time is divided into day and its sub-divisions months, seasons, solstices, year, yuga, kalpa and mahākalpa.