Temple of Time

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna -- in his form as Lord of the Universe -- tells us:

kalo 'smi loka-ksaya-krt pravrddho
lokan samahartum iha pravrttah

which, translated, means something like, "I am Time, the Great Destroyer of worlds, come to annihilate the universe." And it often feels like that, doesn't it? I mean, we are given practically infinite space in this universe -- immeasurable distances -- and yet we are only allowed a few short years in which to live.

The race is not to the swift

or battle to the strong,

nor does food come to the wise

or wealth to the brilliant

or favor to the learned

but time and chance happen to them all.

-- Ecclesiastes 9:12

Time and space are not equal commodities. And they are getting less equal all the time, as modern ways of living seem to devour all the time in our lives in big, greedy gulps. Not only our lives, but every thing we ever make, do, or love will eventually succumb to the power of time, and vanish without a trace. Krishna clearly embodies this principle in the Bhagavad Gita, and yet there are several other important representations of the power of time from the Hindu/Buddhist traditions.

A frightening representation of the all-consuming nature of time is the tantric deity called Mahakala - the Great Black Snake of Time. This is an extremely wrathful form of Lord Shiva, in Hinduism, or a wrathful deity in Tibetan Buddhism (depending on the flavor of tantrism you prefer).

Mahakala is also sometimes said to be a form of the planet Saturn, who also embodies the power of time. Saturn is the Latin name for the Greek god Chronos -- whose name, of course, translates into English as "time." The entire science of astrology can be understood as simply a vast clock -- utterly concerned with time and timing. A powerful mantra to Saturn, and therefore to time, in a sense, is the following:

Om Pram Preem Prom Saha Shanaish-charai Namah

Use this mantra to relieve all difficulties with Saturn, or with time itself.

Another tantric representation of time -- this time exclusively from Tibet -- is the form of Kalachakra: the Wheel of Time. Represented as a mandala, the wheel looks like this:

Or, seen as a deity, it looks like this:

Recitation of the mantra of Kalachakra is a great blessing, and one of its effects is to help you understand the forces of time. The mantra is:

Om Ha Ksa Ma La Va Ra Ya Swaha

These are just briefly a few of the representations of the power of time from South Asia. It is out of great respect for what is, finally, the greatest force in our lives on this earth, I offer this page dedicated to time.

Time Links

The United States Naval Observatory Master Clock

Lots of material about time, especially "Universal Time," some Real Audio voices and a old webpage clock program.

Greenwich's rad time site

Find your Time Zone anywhere in the world

Unbelievable Horology (study of time - but many about watches and clocks) links page

British Horological Institute - another great Horology page

See where it is day time and where it is night time right now with Sunclock

Make your own sundial page

History of the development of sundials

The North America Sundial Society

Sunrise, Sunset and Twilight Times Computation for anywhere in the world