27TH APRIL, 2024

A kalpa is a long period of time (aeon) in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, generally between the creation and recreation of a world or universe by Brahma.

Kalpa (Sanskrit: कल्प, lit. 'a formation or creation') in this context, means "a long period of time (aeon) related to the lifetime of the universe (creation)." It is derived from कॢप् (kḷp) + -अ (-a, nominalizing suffix) (Sanskrit: कॢप्, romanized: kḷp, lit. 'to create, prepare, form, produce, compose, invent').

In Hinduism, a kalpa is equal to 4.32 billion years, a "day of Brahma" (12-hour day of Brahma proper) or one thousand(1000) mahayugas, measuring the duration of the world. Each kalpa is divided into 14 manvantara periods, each lasting 71 Yuga Cycles (306,720,000 years). Preceding the first and following each manvantara period is a juncture (sandhya) equal to the length of a Satya Yuga (1,728,000 years). A kalpa is followed by a pralaya (dissolution) of equal length, which together constitute a day and night of Brahma. A month of Brahma contains thirty such days and nights, or 259.2 billion years. According to the Mahabharata, 12 months of Brahma (=360 days) constitute his year, and 100 such years his life called a maha-kalpa (311.04 trillion years or 36,000 kalpa + 36,000 pralaya). Fifty years of Brahma are supposed to have elapsed, and we are now in the Shveta-Varaha Kalpa or the first day of his fifty-first year. At the end of a kalpa, the world is annihilated by fire.

The definition of a kalpa equaling 4.32 billion years is found in the Puranas—specifically Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana.

The duration of the material universe is limited. It is manifested in cycles of kalpas. A kalpa is a day of Brahmā, and one day of Brahmā consists of a thousand cycles of four yugas, or ages: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. ... These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahmā, and the same number comprise one night. Brahmā lives one hundred of such "years" and then dies. These "hundred years" total 311 trillion 40 billion (311,040,000,000,000) earth years. By these calculations the life of Brahmā seems fantastic and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash. In the Causal Ocean there are innumerable Brahmās rising and disappearing like bubbles. Brahmā and his creation are all part of the material universe, and therefore they are in constant flux.

The Matsya Purana (290.3–12) lists the names of 30 kalpas, each named by Brahma based on a significant event in the kalpa and the most glorious person in the beginning of the kalpa. These 30 kalpas or days (along with 30 pralayas or nights) form a 30-day month of Brahma.

The Vayu Purana has a different list of names for 33 kalpas, which G. V. Tagare describes as fanciful derivations.

According to Puranic sources,[e] Krishna's departure marks the end of the human age of Dvapara-yuga and the start of Kali-yuga, which is dated to midnight on 17/18 February 3102 BCE of the proleptic Julian calendar. We are currently halfway through Brahma's life (maha-kalpa), whose lifespan is equal to the duration of the manifested material elements, from which Brahma manifests his universe in kalpa cycles.

A maha-kalpa is followed by a maha-pralaya (full dissolution) of equal length. Each kalpa (day of Brahma) is followed by a pralaya (night of Brahma or partial dissolution) of equal length. Preceding the first and following each manvantara is a manvantara-sandhya (connection period), each with a length of Krita-yuga (a.k.a. Satya-yuga).

Hindu texts specify that the start and end of each of the yugas are marked by astronomical alignments. This cycle's Treta-yuga began with 5 planets residing in the "Aries" constellation. This cycle's Dvapara-yuga ended with the "Saptarshi" constellation (Ursa major) residing in the "Magha" constellation. The current Kali-yuga will end with the Sun, Moon and Jupiter residing in the "Pushya" sector.