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Palya and Saagar

We on our daily basis measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, centuries, millenium and so on. What if we want to measure larger (or corresponding minuter) time span than these? This is where Palya and Saagar comes into picture.

The years, decades, centuries etc. are in the end just Numerable numbers; as they can be calculated and grasped by denoting with digits. Palya and Saagar are Innumerable numbers, and they are so large values that we can't denote using digits to understand.

In Jainism, the life span and various large time lapses is precisely measured in these units.

Understanding the largeness of "Palya"​

To calculate and understand what Palya is, follow up with the STEPS defined as below:

  1. Take an imaginary cylinder (well) of diameter 1 Yojan and height of 1 Yojan (1 Yojana = 7315.192685 km)

  2. Fill it completely with sheep's hair (balagrah). Here, sheep's hair (balagrah) is a actually a unit of length like metre, centimetre etc. There is proper calculation of how to derive this value. It is in order of micro-meters. Fill the cylinder with these extremely small "sheep's hair".

  3. After filling it completely, after every 100 years, remove one hair from the cylinder and repeat this process.

  4. Total number of hair that will fill the cylinder completely

= 413,45,26303,0820317,7741512,192000000000000000000
= (65536)^5 X 18 X 19 X 10^18 hairs in the cylinder

The above 45-digit number is obtained from scriptures and detailed calculation of how to get this is also explained. This shows how rich our Shastras are!

  1. Now we can imagine if we remove 1 hair in 100 years' time, how much HUGE time it will take to empty this cylinder!

The Time required to do empty this cylinder is in order of 10^20 years!

The total number of "Samay" (the atomic/indivisible unit of Time) in the above value is called 1 Vyavhaar Palya. In other words, if we convert those many years (that is in range of 10^20 years) in "Samay" (indivisible unit of time); then the number of "Samay" obtained is actually called 1 Vyavhaar Palya. This value falls under Innumerable category in the Absolute Numeral System of Jainism!

WHAT IS "SAMAY"?

Like how 'atom' is indivisible unit of matter; 'samay' is indivisible unit of time.

Formal definition: The time required for an atom (parmanu) to move from one space-unit (pradesh) to another traveling with slow velocity (mand-gati) is 1 "Samay". Even in a nanosecond, there are innumerable samay units!

Types of Palya​

Palya is of 3 types:

  1. Vyavhar Palya
  2. Uddhar Palya
  3. Addha Palya

Saagar​

Similar to Palya, Saagar is also a type of innumerable value.

Saagar is also of 3 types:

  1. Vyavhar Saagar
  2. Uddhar Saagar
  3. Addha Saagar
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Some equations to compute the types of Palya:

1. Uddhar Palya = Uncountable x Vyavhar Palya
2. Addha Palya = Uncountable x Uddhar Palya
3. Vyavhar Saagar = 10^15 x Vyavhar Palya
4. Uddhar Saagar = 10^15 x Uddhar Palya
5. Addha Saagar = 10^15 x Addha Palya

From above equations, we can see that how huge Saagar is! In-depth details are available about these. Here it is explained in brief to help understand easily.

Practical examples of Palya and Saagar​

  • Maximum Life span of Human in 1st ERA: 3 Palya
  • Maximum Life span of Human in 2nd ERA: 2 Palya
  • Maximum Life Span of Hellish Beings: 33 Saagar
  • Maximum Life Span of Heavenly Beings: 33 Saagar
  • 1 Kalpkaal(Utsarpini + Avsarpini) : 2 x 10^15 Saagar
  • In general, the life spans of Heavenly beings of different types of corresponding 16 Heavens have different life spans which are all measured in Palya and Saagar units; as they huge life span.
  • Similarly, in 7 Hells, the life span of Hellish beings are measured precisely in Palya and Saagar; as life span is huge compared to Humans.
  • Palya and Saagar are the terms widely used in Jainism Scriptures, books, lectures etc. and thus basic knowledge is useful to understand core concepts well.