“Mind, why are you not worshiping Shri Rama, whose bow is like time, with weapons of arrows representing the different units of time, such as paramanu, lava, nimesha, barasa, yuga, and kalpa?” (Dohavali, 130)

Download this episode (right click and save)

लव निमेष परमानु जुग बरस कलप सर चंड।
भजसि न मम तेहि राम कहँ कालु जासु कोदंड।

lava nimeṣa paramānu juga barasa kalapa sara caṃḍa।
bhajasi na mama tehi rāma kaha~ kālu jāsu kodaṃḍa।

Upon further reflection we realize that the presence of variety for languages spoken across the world is nothing more than a case of substitution. One person refers to the fiery object in the sky as the sun. Another person has a different word, but applying to the same concept. Another person refers to the sun as the maker of the day, dinakara, which is more descriptive but ultimately of the same reference.

From the Dohavali of Goswami Tulsidas, we gain deeper insight into the concept of time, utilizing the same principle of substitution. Let’s say that we have four apples at home. They are sitting in a bowl, on the dining table.

The spouse calls. They are at the supermarket. They want to know if we need to stock up on apples. They ask how many we currently have at home. I respond accordingly. I actually have some options in the specific words to use.

“Hi honey. We have four apples.”

This is the straightforward answer; not causing any funny looks.

“Hey there. We have three and one apple.”

The person on the other end might be puzzled. They wonder why we are speaking in code. Perhaps we are trying to teach a lesson to our young child, who is new to concepts in mathematics.

“Oh, you didn’t hear me? I said we have two and two apples.”

These responses all refer to the same truth. We have four apples at home, but there are different ways to present the situation. Each of the numbers referenced is a unit of measurement. One is a single instance. If we add a single instance to another instance, we have two. If we take two instances and add two more instances, we get four.

We can understand time in the same way. We are already familiar with seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. The Vedic science gives much more detail, both at the granular level and at the highest macro a person can comprehend.

There are units of measure for concepts from daily life that we might overlook. For instance, paramanu refers to the time the sun takes to travel over the basic building block of material existence, the atom. From that smallest measurement, we start stacking to get greater units.

We might be familiar with the saying, “in the twinkling of an eye.” This is used in the context of swiftness. Just like that. Without worrying. Without hesitation. Before anyone could think, such and such took place.

This twinkling of an eye corresponds to the Sanskrit unit of measure known as nimesha. This nimesha is the amount of time that passed for a heroic prince to win a famous contest that took place in the kingdom ruled by Janaka of Mithila.

इत्युक्तस्तेन विप्रेण तद्धनुस्समुपानयत्।।
निमेषान्तरमात्रेण तदाऽनम्य महाबलः।
ज्यां समारोप्य झडिति पूरयामास वीर्यवान्।।

ityuktastena vipreṇa taddhanussamupānayat।।
nimeṣāntaramātreṇa tadā’namya mahābalaḥ।
jyāṃ samāropya jhaḍiti pūrayāmāsa vīryavān।।

“Hearing the words of the vipra, my father brought the bow forward. Bending the bow in the twinkling of an eye and applying string to it, the mighty prince Rama, who was full of valor, quickly drew the bow at full length.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 118.47-48)

If we play the game of substitution, if an event passes by quickly, we could say something like the following:

“Oh, that happened so fast. It was like in the time it took Shri Rama to lift the bow of Lord Shiva and apply string to it. In the time that it took Rama to win the contest in Janaka’s kingdom. In the time that it took Rama to earn the hand in marriage of Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka.”

Goswami Tulsidas says that these measurements are like weapons released from the bow representing time. Shri Rama is the person holding the bow. He is in control of it. The bow belongs to Him. It is transcendental, in this sense. The wise person worships the controller of time, as there can be no one with more potency. That holder of the bow also happens to be the most merciful, the most kind, and the most benevolent.

In Closing:

Rama with time controlling,
Like in that contest unfolding.

Like duration for taking bow in hand,
For nimesha to understand.

Wherein for string extending,
That bow then bending.

Such that quickly to break,
In twinkling of eye to take.

Categories: dohavali 121-160, the bow of time

Tags: dohavali, hare krishna, math, poem, poems, poetry