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Kala (Sanskrit:काल,romanized: Kālá/Kālam,[1]IPA:[kɑːˈlə]) is aSanskrit term that means 'time'[2] or 'death'.[3] Astime personified, destroying all things, Kala is a god ofdeath, and often used as one of the epithets ofYama. InShaivism, Kala is known as the fiery avatar of Shiva,Kala Bhairava or Kalagni Rudra; and inVaishnavism Kala is also associated withNarasimha andPralaya.[4] As applied to gods and goddesses,Kālá is not always distinguishable fromkāla, meaning 'black'.[3]
Monier-Williams's widely used Sanskrit-English dictionary[3] lists two distinct words with the formkāla:
According to Monier-Williams,kāla 2 is from the verbal rootkal "to calculate", while the root ofkāla 1 is uncertain, though possibly the same.[3]
As applied to gods and goddesses in works such as theDevīMāhātmya and theSkandaPurāṇa,kāla 1 andkāla 2 are not readily distinguishable. Thus Wendy Doniger, translating a conversation betweenŚiva andPārvatī from theSkandaPurāṇa, saysMahākāla may mean " 'the Great Death' ... or 'the Great Black One' ".[5] AndSwāmīJagadīśvarānanda, a Hindu translator of theDevīMāhātmya, renders the feminine compoundkāla-rātri (whererātri means "night") as "dark night of periodic dissolution".[6]
Kala is described in 19th Kanda Sukta 53 and 54 in theAtharvaved as a deity in which the mind, breath and name of God pervades.[7]
Kala appears as an impersonal deity within theMahabharata, theRamayana, and theBhagavata Purana. In the Mahabharata,Krishna, one of the main characters, reveals his identity as Time personified. He states toArjuna that both sides on the battlefield of theKurukshetra War have already been annihilated. At the end of the epic, the entireYadu dynasty (Krishna's dynasty) is similarly annihilated.
Kala appears in theUttara Kanda of the Ramayana, as the messenger of Death (Yama). At the end of the story, Time, in the form of inevitability or necessity, informsRama that his reign on Earth is now over. By a trick or dilemma, he forces the death ofLakshmana, and informs Rama that he must return to the realm of the gods. Lakshmana willingly passes away with Rama's blessing and Rama returns toVaikuntha.
Time appears in the Bhagavata Purana as the force that is responsible for the imperceptible and inevitable change in the entire creation. According to the Purana, all created things are illusory, and thereby subject to creation and annihilation, this imperceptible and inconceivable impermanence is said to be due to the march of Time. Similarly, Time is considered to be the unmanifest aspect of God that remains after the destruction of the entire world at the end of a lifespan ofBrahma. According to Soifer,Narasimha is explicitly linked withPralaya or Yuganta itself inBhagavata Purana,Linga Purana, andKurma Purana versions; he is said to appear like Kala or the fire of destruction, both agents of Pralaya.[4]
In theChaitanya Bhagavata, aGaudiya Vaishnava text and biography ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu, it is said that the fire that emerges from the mouth ofSankarshana at the End of Time is theKālānala, or "fire of Time".[8] One of the names of Sankarshana iskālāgni, also "fire of time".[9]
TheVishnu Purana also states that Time (kala) is one of the four primary forms of Vishnu, the others being matter (Pradhana), visible substance (vyakta), and Spirit (Purusha).[10][11] According to Pinchman, "It is said that at the time of primordial creation, three forms arise fromVishnu: time (kala),purusha, andprakrti".[12]
AtBhagavad Gita 11.32,Krishna takes on the form ofkāla, the destroyer, announcing to Arjuna that all the warriors on both sides will be killed, apart from the Pandavas:
कालो ऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत् प्रवृद्धो लोकान् समाहर्तुम् इह प्रवृत्तः ।
Time (kāla) I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people.[13]
— Bhagavad Gita, Verse 11.32
This phrase is famous for being quoted byJ. Robert Oppenheimer as he reflected on theManhattan Project's explosion of the first nuclear bomb in 1945.
In Javanese mythology,Batara Kala is the god of destruction. It is a very huge mighty and powerful god depicted asgiant, born of the sperm ofShiva, the kings of gods.
InBorobudur, the gate to the stairs is adorned with a giant head, making the gate look like the open mouth of the giant. Many other gates in Javanese traditional buildings have this kind of ornament. Perhaps the most detailed Kala Face in Java is on the south side ofCandi Kalasan.
InThailand, he is popular worshipped together withLak Mueang withinTai folk religion andChitragupta inHinduism.[14]
InJainism, Kāla (Time) is infinite and is explained in two different ways:
HoweverJainism recognizes a very smallmeasurement of time known assamaya which is an infinitely small part of asecond. There are cycles (kalachakras) in it. Each cycle having two eras of equal duration described as theavasarpini and theutsarpini.
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