Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 11: Calculation of Time, from the Atom |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 3.11.9
dvadasardha-palonmanam
SYNONYMS
dvadasa-ardha -- six; pala -- of the scale of weight; unmanam -- measuring pot; caturbhih -- by weight of four; catuh-angulaih -- four fingers by measure; svarna -- of gold; mashaih -- of the weight; krita-chidram -- making a hole; yavat -- as long as; prastha -- measuring one prastha; jala-plutam -- filled by water.
TRANSLATION
The measuring pot for one nadika, or danda, can be prepared with a six-pala-weight [fourteen ounce] pot of copper, in which a hole is bored with a gold probe weighing four masha and measuring four fingers long. When the pot is placed on water, the time before the water overflows in the pot is called one danda.
PURPORT
It is advised herein that the bore in the copper measuring pot must be made with a probe weighing not more than four masha and measuring not longer than four fingers. This regulates the diameter of the hole. The pot is submerged in water, and the overflooding time is called a danda. This is another way of measuring the duration of a danda, just as time is measured by sand in a glass. It appears that in the days of Vedic civilization there was no dearth of knowledge in physics, chemistry or higher mathematics. Measurements were calculated in different ways, as simply as could be done.
Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness