________________
NATURE OF TIME
13
but we superimpose them on Time because it is Time that presents actions or objects in succession or simultaneity:54 Again, though Time is unitary we wrongly describe it as manifold after having identified it with the actions and movements which it controls. Similarly, our description of Time as long or brief is not true. Though it is constant and changeless, it appears to be of greater or shorter duration according as the series of actions brought about by it is long drawn out or cut short. Moreover, Time, in reality, is not threefold - past, present and future. When an action ceases, Time is described as past, when it is about to happen, it is said to be future; and when it continues to flow on as a current, it is called present. Thus the distinctions into past, future and present naturally pertain to actions, while they are superimposed on Time. The two aspects pratibandha and abhyanujñā are eternal.58 Hence they co-exist. Co-existence of these two mutually. opposite aspects would give rise to the contingency of conflict between the two. The grammarians solve the difficulty by stating that there is a chronological co-existence yet there is a logical sequence between the two and cite a case of three gunas of Samkhya Prakrti in their support.59
Astronomers' View : The view that Time is nothing but action is ascribed to astronomers by some modern scholars. But it seems that it is not their view. If at all it is their view, it is not the view of all the astronomers but only of the few. The Süryasidhānta states that Time is of two kinds - the one is rod-like indivisible and inflexible (akhandadandāyamāna) and without an end (akşayya), and the other is the one the nature of which is to measure (kalanātmaka). The partless rod-like Time is the cause of production, endurance and destruction of the changing world. The measurable Time can be demonstrated (nidrsya) and is an object of perception. This measurable Time is, again, of two kinds - tangible (mūrta) and intangible (amūrta). The vital breath is taken as the unit of tangible Time. The time necessary in a healthy body for inspiration and expiration is called vital breath (prāna). One vital breath takes about four seconds (of the Western division of time). The "time-atom', the 'truti', is the unit of intangible time. It is the 33,750th part of a second.61 Jaina View :
A . 1. Time and Jaina Agamic Works In the Avasyaka Curņi, three different views on the nature of time
.
