kalpa - kappa - aeon - cosmic cyclical period - eon

kalpa

An Indian unit of time, an aeon.

It is said in the Sanghata Sutra:
"The Bodhisattva, the great being Sarvashura said: "Blessed One, how much is the measure of an eon?"

The Blessed One spoke: "Child of the lineage, listen. It is as follows. To make an analogy, a man might erect an enclosure some twelve yojanas in height, and that enclosure is completely filled with nothing but sesame seeds. Then, when one hundred years have passed, that man casts away a single sesame seed from that enclosure that is completely filled with sesame seeds. In such a manner, even when that man has used up all those sesame seeds, and even the foundation and base of that enclosure no long exist, still an eon would not have been used up."

“Twelve yojanas” here refers to great yojanas, or a total of ninety-six Chinese miles (thirty-two English miles) tall.
(Source: Anonymous Western Buddhist Monk, May 7, 2007)

1) Chinese Mandarin: jye, jye bwo ; 2) Sanskrit: kalpa; 3) Pali: kappa; 4) Alternate translations: aeon, eon, cosmic cyclical period.

See also: time.

(Source: Epstein, 2003: pp. 116 - 117)

(mwd)	=	Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon
(cap)	=	Capeller's Sanskrit-English Dictionary
(otl)	=	Cologne Online Tamil Lexicon
(cpd)	=	Concise Pahlavi Dictionary

1	(mwd)	kalpa	1 mf(%{A})n. (%{klRp}) , practicable , feasible , possible S3Br. ii , 4 , 3 , 3 ; proper , fit , able , competent , equal to (with gen. loc. , inf. , or ifc. ; e.g. %{dharmasya@kalpaH} , competent for duty ; %{svakarmaNi@na@kalpaH} , not competent for his own work ; %{yadA@na@zAsituM@kalpaH} , if he is not able to rule) BhP. ; m. a sacred precept , law , rule , ordinance (= %{vidhi} , %{nyAya}) , manner of acting , proceeding , practice (esp. that prescribed by the Vedas) RV. ix , 9 , 7 AV. viii , 9 , 10 ; xx , 128 , 6-11 MBh. ; (%{prathamaH@kalpaH} , a rule to be observed before any other rule , first duty Mn. iii , 147 MBh. &c. ; %{etena@kalpena} , in this way ; cf. %{pazu-k-} , &c.) ; the most complete of the six Veda1n3gas (that which prescribes the ritual and gives rules for ceremonial or sacrificial acts) Mun2d2Up. Pa1n2. &c. ; one of two cases , one side of an argument , an alternative (= %{pakSa} ; cf. %{vikalpa}) Sarvad. ; investigation , research Comm. on Sa1m2khyak. ; resolve , determination MW. ; (in medic.) treatment of the sick , manner of curing Sus3r. ii ; the art of preparing medicine , pharmacy Car. ; the doctrine of poisons and antidotes Sus3r. i ; (ifc.) having the manner or form of anything , similar to , resembling , like but with a degree of inferiority , almost (e.g. %{abhedya-kalpa} , almost impenetrable ; cf. %{prabhAta-k-} , %{mRta-k-} , &c. ; according to native grammarians , %{kalpa} so used is an accentless affix [Pa1n2. 5-3 , 67] , before which a final %{s} is left unchanged , and final %{I} and %{U} shortened Pa1n2. Vop. ; %{kalpam} ind. , may be also connected with a verb e.g. %{pacati-kalpam} , he cooks pretty well Ka1s3. on Pa1n2. 8-1 , 57) [262,3] ; a fabulous period of time (a day of Brahma1 or one thousand Yugas , a period of four thousand , three hundred and twenty millions of years of mortals , measuring the duration of the world ; a month of Brahma1 is supposed to contain thirty such Kalpas ; according to the MBh. , twelve months of Brahma1 constitute his year , and one hundred such years his lifetime ; fifty years of Brahma1's are supposed to have elapsed , and we are now in the %{zvetavArAha-kalpa} of the fifty-first ; at the end of a Kalpa the world is annihilated ; hence %{kalpa} is said to be equal to %{kalpA7nta} below L. ; with Buddhists the Kalpas are not of equal duration) VP. BhP. Ra1jat. &c. ; N. of Mantras which contain a form of %{klRp} TS. v S3Br. ix ; a kind of dance ; N. of the first astrological mansion VarBr2S. ; N. of a son of Dhruva and Bhrami BhP. iv , 10 , 1 ; of S3iva MBh. xii , 10368 ; the tree of paradise ; = %{-taru} below L. ; (with Jainas) a particular abode of deities (cf. %{-bhava} and %{kalpA7tIta} below) ; (%{am}) n. a kind of intoxicating liquor (incorrect for %{kalya}) L.
2	(mwd)	kalpa	2 Nom. A1. %{-pAyate} , to become a Kalpa , to appear as long as a Kalpa Hcar.
3	(mwd)	kAlpa	mfn. (fr. %{ka4lpa}) , preceptive , ritual W. ; relating to a period called Kalpa W. ; m. the plant Curcuma Zerumbet L.
4	(cap)	kalpa	a. feasible, possible; fit for, able to, capable of (gen., loc., inf., or---). m. ordinance, rule, esp. for ceremonial or sacrificial acts, practise, custom, manner, way (adj. --- having the manner or way of --. i.e. resembling--, similar to --; after an adj. almost, as it were); a fabulous period of time, a day of Brahman or 1000 yugas. {etena kalpena} in this way. {prathamaH kalpaH} or {prathamakalpaH} primary rule (opp. {anukalpa}), chief matter, main point.
5	(otl)	kalpA	distrubance, tumult (TLS)

http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/tamil/

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http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
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