Muhūrta
The hinge of the whole system. Thirty muhūrta make a day, and everything smaller is defined against it.
Forty-eight minutes exactly, because thirty of them fill a day and night. Every unit below it is fixed by a count per muhūrta: 77 Lava, 539 Stoka, 3,773 breaths, 65,536 shortest lives, and 1,67,77,216 āvalikā.
It is also the practical unit of Jain religious life. A sāmāyika, the vow of equanimity a layperson takes, lasts one muhūrta. So does the shortest span in which a soul can be said to hold right belief.
Measurements and counts
| In minutes | 48 |
|---|---|
| Per day | 30 |
| In lava | 77 |
| In breaths | 3,773 |
| In āvalikā | 1,67,77,216 |
| Used for | sāmāyika, the vow of equanimity |
Connected
Lava
Seven stoka, or forty-nine breaths. A little over half a minute.
Seventy-seven lava make one muhūrta. The word survives in ordinary Indian speech for a moment or an instant, which is a long way from its technical value of thirty-seven seconds.
| Size | 7 stoka · 49 prāṇa |
|---|---|
| In seconds | ≈ 37 |
| Per muhūrta | 77 |