122.177.34.218: /* Modern etymology and usage */

2021-11-03T17:36:51Z

Modern etymology and usage

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:06, 3 November 2021
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==History==		==History==
	In the ancient [[Puranas]] ~~we see~~ the day divided into eight ''praharas'': four for the day and four for the night.<ref>[[Bhagavata Purana]] (also known as ''Srimad Bhagavatam'') [http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/10/en1 3.11.10] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721112026/http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/10/en1 \|date=2010-07-21 }}</ref> The concept still prevails today in [[India]], particularly in connection with the performance of [[Indian classical music]] (see below).		In the ancient [[Puranas]], the day is divided into eight ''praharas'': four for the day and four for the night.<ref>[[Bhagavata Purana]] (also known as ''Srimad Bhagavatam'') [http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/10/en1 3.11.10] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721112026/http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/10/en1 \|date=2010-07-21 }}</ref> The concept still prevails today in [[India]], particularly in connection with the performance of [[Indian classical music]] (see below).

	==Timing==		==Timing==
Line 25:		Line 25:

	== Modern etymology and usage ==		== Modern etymology and usage ==
	The word commonly used in [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Nepal]] is [[prahar]] ([[Hindi]]/[[Nepali language\|Nepali]] प्रहर, [[Urdu]]پہر), more commonly pronounced {{transl\|bn\|italic=no\|[[Paher\|paher or peher]]}} and in [[West Bengal]] and [[Bangladesh]] is prohor ([[Bengali language\|Bengali]] প্রহর) in Marathi it is pronounced as Prahar (प्रहर). In [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] the word for "afternoon" is ''dopahar'' (= two {{transl\|hi\|prahars}}).<ref>Henry M. Hoenigswald, ''Spoken Hindustani'', vol. 2, p. 403. Henry Holt (1945)</ref> In [[Bengali language\|Bengali]] the corresponding word is ''dui-pôhor'' or more commonly ''dupur''. It is known as ''Paar'' in, [[Konkani language \|Konkani]], where First Prahara is known as '' Faantya Paar'' (from Sanskrit, प्रातः प्रहर), and afternoon is known as ''Donpaar''.		The word commonly used in [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Nepal]] is prahar ([[Hindi]]/[[Nepali language\|Nepali]] प्रहर, [[Urdu]]پہر), more commonly pronounced {{transl\|bn\|italic=no\|[[Paher\|paher or peher]]}} and in [[West Bengal]] and [[Bangladesh]] is prohor ([[Bengali language\|Bengali]] প্রহর) in Marathi it is pronounced as Prahar (प्रहर). In [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] the word for "afternoon" is ''dopahar'' (= two {{transl\|hi\|prahars}}).<ref>Henry M. Hoenigswald, ''Spoken Hindustani'', vol. 2, p. 403. Henry Holt (1945)</ref> In [[Bengali language\|Bengali]] the corresponding word is ''dui-pôhor'' or more commonly ''dupur''. In Marathi, afternoon is Dupaar with same etymology as in Hindi. It is known as ''Paar'' in, [[Konkani language \|Konkani]], where First Prahara is known as '' Faantya Paar'' (from Sanskrit, प्रातः प्रहर), and afternoon is known as ''Donpaar''.

	==References==		==References==

65.28.70.107: /* Modern etymology and usage */

2021-08-08T15:41:16Z

Modern etymology and usage

New page

'''Prahar''' or '''Prahara''' is a [[Sanskrit]] term for a unit of time, or subdivision of the day, approximately three hours long.<ref>[http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/mw.html ''Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary''], sv. "prahara."</ref>

==Definition==
The day is divided into eight parts: four ''prahara''s for the day, and four for the night. The first ''prahara'' of the day begins at sunrise, and the fourth ''prahara'' of the day ends at sunset. A second round of four ''prahara''s unfolds during the night, between sunset and sunrise.

The traditional system of ''prahara''s overlaps with the traditional system of [[muhurta]]s also, which is based on precise astronomical calculations.

Thus, the day can be regarded as divided into eight ''prahara''s (of three hours each) or thirty ''muhurta''s (of 48 minutes each). In both systems, the day commences with sunrise. The timing of the two systems coincides only at sunrise and sunset (four ''prahara''s coincide with fifteen ''muhurta''s at the twelve-hour, or 720-minute, point).

==History==
In the ancient [[Puranas]] we see the day divided into eight ''praharas'': four for the day and four for the night.<ref>[[Bhagavata Purana]] (also known as ''Srimad Bhagavatam'') [http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/10/en1 3.11.10] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721112026/http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/10/en1 |date=2010-07-21 }}</ref> The concept still prevails today in [[India]], particularly in connection with the performance of [[Indian classical music]] (see below).

==Timing==
The first ''prahara'' is commonly placed at sunrise, although some sources place it at the [[brahmamuhurta|brahma-muhurta]], a period of time before sunrise (around 4.30 amwhen Venus can be sighted).<ref>Indic astronomical calculations identify the ''brahma-muhurta'' as the penultimate ''muhurta'' before dawn (in other words, the first of two ''muhurtas'', or periods of 48 minutes, before dawn). If sunrise is at 6 am, the ''brahma-muhurta'' starts 96 minutes earlier, at 4:24 am. (The traditional calculations are available through GCal, computer software developed by the [[ISKCON]] GBC for the purposes of calculating the Vaishnava calendar, now available [http://www.krishnadays.com/eng/ online] and as [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gcal/id432731927?mt=8|an iTunes app]). See also ''Āgama-kosha'', vol 4, by Saligrama Krishna, Ramachandra Rao, Rama R. Rao, Kalpatharu Research Academy, 1991. Other secondary sources speak of the ''brahma-muhurta'' as the antepenultimate ''muhurta'' before dawn (in other words, the first of three ''muhurtas'' before dawn). Assuming a 6 am sunrise, this would place the start of the ''brahma-muhurta'' at 3:36 am; see Gaya Charan Tripathi, "Communication with God: The Daily Puja Ceremony in the Jagannatha Temple" and [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/Brahmamuhurta-The-best-time-for-meditation/articleshow/4659848.cms ''Times of India'']. Yet other sources conflate the two accounts: they claim that the "brahma-muhurta" begins two ''muhurtas'' before dawn (i.e., 4:24), but say that it begins at 3:36 am (which would be three ''muhurtas'' before dawn); see the [http://www.harekrsna.com/practice/sadhana/morning/morning.htm ISKCON program for morning sadhana]. The [[Axial precession|precession of the equinoxes]] may complicate things yet further; see e.g. the discussion of [[Muhurta|Muhurta: yearly calibration.]]</ref>

The concept of ''prahar'' originated where the lengths of the day and night were based on actual, observable sunrise and sunset. The four ''prahara''s of the day start at sunrise, and the four ''prahara''s of the night at sunset. If the location is near the [[equator]], where day and night are the same length year round, the ''prahara''s of the day and the ''prahara''s of the night will be of equal length (three hours each). In other regions, where the relative length of day and night varies according to the season, the ''prahara''s of the day will be longer or shorter than the ''prahara''s of the night.

Contemporary discussions of ''prahara'' often use 6:00 am (the time of sunrise at the equator and at the [[equinox]]es) as a theoretical fixed point of reference for mapping out the ''prahara''s at three-hour intervals (6-9, 9-12, etc.). This scheme is a useful pedagogical tool and an efficient way of applying the concept of ''prahara'' in a technological "clock" culture. However, it's important to realize that this rigid schema most likely does not capture the original application of ''prahara.'' In a traditional, non-technological culture, the length of day and night are based on observable sunrise and sunset. The day, which starts at sunrise and ends at sunset, is divided into four ''prahara''s of equal length; and, the night, which starts at sunset and ends at sunrise, is also divided into four equal watches. During the summer, when the days are longer than the nights, the ''praharas'' of the day will be longer than the ''praharas'' of the night, and vice versa during the winter.<ref>Some scholars correctly infer that in seasons (and regions) where days and nights are unequal in length, the ''prahara''s expand and contract in length. See Duncan Forbes' early comment on the [[pahar]] (= ''prahar'') in Northern India: "The first [[pahar]] of the day began at sunrise, and of the night at sunset; and since the time from sunrise to noon made exactly two ''pahars'', it follows that in the north of India the ''pahar'' must have varied from three and a-half hours about the summer solstice, to two and a-half in winter, the ''pahar''s of the night varying inversely." (Duncan Forbes, LL.D, transl. ''Bāgh O Bahār; or Tales of the Four Derwishes'', by Mīr Amman of Dihli. London: W. H. Allen & Co. 1882, [https://books.google.com/books?id=va9AAAAAYAAJ&q=watches#v=onepage&q=time&f=false (p. 23, note 1]). What we are encountering here is a difference between modern cultures that rely on clock time, and traditional cultures where the length of a day is observed in the sky, from sunset to sundown.</ref>

The question of how to handle the ''prahara''s when days and nights are unequal in length is critical for timing the performance of [[raga]]s, since each ''raga'' is ideally performed during a certain ''prahara''.

==Indian classical music==
Some [[raga]]s of the [[Indian classical music]] are prescribed to be performed at a particular ''prahara'' to maximize their [[Aesthetics|aesthetic]] effects (''see'' [[samay]]). Perhaps the earliest mention of the relation between [[raga]] and time is [[Narada]]'s ''[[Sangita Makaranda]],'' written sometime between the 7th and 11th century, which warns musicians against playing ''ragas'' at the incorrect time of day.<ref>Walter Kaufmann, ''The Ragas of North India'', Calcutta: Oxford (1968)</ref> [[Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande|Pandit V.N. Bhatkhande]] (1860-1936), who formulated the modern system of Indian musical [[thaat|thāt]], states that the correct time (or ''prahara'') to play a ''raga'' has a relation to its ''thāt'', or scale.<ref>For [[Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande|Bhatkande]]'s assignation of ''ragas'' to ''prahara''s, see Anthony Peter Westbrook, [http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=4276 "Testing the Time Theory," ''Hinduism Today'', February 2000]. But note, contrary to Westbrook's assertion, that the concept of ''prahara''s existed long before Bhatkande made use of them in the 19th century; see, for example, the [http://vedabase.com/en/search/site/prahara numerous references] in the 16th century scripture [[Caitanya Caritamrta]].</ref>

== Modern etymology and usage ==
The word commonly used in [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Nepal]] is [[prahar]] ([[Hindi]]/[[Nepali language|Nepali]] प्रहर, [[Urdu]]پہر), more commonly pronounced {{transl|bn|italic=no|[[Paher|paher or peher]]}} and in [[West Bengal]] and [[Bangladesh]] is prohor ([[Bengali language|Bengali]] প্রহর) in Marathi it is pronounced as Prahar (प्रहर). In [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] the word for "afternoon" is ''dopahar'' (= two {{transl|hi|prahars}}).<ref>Henry M. Hoenigswald, ''Spoken Hindustani'', vol. 2, p. 403. Henry Holt (1945)</ref> In [[Bengali language|Bengali]] the corresponding word is ''dui-pôhor'' or more commonly ''dupur''. It is known as ''Paar'' in, [[Konkani language |Konkani]], where First Prahara is known as '' Faantya Paar'' (from Sanskrit, प्रातः प्रहर), and afternoon is known as ''Donpaar''.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Time in India]]
[[Category:Time in Hinduism]]

Prahar - Revision history

122.177.34.218: /* Modern etymology and usage */

65.28.70.107: /* Modern etymology and usage */