Linear Measurement
The smallest linear measurement unit used by the ancient Indians is the atom {paramanu), the smallest indivisible particle of matter. When seven of these join together, the unit is called an ana, meaning “minute.” Seven of these together make a “gold dust mote” (loha-rajas). (Gold was evidently thought to be very fine and its particles therefore very small.) Seven “gold dust motes” make a “water droplet” (ab-rajas), considered the smallest particle of water. Seven “water droplets” in turn make a speck of dust equal to the width of the tip of a strand of hare’s fur (sasa-rajas), which is known to be extremely fine. The next unit, comprising seven of these, is a speck of dust equal to the width of the tip of a sheep’s hair (avi-rajas), and a collection of seven of these makes a speck that equals the width of the tip of a cow’s hair {go-rajas). These are followed in size by a dust mote seen in a ray of sunlight coming through a chink in a wall {chidra-rajas). Seven of these become a “louse egg” {liksa), and seven “louse eggs” are in turn considered to be a “louse” {yuka) in size. Seven “lice” are a “kernel ofbarley” (j/ava) and seven “kernels of barley” are an ahguli-parvan, a “finger joint,” which means the distance between two joints of a finger.
The next unit of measurement is the hasta, “forearm,” which refers to the distance between the tip of the fingers and the elbow. The size of a hasta is twenty-four times the width of a finger, a testament to the powers of close observation possessed by Indians. Next in size to the hasta is the dhanus, a “bow.” The bow was one of the weapons the Indians used in war; it is close to four times as long as the hasta. The bow-length is also called vyama, which means “to extend or stretch.” The Chinese translated this with a character that now means “to seek or investigate” and which seems to signify the distance between the fingertips of a person’s arms stretched out to the sides. Modern dictionaries translate the term as fathom, a word also originally meaning “the space reached by the extended arms.”
The unit next in size to the dhanus is the krosa, the length of five hundred bows lined up lengthwise. Originally krosa signified the sound of a cow mooing; the length is therefore the distance at which a cow can be heard. Buddhists, however, gave it a more personal interpretation—the distance between the forest and a village. Many Buddhists lived in forests much of the time, performing their religious training; at mealtime, though, they would take their alms bowls and seek food in a nearby village. The regulations, in fact, stipulated that a Buddhist practitioner should not live too near to, or too far from, a village; if too near, they would be bothered by the village lifestyle, and if too far, they would not be able to get to the village easily to beg for food. The ideal distance was considered to be one krosa.
The final unit is Xheyojana. This word originally signified “being yoked”; it is, in fact, etymologically related to the English yoke. The distance a cow yoked to a cart could pull was oneyojana. It consists of eight krosas.
A study of Indian units of measurement gives us some idea of the lifestyle of the ancient Indians. Villages lay close to the forest. Cows, prized for their milk, could be heard in the distance or seen pulling carts. Barley was grown. At times the soldiers of the king would appear on the main thoroughfare of the village, armed with bows. Perhaps people sat in sunny corners and picked off lice. They were familiar with rabbits and sheep.
Let us compare the traditional measurements to those used today. The paramanu and the “golden dust mote,” etc., corresponding to our atoms and molecules, are too small and abstract to be calculated. The dhanus (“bow”) would be roughly a body length, approximately two meters. Five hundred of them make a krosa, about one kilometer, the distance a cow can be heard. The yojana would, by the same reckoning, be eight kilometers; probably, though, the length is closer to seven kilometers because we have slightly overestimated the length of the dhanus.
