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Kala (Samskrit : कालः) means "time period" in a broad sense, Kala is kshayakari (exhausting) or vriddi kari (flourishing). Firstly Kala, refers to the inexorable flow of both creation and unfolding of the universe and its subsequent destruction in time. Secondly, Kala refers to the shorter and relative time periods on earth, the days and nights, paksha, masa (months), ayana (uttarayana and dakshinayana), samvatsara (year) and this leads to the bigger units of yugas which again refer back to the cycles of srishti and kshaya that the universe passes through.<ref>Narayanacharya, K. S. (2011). ''Veda Sanskritiya Parichaya''. Hubli:Sahitya Prakashana.</ref>
Kala according to Puranas, pertains to that cycle where creation begins with the intense effort, tapas and the determination, the samkalpa, of Brahman. The universe once created passes through a number of cycles of growth and decay, and at the end is drawn back into Brahman. This cycle of creation of the universe from Brahman and its disappearance into Him is repeated again and again according to the predefined flow of time. Within this large cycle, there are a number of shorter cycles, at the end of each of which the universe gets destroyed, and created again at the beginning of the next. Thus the universe keeps on passing through repeated cycles of creation and destruction, and there are series of cycles within cycles.
The terms ‘creation’ and ‘destruction’ are probably not wholly appropriate in this context. Because, at the time of creation, it is not something external to Him that Brahman creates. He only manifests Himself in the varied forms of the universe, and at the end He merely contracts those manifestations into Himself, and thus there is in reality nothing that gets created or destroyed. The universe, in a sense, is a mere play of Brahman, a cosmic game of repeated expansion and contraction of the ultimate essence of the universe. But it is a game that is played according to well defined cycles of time. The universe is play, but the play is not arbitrary. Even Brahman is governed by kala. He manifests and contracts according to a definite flow of time that even He cannot transcend.
Every Indian is probably aware of this Indian view of the universe as the play of Brahman. Every Indian is also aware of the supremacy of kala in this play. Many Indians may not know the very detailed arithmetic of the various cycles of time that is given in the Puranas. But the thought that the universe is a play that had no beginning and will have no end, and that this play
== Two Perspectives of Kala ==
== Two Perspectives of Kala ==
There are different perspectives in regards to kala. Kala is a kshayakari (exhausting) or vriddi kari (flourishing). For less intelligent kala appears to be destructive. For the intelligent, kala gives rise to good things. Certainly, today is not there for tomorrow. But tomorrow does bring novelty than today. To create something new and innovative is the work of kala. But while doing it, to make present as past, vartamana into bhuta, is one of the unavoidable steps of the kala.
There are different perspectives in regards to kala. Kala is a kshayakari (exhausting) or vriddi kari (flourishing). For less intelligent kala appears to be destructive. For the intelligent, kala gives rise to good things. Certainly, today is not there for tomorrow. But tomorrow does bring novelty than today. To create something new and innovative is the work of kala. But while doing it, to make present as past, vartamana into bhuta, is one of the unavoidable steps of the kala.