Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/161

 HINDU MEASUREMENTS OF SPACE AND TIME 127 The period from the new moon till full moon is called the white division (Sanskrit sukla-paksha) of the month; the period from the full moon till the dis- appearance of the light is called the dark portion (krishna-paksha). The dark porlion comprises four- teen or fifteen days, because the month is sometimes short and sometimes long. The preceding dark portion and the following light portion together form a month; six months form a " march " (Chinese hing, Sanskrit ay ana}. When the sun moves within the equator, it is said to be on its northward march; when it moves without the equator, it is on its southern march. These two periods form a year (Sanskrit vatsara). The year, again, is divided into six seasons. From the sixteenth day of the first month till the fifteenth day of the third month is the season of gradual heat (literally " it becomes gradually hot "); from the six- teenth day of the third month till the fifteenth of the fifth month is called the season of full heat (literally, "it is very hot "); from the sixteenth day of the fifth month till the fifteenth day of the seventh month is called the rainy season; from the sixteenth of the sev- enth month till the fifteenth of the ninth month is called the season of growth (of vegetation); from the sixteenth day of the ninth month to the fifteenth day of the eleventh month is called the season of gradual cold (literally, " the season gradually becomes cold "); from the sixteenth day of the eleventh month to the fifteenth day of the first month is called the season of great cold.