कालस्य लक्षणमाह सन्दर्भे, कालस्तु भूतभविष्यद्वर्तमानश्चिर-क्षिप्रादि-व्यवहार-हेतुः क्षणादिपरार्धान्तश्चक्रवत्परिवर्तमानः, प्रलयसर्गनिमित्तभूतो जडद्रव्यविशेषः, इति किं च काल आकाशवदपरिच्छिन्नो विभुः, भूतभविष्यदादिव्यपदेशस्तु किञ्चिद्वस्तुनः सत्तामपेक्ष्य हि जायत इति बोध्यम् । अच्युतादिदशकालविभागा दशलकारत्वेन व्यपदिष्टाः प्राचीनैः ।
kālasya lakṣaṇam āha sandarbhe, kālas tu bhūta-bhaviṣyad-vartamānaś cira-kṣiprādi-vyavahāra-hetuḥ kṣaṇādi-parārdhāntaś cakra-vat parivartamānaḥ, pralaya-sarga-nimitta-bhūto jaḍa-dravya-viśeṣaḥ, iti kiṁ ca kāla ākāśa-vad aparicchinno vibhuḥ, bhūta-bhaviṣyad-ādi-vyapadeśas tu kiñcid vastunaḥ sattām apekṣya hi jāyata iti bodhyam | acyutādi-daśa-kāla-vibhāgā daśa-la-kāratvena vyapadiṣṭāḥ prācīnaiḥ |
(Amṛta-ṭīkā on Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: 1057)
“The characteristics of time have been stated in a composition as follows: ‘Time (kāla), however, is a particular inert entity that is constituted of past, future, and present; is the cause of slow, quick, and other manners of behavior; begins with a moment (kṣaṇa) and ends with an “other half” (parārdha) [i.e., a unit of 100,000 billions of years, that is, a measure of fifty years, or half, of the lifespan of Brahmā]; revolves like a wheel; and is the efficient cause of the destruction and (re-) emanation [of the universe].’ Furthermore, it should be understood that time is undivided and pervading like the sky, and the designations of past, future, and so on arise only in regard to the existence of some particular object. The ten divisions of time beginning with acyuta [i.e., the present tense] have been designated by the ancients [i.e., Pāṇini] by the ten “la’s” [i.e., laṭ-lakāra, etc.].”