Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This technical fragment provides a precise mathematical definition of the dhuru, a unit of time measurement based on respiratory cycles. The text establishes a quantitative relationship between the breath and the solar day, asserting that half a day consists of five thousand four hundred breaths. By extending this calculation, the author determines that a full twenty-four-hour cycle comprises twenty-one thousand one hundred breaths. The work functions as a manual for temporal calibration, committing the reader to a specific physiological metric for tracking time. Rather than offering philosophical speculation, the text focuses on the empirical application of breath-counting to standardize the measurement of a day and night, likely for the purpose of scheduling meditative practice or ritual timing.
Provenance
About this text
An explanation of the sixty-four dhuru, this work belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. It was translated into Tibetan by Kaśmīri Ratnavajra and the monk Śākya Yeśes, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཇ, as part of the Non-dual Tantra collection. Spanning a single page, the work establishes a precise mathematical relationship between respiratory cycles and the measurement of time. It defines the dhuru by calculating that half a day consists of five thousand four hundred breaths, which extends to twenty-one thousand one hundred breaths for a full day and night, while noting that a single ghaṭikā contains three hundred and sixty breaths. A scholar or serious reader consults this fragment today to understand the physiological metrics used for temporal calibration, as the text functions as a technical manual for standardizing the measurement of a day and night through the empirical application of breath-counting.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “An Explanation of the Sixty-Four Periods of Time” (Toh 1210), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1210
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text is significant for its illustration of how Indo-Tibetan traditions integrated physiological processes with chronological measurement. It demonstrates a systemic approach to timekeeping that prioritizes the body as the primary instrument of measurement over external mechanical devices.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
The Explanation of the Sixty-Four Dhuru
Defines the dhuru in terms of breath counts per half-day and full day.
Themes
Temporal measurement (1)
Respiratory cycles (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaAn Explanation of the Sixty-Four Periods of Time·
The Explanation of the Sixty-Four Dhuru
The definition of the sixty-four dhuru is the number of breaths in half a day, which is five thousand four hundred. By counting in that manner, there are twenty-one thousand and one hundred breaths in a full day and night; thus, one should understand how they are counted. There are three hundred and sixty breaths in one ghaṭikā (hour). This is the description of the sixty-four dhuru.
Regarding the ghaṭikā, there are sixteen [units] for day and night, and four for their respective increase and decrease; thus, it is said that sixty-four should be taken. [The instrument] is forged from twelve srang of copper, twelve finger-widths in diameter and eight finger-widths in height. It has a hole pierced through it by a six-finger-width rod of gold weighing three mañcha, with its top and bottom equal. When placed in water, the water entering through the hole fills it until it sinks to the bottom; this is a ghaṭikā. The dhuru is also similar to that.
Translated by the Indian Abbot Ratnavajra and the monk Śākya Yeshe.