Kaal | काल

Kaal (Devanagari: काल; ISO 15919: kāla) carries multiple profound meanings in the Sanskrit language.

While commonly used to denote "time", it has multiple specific applications:

• The Moment of Death: It refers to the destined end of a lifespan. Life is viewed as a countdown starting from the moment of birth and concluding at this inevitable moment.
• The Lord of Death: It serves as an epithet for Yamraj, the personified God of Death.
• Eternal Time: As defined in the Vedas, Kaal is the measure of eternal, cyclical time. This cyclicity is observable in the recurring patterns of nature (days, seasons) and vast cosmic units like Yugas (eras) and Kalpas (epochs).
• Tomorrow: Tomorrow is also called kaal to maintain the poetic rhythm e.g. kaal kare to aaj kar (dont postpone bhakti till tomorrow).

Further Reading and Reference

• Related Concepts: Yamraj, kalpa
• Reference: Kaal—Vedic Time