kalpa

(Sanskrit; Pāli, kappa). An aeon; a measurement of time widely used in ancient India. Several accounts exist of the precise number of years involved, and there are also small, medium, great, and ‘uncountable’ kalpas. The most common values given for an ‘uncountable’ (asaṃkhyeya) kalpa are 10⁵¹, 10⁵⁹, or 10⁶³ years. A Bodhisattva is said to become a Buddha after three of these ‘uncountable’ kalpas.