Meaning of Sankalpam

(Excerpts from 'The Great Hindu Tradition')

The Sankalpa starts with Adhya Brhmanaha, Dwitiya Parardhe, Sweta varaha kalpe,
Vaivasvata manvantare, Ashthavimsati tame, Kali yuge.
Adhya Brahmanaha literally means that the person who does the Sankalpa starts fr
om Brahmas life.
Dwitiya Parardha means Brahmas second Parardha. One Parardha consists of 50 Brahm
a years. Now the second Parardha is running.
Sweta Varaha Kalpa is the first of the thirty Kalpas according to Matsya Purana.
Vaivasvata manvantra: There are fourteen manvantras in a Kalpa, and the present
one is seventh and its name is Vaivasvata manvantra.
Ashthavimsati tame means 18,000 Kalpas has been now completed.
Kaliyuge-Prathame pade means we are in the first quarter of the Kaliyuga.
Jambu Dweepe, Bharata Varshe, Bharata Khande describes the geographical area of
our motherland.
The third part of the sankalpa focuses on the specific date and time of the ritu
al.
The other terminologies that we come across in our sankalpa are:
* The Varsha: There are 60 years in a cycle and each year (Samvatsara) has a na
me. For instance, Jaya is the name for the year 2014-15).
* The Ayana: There are two ayanas in a year viz., Uttarayana (roughly January t
o June) and Dakshinayana (roughly July to December). Each ayana has a period of
six months.
* The Ritu: There are six Ritus (seasons) in a year, viz., (i) Vasanta (ii) Gre
eshma (iii) Varsha (iv) Sharat (v) Hemanta (vi) Shishira.
* The Masa: There are twelve months in a year. They are Mesha, Vrushabha, Mithu
na, Kataka, Simha, Kanya, Tula, Vrichika, Dhanur, Makara, Kumbha, and Meena.
* The Paksha: A paksha consists of 15 days and two pakshas make a month. Shukla
paksha starts the day after amavasya and ends with pournami. Krishna paksha sta
rts the day after pournami and ends with amavasya.
* The Tithi: Every day has a tithi and in a paksha we have 15 such tithis. The
same set will appear in both the Shukla and Krishna pakshas. These are the ordin
al numbers of the days.
* The Vasara: Sunday (Bhanu vasara), Monday (Indu vasara), Tuesday (Bhauma vasa
ra), Wednesday (Sowmya vasara), Thursday (Guru vasara), Friday (Brugu vasara) an
d Saturday (Sthira vasara) are the seven days of the week.
* The Nakshatra: The Hindu calendar has 27 nakshatras during each month, repeat
ed 12 times in a year. The name of the nakshtra of the day is announced as part
of the sankalpa.
Finally, the actual resolve or commitment is chanted: asmakam sakutumbhanam kshem
a concluding with karishye (I shall do).
The karta spells out the purpose of the puja or the ritual, the God or Goddess f
or whom it is done, and the benefits being sought in terms of the health, wealth
etc. of the family of the karta.