Within the framework of the Dravyasaṃgraha, time (kāla) is counted among the six fundamental substances (dravya) that constitute reality. It is affirmed as a distinct, eternal, and beginningless entity, not reducible to a mere property or modification of other substances. Unlike soul, matter, and the media of motion, rest, and space, time is non-material and without form or tangibility; it has no color, taste, smell, or touch. Yet it pervades all other substances in the sense that every change in them is situated within its domain. In this way, time is real and independent, yet subtle and impalpable, eluding direct sensory grasp while remaining metaphysically indispensable.

The Dravyasaṃgraha portrays time primarily through its function: it is the instrumental cause (nimitta, sahakāri-kāraṇa) that makes change, succession, and duration intelligible. Time does not itself act or bring about transformation; rather, it serves as the passive condition within which the origination, persistence, and destruction (utpāda, vyaya, dhrauvya) of all substances can be ordered as “before” and “after.” Without such a temporal framework, there would be no coherent notion of sequence, no progression of karmic fruition, and no experience of aging or duration. Other substances are the active bearers of their own modifications, but those modifications become meaningful only when seen against the backdrop of time.

The text also acknowledges a structured understanding of temporality by speaking of discrete, atomic units of time, often referred to as samaya. These units are conceived as indivisible “time-atoms,” the smallest measures by which temporal succession can be articulated. On the one hand stands the subtle, indivisible time-substance that is eternal and formless; on the other hand, there are the conventional time units—moments, days, months, years—arising in ordinary discourse from observing the changing modes of soul and matter. Thus, the Dravyasaṃgraha holds together a vision of time as both a profound metaphysical reality and a practical framework for understanding the ceaseless flow of change in the cosmos.