ශක: a term applied to any king from the beginning of whose reign the years are reckoned, so that ශකවර්ෂය is the Saka year or era, of which in this කලියුගය there have been three, instituted severally by the kings යුධිෂ්ඨිර, වික්රමාදිත්ය, and ශාලිවාහන
this last is the present era which began A. D. 78.