How Old is Hinduism and How it  Measures Time          

(Discourse given by: N.R. Srinivasan             Date: February 9, 2003)

(Source: Surya Siddhanta, Vishnu Purana, Maha Bharata, Manu Smriti and Bhagavat Purana).

 

Time factor is not just the elapsed period that we count according to the calendar. Time is an 'external energy' like Maya, which is a strong force that starts manifestation of the magic attributes that gradually become the universe and then it keeps the universe moving forward until the Maha Pralaya (great cataclysm). The time we calculate as the age of something or the passing period on an on-going event is the calculation of aging process of something or it is a point of determining the past, present and the future. It is like a parameter that gives you an understanding of the period that elapsed or it helps you to keep the record of an event of past, present and future. But the force of time that pushes the universe to move forward is an eternal energy which exists side by side with Maya.

 
"Tasmadvaa Etasmaadatmana Aakaasaha Sambhootaha Aakaashat Vayuhu, Vayoragnihi, Agnerapaha Adbyaha Pruthavee" (Upanishad)

 
"Sooryachandramasow Dhaata Yathaapoorva makalpayat Divamcha Prathavincha-riksha matho Svah" (Rigveda 10/190/3)

 

After several phases of extremely subtle manifestations, space was created, from space the air, from air the fire, from fire the water, and from water the earth.

 

The Rigveda says Brahma (after every Pralaya) reestablishes the sun, moon, and the earth planet as they were (yatha poorvam alkalpayat) and also reestablishes the atmosphere.

 

Our sages through their yogic powers as well as keen observation of the sky above, perceived perfect harmony and order in the movements of heavenly bodies. They realized that the manifested universe has sprung out of the Supreme Spirit and that each fragment of the universe is influenced by the rest of the universe and vice versa. In their effort to measure time and pinpoint any given moment of time, they utilized this characteristic of the universe and devised an astonishing scale of time measurement starting from a Kshana (moment or second) all the way up-to the life-span of Brahma the creator. Our religious resolves called Sankalpa are designed in that manner, coming from this ancient tradition. Closely watching the solar system to which the earth belongs, our sages observed that the path covered by Sun in relation to earth (called ecliptic), recurred periodically with rhythmic precision. Likewise, they noticed that the Moon's path in relation to earth also occurred at regular intervals. Based on their observation, they established units of time such as day, month, year etc., and were able to precisely forecast these recurring celestial events. It is mandatory to perform religious rites at the correct time as per Hindu saastras. This was the origin of Hindu Panchangas (almanacs).

 

In the Vedic culture, there is a uniform tradition of time measurement known as Sankalpa, which is a combined historical cum geographical proclamation cum recapitulation. It is handed down from the beginning of creation. It is done even today in all the ceremonies and is recited by the pious Brahmins at each Sandhyavandana (morning and evening prayers). It runs thus: "on the first day called the Svetavaraha Kalpa, of the 51^st year of Brhamanda, in the first quarter of Kaliyuga, of the 28^th Maha Yuga of Vaivasvata Manvantara, which is the 7^th Manvantara and in the Bharata Kanda, which is the past of Bharata Varsha, situated in Jambudweepa, south of the North Pole, in the presence of the Devatas, on the day of the tithi, Paksha, maasa, ………, …….., ayana, of the lunar year (name), and under the Nakshatra (name) and under Subha Yoga, I perform this Karma "

 

There is also Mahasankalpa to the above, which enumerates in addition to the above, the boundaries of Brahmanda, 14 worlds, all the dweepas, varshas, emperors of the entire world, holy mountains, rivers of the Bharata Varsha and so on.

 

This recital has been handed over from generation to generation, in unbroken succession and is a holy tradition. Detailed descriptions of our Brahmanda are given in Surya Siddhanta and Vishnu Purana.

 

The origin of present human history is 1,955,855,162 years old up to 2000 A.D. The total duration of the present creation is 4.32 x 10⁹ (or 4,320 millions) years which is called Sveta Varaaha Kalpa. Each Kalpa consists of 14 Manvantaras. In this Kalpa, 6 Manvantaras have gone by. Each Manvantara ends with a Jalapralaya (cataclysm) which erases the previous human existence. In the current Manvantara, 27 Maha Yugas are already over and presently 28^th Maha Yuga is running. In this Maha Yuga, Krita, Treta, Dwapara Yugas are over, and we are in Kali Yuga started at 2 hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds of the first day of the first month of Chaitra of the year Pramadhi in the cycle of 60 years.

 
    360 Human years        =    1 Divine year
    1,200 Divine years        =    1 Yuga
    12,000 Divine years    =    1 Maha Yuga
    71 Maha Yugas        =    1 Manvantara
    1,000 Maha Yugas        =    1 Kalpa
    2,000 Maha Yugas        =    1 day and 1 night of Brahma
    360 days of Brahma    =    1 year of Brahma
    100 Brahma years        =     Life of Brahma

 
    50 years of Brahma    =    1 Prarardha
    Life of Brahma        =    2 Prarardhas

 

In the present Brahma's lifetime 50 Brahma's years have gone by and we are in the first day of 51^st year of Brahma, which is called the Sveta Varaaha Kalpa. The duration of Kali Yuga is 432,000 years. By the year 2000 A.D. we have completed 5,102 years in the Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga started at 3,102 years BC.

 

According to Bhagavata Purana, Brahma, the creator is the casual effect of the predetermined periodic creation and dissolution of the universe. A Kalpa Pralaya lasts for 4,320 million years. Every Kalpa has 1,000 cycles of 4 Yugas. Four Yugas consist of 4,320,000* human years. At the end of Manvantara there is a Jalapralaya. At the end of 4 Yugas (Maha Yuga) there will be a Yuga Pralaya. The time spent in this 7^th Manvantara is 121,533,102 years. This Manvantara will continue 186,186,898 years. Kali Yuga will continue (432,000--5,102) = 426,898 years.

 
*Krita Yuga 1,728,000, Treta Yuga 1,296,000, Dwapara Yuga 864,000, and Kali Yuga 432,000 human years.

 
Let us compute the time for the absolute age of our sun and the earth planet. There are 3 cycles of time:

 
1. Chaturyuga cycle =    4.32 million years
(Mahayuga cycle)

 
2. Manvantara cycle =    4.32 X 1,000 = 308.57142 million years
                    14

 
3. Kalpa cycle     =    4,320 million years (4.32 X 1,000)

 
    1 year of Brahma        =    360 days of Brahma
    1 month of Brahma    =    30 days of Brahma
    50 years of Brahma    =    360 X 50 = 18,000 days of Brahma

 
That means our earth planet and sun have been renovated 18,000 times.
50 years of Brahma:
50 X 720* X 1,000 X 4.32 = 155.520000 = 155.52 trillion years
*360 days and 360 nights.

 
We are now on the first day of 51^st year of Brahma 6 Manvantaras have gone by

308.57142 X 6 = 1851.4280 million yea

We are in Vaivaswata Manvantara in which 27 cycles have passed

 

4.32 X 27 = 116.6400 million years

 
We are now in 28^th cycle in which 3 Yugas have passed and in Kali Yuga 5,102 human years.

 

That is:    1,728,000    Krita Yuga

                    1,296,000    Treta Yuga
                     864,000    Dwapara Yuga
                     5,102    Kali Yuga up to year 2000 AD
                    -------------
                    3,893,102
                    -------------

 
6 Manvantaras            1,851.4286 million years
27 cycles of 4 Yugas          116.6400 million years
Time spent in the 28^th cycle     3.8931 million years
                    ------------------------------
                    1,971.9617 million years
                    ------------------------------

 
                    = 0.001972 trillion years

 
Brahma's Age/Veda's age    155.521972 trillion years

 

(Not considering the time employed by Brahma in creating the animate and inanimate beings before existing order of the things that is 47,400 Divine years X 360 = 17,064,000 human years. Also, some sources consider 307.72 million years for a Manvantara, which is a marginal difference).

 

A Lord of Creation, called Brahma lives for one hundred Brahma years. This in turn is made up of 360 Brahma Days. Then a new Brahma takes over. It is believed that next Brahma will be Hanuman. So, a Brahma's life span is:

360 days x 100 years=36,000 Brahma's days, or Kalpas. That is 36,000x2000 Mahayugas x 4, 320,000 human years (total of 4 Yugas)=311.04 trillion years. That is 311.04 minus 155.521972=155.51803 human years. We are half way in this Brahma's life and are left with 155.51803 human years out of 311.04 trillion years.

 

The functioning of the planetary system which has an earth planet and is inhabited with the souls is governed by an unseen Divine power Brahma. There may be such stars in a galaxy, which may not have an earth planet and thus no souls live over there. But these stars which have an earth planet with souls, only they are governed by a Brahma. The rest of the universe is directly controlled by Narayana, the Supreme.

 

As per the present scientific postulations, the earth is believed to be 4.6 billion years old. The oldest rock is about 3.8 billion years old. Earth began life as hot gases and dust spreading the newborn sun condensed into a ball. The early earth was a fiery ball, and then the surface cooled to form a hard core. As the earth cooled it gave off gases and water vapor, which formed the atmosphere. By 4 million years ago, the earth crust was covered by meteor crates and large volcanoes. The earth cooled more and the clouds of steam became water, creating vast ocean. Many scientists think life on earth began on earth in the ocean of volcanic pools. Some think earth was seeded by microorganisms from space.

 

The firstborn unicellular microorganisms may only grow bigger but it can never produce sense organs on its own. Senses are never evolved through evolution process. Technically the mutation process has a very narrow margin of DNA alteration.

 

Some of the questions still remain unanswered. Who is the ancestor of elephant? How was first fish born? Why and how reptiles became mamals? How did it become a bird and flew?

 
The Big Bang Theory (1948)

George Garrow along with others enunciated the Big Bang Theory. The universe began with the explosion or outburst of an extremely concealed matter called 'Yelm'. After the Big Bang Time, the universe was trillions of times smaller than a proton; the energy contained within had inflated in a span of 100,000 light years. The basic theory is that the universe expands with a big force. How did it start? What was the character and kind of prime energy? Why did it start? Why did it not start earlier? What is the ultimate destiny?

 
Stellar Theory

Scientists say stars are 14 billion years old; medium stars are 8-12 billion years old. But this is not the age of total universe. Universe also contains black holes and neutron stars whose age is not added to it.

 

Paul Davis (1994), in his book of "Last Three Minutes', Basic Books, Oxford, UK, which describes about the astronomers understanding of the fate of the stars, says:

 

"Nobody knows how many stars have already succumbed in this manner, but the Milky Way alone could contain billions of these stellar corpses…… a dwarf star at the bottom and stellar-mass range may shine steadily for a trillion years."

 

Dwarf star's life jumps from billions of years to trillions of years. Think of dwarf star changing to a neutron star and a neutron star turning to a black hole. It may easily come to trillions of years. How long these black holes have been in existence, no one knows. It could be easily believed that the universe has been in existence for hundreds of trillions of years as indicated in Bhagavat Purana, Surya Siddhanta and Brahma Purana, and as reviewed in "Narayaneeyam" by Narayana Bhattadri.

 

The universe is a programmed creation and not an accident. Sun has been revived and its normal function has been established 18,000 times until now and thus current absolute life of sun is 155.521972 trillion years.

 

Bhagavatam explains the entire procedure of creation of the universe and the Brahmanda governed by Brahma and tells the entire history since the creation up to the period of Lord Krishna, Mahabharata war the end of rule of Yudhishtra and the dawn of the Kali Yuga. Further Puranic evidences are available as to the dates of birth of Sankaracharya, Buddha and the then ruling dynasties. These have been studied and repeated in "Narayaneeyam" by Narayana Bhattadri, which is recited at Guruvayur temple every day in the worship of Lord Krishna.

 

The date of Creation according to Hindu Jyotisha Saastra agrees more or less with the view of modern science. When a Hindu makes religious resolutions called Sankalpa to perform any ritual or rite, he mentions how old Brahma is. He also mentions the Saaka Era according to Hindu calendar (Panchaanga) and also the year in the 60-years' cycle beginning with Prabhava, the day, the asterism (nakshatra), and the Lagna. The date of Brahma's appearance according to this Braahaspatya or Jovian circle is considered to agree with the view of modern science of when this Cosmos came into existence.

 

If we go back to Svaayambhuva, the first Manu, we arrive at the origin of the human species which agrees with the view of modern science, says Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Sarswati of Kaanchi Kaamkoti Peetham.

 

REFERENCES:

1. T.K. Mukundan, A Concept of Hinduism, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.
2. Prof. Lakshmikantam, History of the Human Past, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.
3. Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati, Hindu Dharma, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.
4. Swami Prakashanad Saraswati, The True History and Religion of India, ISDL, Barsna Dham, Texas.
5. Kumar R., Vontikoppal Panchanga, Panchnga Mandira, Mysore, India.

                                               APPENDIX

The Age of Kaliyuga—Manu, Bhagavata and astronomical Almanac

Lord Krishna ascended to His Divine abode at the end of Dwapara yuga and immediately Kali yuga started in 3102 BC. Krishna lived for over 125 years. He descended on the earth planet in 3228 BC. The Pandavas, after winning the Mahabharata war, ruled for 36 years and 8 months. Accordingly, the date of Mahabharata war comes to 3139 BC.

According to Sadguru  of ISHA Foundation, Krishna also said that after over 5000 years, there will come a many thousand year period of time that will be fabulous. We will not make it there, but we can set the foundations for it and have the joy of creating an atmosphere for a stretch of thousands of years of golden time upon the planet.

Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev of ISHA Foundation  speaks of the Astronomical Almanac of modern days:

"The per-cession (caused by gradual rotation of the Earth's axis) of the equinoxes is the period of time that it takes the Earth's axis to pass through one complete cycle of the zodiac. According to yogic astronomy, it takes the planet 72 years to pass through one degree of the zodiac and 25,920 years to complete one full circle of 360 degrees.

 One half of the journey takes 12,960 years and covers the four yugas.  Satya Yuga lasts 5184 years. Treta Yuga lasts 3888 years. Dwapara Yuga lasts 2592 years. Kali Yuga lasts 1296 years. These four yugas taken together come to a total of 12,960 years.

The story of Mahabharata needs to be seen in a certain context. In 3140 BC  the Kurukshetra War ended, and in 3102 BC   Krishna left his body. Three to four months after the war, the Kali Yuga began. As of 2012 AD, Krishna's era ended 5,114 years ago. If you subtract 2592, which is the cumulative number of years of the two Kali Yugas that are at the bottom of the ellipse which describes the axial per-cession, you arrive at 2522 years.

That means we have already completed 2522 years of Dwapara Yuga, and since its total duration is 2592 years, we still have 70 years until its completion. In the year 2082, we will complete Dwapara Yuga and move on to Treta Yuga. The world will go through another upheaval, not necessarily in terms of war but probably in terms of population explosion and natural calamities, before moving on to this new era of well-being and upward movement of human consciousness."

According to the  Manu  one of the earliest known texts describing the Yugas, the length is 4800 years + 3600 years + 2400 years + 1200 years, for a total of 12,000 years for one arc, or 24,000 years to complete the cycle, which is one precession of the equinox). These 4 Yugas follow a timeline ratio of (4:3:2:1).

According to Bhagavatam  the Yugas are much longer, namely 1,728,000 years, 1,296,000 years, 864,000 years and 432,000 years:

The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of the  Gods; the duration of the Treta millennium equals 3600 years of the Gods; Dvāpara millennium equals 2,400 years; and that of the Kali millennium is 1,200 years of the demigods .   One year of the Gods  is equal to 360 years of the human beings. The duration of the Satya-yuga is therefore 4,800 x 360, or 1,728,000 years. The duration of the Tretā-yuga is 3,600 x 360, or 1,296,000 years. The duration of the Dvāpara-yuga is 2,400 x 360, or 864,000 years. And the last, the Kali-yuga, is 1,200 x 360, or 432,000 years in total.

While the long Yuga count is the most popular, it does not correlate to any known celestial motion found in the Astronomical Almanac (Panchangam). The value of 24,000 years fits relatively close with the modern astronomical calculation of one full   per-cession of the equinox which takes 25,772 years.  

Please go through the following interesting articles from IndiaDivine.Org:

When Did the Kali Yuga Begin?

Posted by Prakashanand Saraswati | Jun 11, 2014 |  IndiaDivine.Org

Lord Krishna ascended to His Divine abode at the end of dwapara yuga and immediately Kali yuga started in 3102 BC. Krishna lived for over 125 years. He descended on the earth planet in 3228 BC. 

The Pandavas, after winning the Mahabharata war, ruled for 36 years and 8 months. Accordingly, the date of Mahabharata war comes to 3139 BC.

The dynasty of Surya Vansha of Kaushala (Ayodhya) ends with Sumitra (Bhag. 9/12/16); the dynasty of Chandra Vansha of Hastinapur ends with Chemak (Bhag. 9/22/44, 45); and the dynasties of the kingdom of Magadha flourished up to the Gupta dynasty (80’s BC).

History of Hastinapur

The kingdom of Hastinapur, after Chemak, was constantly ruled by the people who took over the throne. An ancient book describing the date-wise chronology of all the kings of Hastinapur (Indraprastha or Delhi) from Yudhishthir up to Vikramaditya and was found by the proprietors of the fortnightly magazine of Nathdwara (Rajasthan) called “Harishchandra Chandrika and Mohan Chandrika” in about 1872 AD. Luckily this book was saved from going into the hands of the British, otherwise it would have been instantly destroyed. The proprietor of the magazine printed the entire description in two of its issues (called kiran) 19 and 20 of 1882.

The description is detailed to year-month-days of each and every king who ruled. By adding the total number of years of the four dynasties from Yudhishthir to Vikramaditya, it comes to 3,178 years which is 3141 Kali era or 39 AD, which represents the date when Vikramaditya left this earth planet.

According to the Bhavishya Purana and Rajtarangini, Vikramaditya lived between 102 BC and 15 AD; and according to the above details his period ends by 39 AD. There is only a difference of 24 years in the date-wise record of 70 kings who ruled Hastinapur for 3,085 years. A discrepancy of 24 years in 3,000 years of record could be a copying or printing mistake, and is thus negligible when we are dealing with a longer span of years. In this way the predicted period of the dynasties of Magadha and the historic records of the dynasties of Hastinapur correspond with each other and justify their correctness, and vice versa.

The magazine  gives full date-wise detail of each and every king who ruled Hastinapur from Yudhishthir up to Vikramaditya. This is one of the rarest records that survived through this magazine.

The beginning of Kaliyug, 3102 BC

We have taken the beginning of Kali yuga as the fixed point to determine the chronological dates of the events, kings, Divine dignitaries and the important personalities of our history. It is a common understanding that kali yuga started about 5,000 years ago (in round figures) and we never had any problems in the past in accepting this fact. But only after the arrival of the English people in India, all sorts of baseless criticisms started regarding our history and religion that were promoted and fostered by them. We had hundreds of such evidences regarding the date of Mahabharata war and the beginning of kali yuga in our history books that were destroyed by the British, still we have more than enough material to fully establish this fact.

(1) Astrological.

(a) We still follow the ancient astrological tradition. There is a most prestigious, 48 page detailed date-wise journal (panchang) with all the astrological facts and figures called “Vishva Panchangam,” established in 1925 and published by Kashi Hindu Vishvavidyalaya (Benares Hindu University), Varanasi. It gives all the three eras: Kali era, Vikram era and (Shalivahan) Shaka era.

 It says   that 5,100 years have already elapsed before 2056 Vikram year which is 1999 AD. It means that the existing Kali era is 5101 in 1999 AD, which comes to (5101 – 1999) 3102 BC.

(b) Another panchang of India called “Shree Saraswati Panchangam” published from Navalgarh, Rajasthan, also gives all the calculations and says that 5,100 years of kaliyuga had already elapsed before 1999.

 Pleasae refer to The “Vishva Vijay Panchangam” of Solan, Himachal Pradesh which says,

It means that 5,100 years of kaliyuga had already elapsed before 1999 and 426,900 years of kali yuga are still left. Kali yuga is of 432,000 years (so, kali yuga started in 3102 BC).

Thus, the best  team of the scholars of astrology all over India give the same figures of 3102 BC and publish it in the panchang (journal) every year.

These astrological journals are run by a group of the most learned astrologers of India, and thus it is mindlessness if any astrologer or scholar unnecessarily tries to argue about their accuracy.

(2) Others.

Alberuni. “Alberuni’s India,” first Indian print 1964 (S. Chand & Co., New Delhi) Volume I. In the second part of this book on page 4 Alberuni writes, “…the time which has elapsed since the beginning of kali yuga before our gauge-year, 4132 years, and between the wars of Bharat and our gauge-year there have elapsed 3479 years.” In the Annotations (p. 358) of the same book Alberuni tells about his gauge-year, which is: “A.D. 1031, 25th February, a Thursday.”

There is a difference of 968 years between 1031 AD and 1999 AD. Thus, adding 968 years to 4,132 years comes to 5,100 years, the period that has already elapsed since the beginning of kali yuga and up till today (1999), and this is exactly what is mentioned in the astrological journals of India.

Alberuni also mentions about Vikram era (57 BC) and also the Shalivahan Shaka era which starts 135 years after the Vikram era.

Aryabhatta--The greatest astronomer and mathematician, Aryabhatt, was born in 476 AD. His work in astronomy is an asset to the scholars. He gave an accurate figure for pi as 3.1416. He finished his book “Aryabhattiya” in 499 AD in which he gives the exact year of the beginning of kali yuga. He writes,

“When the three yugas (satya yuga, treta yuga and dwapara yuga) have elapsed and 60 x 60 (3,600) years of kali yuga have already passed, I am now 23 years old.” It means that in the 3,601st year of Kali era he was 23 years old. Aryabhatt was born in 476 AD. Thus, the beginning of Kaliyuga comes to 3,601 – (476 + 23) = 3102 BC.

There is also the dynastic chronology of Nepal that goes up to the Mahabharata war.

Kali yuga started in 3102 BC., Yudhishthir reigned Hastinapur for 36 years and 8 months, the Mahabharata war happened in 3139 BC. When Bhagwan Krishna left the earth planet and ascended to His Divine abode, immediately kali yuga started and a catastrophic rain, storm and sea deluge, that lasted for seven days, totally drowned and destroyed Dwaraka town. This catastrophe was also recorded in Babylonia’s ancient town Ur (which was mythologized in the West as Noah’s flood) and the ancient Mayan records. The dates of both are the same.

The unbroken chronology of the exact dates of all the Hindu kings of the 4 dynasties that ruled Hastinapur (up to Vikramaditya) since the reign of Yudhishthir is the most potent evidence and it could be easily understood by anyone, wise or dull, so as to believe that Mahabharata war had happened about 5,000 years ago in 3139 BC.

Kali Yuga: When Did It End and What Lies Ahead?

Posted by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev | Nov 05, 2015 

 In the yogic astronomy, we divide the orbit of the Earth around the Sun into 27 segments, called Nakshatras. Each Nakshatra is further divided into four equal sectors called padas or steps.

Multiply 4 by 27 and it equals 108. These 108 units mark the 108 steps that the Earth takes through space. Each Nakshatra corresponds to one half of the lunar orbit around the Earth. The cycles within the human body respond and correspond to that.

In a woman’s body, there are very obvious cycles of 27.55 days if she is perfectly healthy. In a man’s body, the cycles are less obvious and pronounced – they happen in a different way and are of a larger span of time. In any case, these cycles are happening all the time in the solar system and the larger universe.

The microcosm and the macrocosm both are playing the same game. But who should play whose game? If you think the macrocosm is going to play your game, you will waste your life. If you play the macrocosm’s game, your life will be beyond your expectations.

The Cycle of Four Yugas

The per-cession (caused by gradual rotation of the Earth’s axis) of the equinoxes is the period of time that it takes the Earth’s axis to pass through one complete cycle of the zodiac. It takes the planet 72 years to pass through one degree of the zodiac and 25,920 years to complete one full circle of 360 degrees.

One half of the journey takes 12,960 years and covers the four yugas. Satya Yuga lasts 5184 years. Treta Yuga lasts 3888 years.  Dwapara Yuga lasts 2592 years. Kali Yuga lasts 1296 years. These four yugas taken together come to a total of 12,960 years.

The Beginning of Kali Yuga

The story of Mahabharata needs to be seen in a certain context. In 3140 BCE, the Kurukshetra War ended, and in 3102 BCE, Krishna left his body. Three to four months after the war, the Kali Yuga began. As of 2012 AD, Krishna’s era ended 5,114 years ago. If you subtract 2592, which is the cumulative number of years of the two Kali Yugas that are at the bottom of the ellipse which describes the axial percession, you arrive at 2522 years.

That means we have already completed 2522 years of Dwapara Yuga, and since its total duration is 2592 years, we still have 70 years until its completion. In the year 2082, we will complete Dwapara Yuga and move on to Treta Yuga. The world will go through another upheaval, not necessarily in terms of war but probably in terms of population explosion and natural calamities, before moving on to this new era of well-being and upward movement of human consciousness.

Yugas and Human Consciousness

The solar system with the Sun and the planets around it is moving in the galaxy. It takes 25,920 years for our solar system to complete one cycle around a larger star. From the effects upon the planet, we believe this big star or big system that our system is going around is not located in the center of the orbit but somewhere to the side. Whenever our solar system comes closer to this big system all the creatures living in our system rise to greater possibilities. Whenever our system moves away from it, the creatures living in our system come to the lowest level of possibility – we say this is Kali Yuga.

When our solar system is closer to the “Super Sun,” Satya Yuga will begin. The human mind will be at its highest capability. People’s ability to know life, people’s ability to communicate, people’s ability to live joyfully will be at its highest. Or in other words, we will have sensible people. All it takes to live well on this planet is a bunch of sensible people.

In Satya Yuga, human ability to communicate will be at its best because the ether will be very close. Right now, the etheric sphere of the planet is raised to a certain point. There was a time when it was much higher – now it has come a little closer. When the ether is very close and I want to convey something to you, I do not have to say it. Even when my eyes are closed, you will know what I want to say. When the ether rises a little bit but is still at a certain distance, if I close my eyes, you will not know, but if I open my eyes and look at you, you will know what I want to convey.

The Ether and Spiritual Possibilities

If the ether rises some more, you can know by breath. If you go into the forest, you will see, because your vision is blocked to some extent, after some time, the most significant way of knowing things is by smell. Most animals that live there know things only by smell. Because of such concentrated life energy, the ether is high. Because the ether is high, they do not have to see.

If you talk, they will get confused. When the ether is very low, you have to talk all the time – otherwise, people will not get it. Even if you talk, they will not get it. You have to knock and talk continuously to make them get it. The ether content in the atmosphere determines how sensitive you are in terms of your ability to communicate.

Krishna also said that after over 5000 years, there will come a many thousand year period of time that will be fabulous.

At the same time, no matter which time, which Yuga, which planetary position we are in right now, still, individual human beings can rise above all this. Still, individual human beings can live in a golden time within themselves. Even in the worst of times, the possibility to be well above it is always there for an individual human being.

There are many things one can do to enhance the ether or create ether  content. This is why Krishna said, in Kali Yuga, which is down there, far away from the Super Sun, the ether will be so low that there is no point in trying to teach them yoga, meditation, mantras, or Yantras – they will not get it.

Just teach them devotion. If they are devout, they will generate their own ether. And because of this etheric content in the atmosphere, they will perceive.  Devotion is not for the dumb – but even if you are the dumbest, you can still get it.

Thousands of years ago, they said that as the solar system moves closer to the Super Sun, human intelligence will blossom. As the solar system moves closer, the realization that the whole body and the whole universe are electric structures will come naturally. Right now, we are moving towards Treta Yuga, which is the second best time that can happen in a cycle of Yugas.

Krishna also said that after over 5000 years, there will come a many thousand year period of time that will be fabulous. We will not make it there, but we can set the foundations for it and have the joy of creating an atmosphere for a stretch of thousands of years of golden time upon the planet.

This is not all predictions and conjecture – this is based on a deep-rooted understanding about what happens with the human mind in relation to the planet on which we live. We do not only live on this planet – we are the planet.  If you do not understand this today, you will understand this when you are buried. The planet understands that you are a part of it – only you think something else of yourself.

Mahabharata – The Story of Every Human Being

The story begins because you have false ideas about yourself.  Mahabharata represents the grand misconception of human beings about life; their sufferings, their rises and falls. It goes on and on, simply because human beings are struggling to come in tune with life. Whatever someone who is in tune with it tries to say, everyone else will misunderstand. Light cannot be put in words, but if you open your eyes, you can see the light. Similarly, if this life that you are opens up, it can feel life, it can become life.

Life cannot be told. Telling is only to inspire, to de-mesmerize you from your own self-mesmerism. Every human being has hypnotized himself or herself into their own limitations and they believe this is it. If you undo that hypnotism, they will feel fearful because existence is limitless. Therefore, if they are spinning one way, you have to spin them the opposite way for some time for them to feel they are going somewhere.

T

he whole Mahabharata is just this effort. No matter what they are doing, everyone thinks they are doing it for the good. Whether it is “my good,” “your good,” someone else’s good, or everyone else’s good – whatever kind of good, everyone thinks they are doing it for the good. But everyone is neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong – the story just goes on.

The story is not about a particular person – Mahabharata comes under the classification of Itihasa. In India, there are three categories of great texts: Itihasa, Purana, Veda. Vedas are full of abstract ideas, scientific theories, and explanations for celestial happenings. Puranas are stories of beings, who are not human. Itihasa is the story of the human being, not in terms of history, though there is a historic element to it. The facts are rooted in history, but this is the story of every human being – it is about the meaning of your life. Only if it is your story, it can be a process of growth for you.

Source: www.ishafoundation.org

LORD BRAHMA’S LIFE-SPAN AND THE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE ‘ERAS’  

(PADMA PURANA)

Lord Brahma, the embodiment of Lord Vishnu has a life-span of one hundred years. His life-span is also called ‘Par’, and half of its period is known as ‘Parardha’. One ‘Kashtha’ consists of 15 Nimesha while a Kala consists of 30 ‘Kashthas.  A muhurta consists of 30 Kalas. The periods of 30 muhurtas are equal to one day and Night of the human beings. A month of this world is equivalent to 30 days and nights. Six months make an ‘Ayana’ and a year consists of two ‘Ayanas’. These two ‘Ayanas’ are also known by two other names—Dakshinayana and Uttarayana.  Dakshinayan is the night of the Devas where as Uttarayan is their day.

Four yugas are equivalent to twelve thousand years of the Devas, which occur in a cyclic order—Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyuga. The periods of these Yugas are as follows—

Satya Yuga = 4000 years
Treta Yuga = 3000 years
Dwapar Yuga = 2000 years
Kali Yuga = 1000 years
Total = 10,000 years

Each Yuga is followed by the hibernation periods of ‘Sandhya’ and Sandhyansh, which are as follows– Sandhya Sandhyansh

Satya Yuga 400 400
Treta Yuga 300 300
Dwapar Yuga 200 200
Kali Yuga 100 100
Total 1000 years of 1000  years

Four Yuga are collectively known as ‘Chaturyuga’. A Brahma’s day consists of one-thousand such ‘Chaturyugas’. Altogether, fourteen Manus appear during this whole period of 1000 Chaturyugas or in other words a day of Lord Brahma. Each ‘Manvantara’ is named after a Manu and is equivalent to little more than 71 Chaturyugas. It also has its own Indra, Saptarishis and other deities. This way, a Manvantara is also equivalent to 8,52,000 years of the deities or divine years. Going by the standard of the years of this world a Manvantara is equivalent to 30,67,20,000 years. On the basis of the years of this world, a Brahma’s day is equivalent to 30,67,20,000 x 14 = 4,29,40,80,000 yrs. This is the period after which a Brahma’s day is over and a deluge takes place when all the three worlds becomes devoid of life due to unbearable heat. Lord Brahma then takes rest for the same period (4,29,40,80,000 yrs) which is his night.

After the night is over, Lord Brahma again commences his creation. So, this process continues for the whole period of Brahma’s life span, i.e. 100 yrs.”  

At the end of the previous Kalpa when Lord Brahma awakened from his sleep, he found the whole earth submerged in water. He meditated on Lord Vishnu, who took the incarnation of ‘Varaha’ and retrieved the earth and established it in its original position. Lord Brahma then created all the four worlds–Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka, Swargloka and Maharloka and divided the earth into seven islands.

First of all, Lord Brahma created the ‘Mahattatva’. After that he created the ‘Tanmatras’, Indriyas (sense-organs), the immovable things like mountains, rivers, animals, divines, demons, human beings etc.