The Vedic Conception of Time (was Kali Yuga)

[Guest guest]

> Sarabhanga Giri <sarabhanga wrote:

> Namaste,

> Kali Yuga refers to the "Dark Time", and also to the "Now Time", this

> present "Moment in Time". And humans have always looked back to past

> ages when everything was comparatively "golden". The exact timings

> of the various Yugas is a matter of speculation. It must be accepted

> that this present time is certainly now, but whether to consider it

> dark or final depends on perspective. Please see http://in.geocities.

> com/sarabhanga/yuga.html for other notes on the concept of Yuga.

 

 

 

VEDIC CONCEPTION OF TIME

 

The vedic conception of time is clearly laid out in various places,

including the Vishnu Smriti (page 77), the Bhagavad Gita (at the be-

ginning of chapter 4), etc. You will be pleased to see that all time

is measured in relation to the ultimate lifespan of the Divine Mother,

Shakti Herself. Here is a summary that is fascinating:

 

Quoting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, from the book _On The Bhagavad-Gita -

A New Translation and Commentary_, pgs. 253-254 (softcover):

 

"Time is a conception to measure eternity. Vedic historians base their

conception of time on eternal Being; for them eternity is the basic

field of time.

 

"To arrive at some conception of the eternal, the best measure will be

the life-span of something that has the greatest longevity in the

relative field of creation. This, according to the enlightened vision

of Vyasa, is the Divine Mother, the Universal Mother, who is ultimately

responsible for all that is, was and will be in the entire cosmos.

 

"The eternity of the eternal life of absolute Being is conceived in

terms of innumerable lives of the Divine Mother, a single one of whose

lives encompasses a thousand life-spans of Lord Shiva. One life of

Lord Shiva covers the time of a thousand life-spans of Lord Vishnu.

One life of Lord Vishnu equals the duration of a thousand life-spans of

Brahma, the Creator. A single life-span of Brahma is conceived in

terms of one hundred years of Brahma; each year of Brahma comprises 12

months of Brahma, and each month comprises thirty days of Brahma. One

day of Brahma is called a Kalpa. One Kalpa is equal to the time of

fourteen Manus. The time of one Manu is called a Manvantara. One

Manvantara equals seventy-one Chaturyugis. One Chaturyugi comprises

the total span of four Yugas, i.e. Sat-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga

and Kali-yuga. The span of the Yugas is conceived in terms of the

duration of Sat-yuga. Thus the span of Treta-yuga is equal to three

quarters of that of Sat-yuga; the span of Dvapara-yuga is half that of

Sat-yuga; and the span of Kali-yuga one quarter that of Sat-yuga. The

span of Kali-yuga equals 432,000 years of man's life."

 

I've summarized this commentary in chart form:

 

Kali-yuga = 1/4 of Sat-yuga

432,000 years (4.32 x 10 to the 5th power)

We are about 5000 years into this Yuga.

Lord Buddha appeared about 3000 years ago.

Shankara revived the knowledge about 500 years later.

 

Dvapara-yuga = 1/2 of Sat-yuga, 2 times Kali-yuga

864,000 years (8.64 x 10 to the 5th power)

Said to have ended when Lord Krishna left after the time

of the Mahabharata (Bhagavad Gita)

 

Treta-yuga = 3/4 of Sat-yuga, 3 times Kali-yuga

1,296,000 years (1.3 x 10 to the 6th power)

The time during which Rama ruled at Ayodhya (Ramayana)

 

Sat-yuga = 4 times Kali-yuga, also called Solar Yuga or Golden Age

1,728,000 years (1.7 x 10 to the 6th power)

Vaivasvat Manu's son, Ikshvaku, ruled at Ayodhya during

the 1st Solar dynasty

 

Chaturyugi = sum (1 cycle) of the 4 yugas

4,320,000 years (4.3 x 10 to the 6th power)

We are in Kali-yuga, the last 10% of the current

Chaturyugi or cycle. Then Sat-yuga returns.

 

Manvantara = 71 Chaturyugis, the time of 1 Manu

306,720,000 years (3.1 x 10 to the eight power)

Thus, there are 71 cycles of the 4 Yugas under each Manu.

The 7th Manu of this Kalpa, Vaivasvat Manu, is said to be

the progenitor of the present human race. So we are near

half-way thru this Day of Brahma, with a few billion years

to go before the next dissolution (Night of Brahma).

The year 2004 is, according to the Vedic Calendar,

1,955,885,105.

 

1 Day of = 14 Manus, also called a Kalpa

Brahma 4,294,080,000 years (4.3 x 10 to the 9th power) or

4.3 billion years

This is the approximate age of our universe according to

astronomy?

When Brahma goes to sleep at night, the universe dissolves

and is recreated when he wakes. Thus no physical evidence

of the cycles of time can go back further than this.

 

1 Month of = 30 days of Brahma

Brahma 128,822,400,000 years (1.3 x 10 to the 11th power) or

128 billion years

 

1 Year of = 12 months of Brahma

Brahma 1,545,868,800,000 years (1.5 x 10 to the 12th power) or

1.5 trillion years

 

1 Life of = 100 years of Brahma

Brahma 154,586,880,000,000 years (1.5 x 10 to the 14th power) or

155 trillion years

 

1 Life of = 1000 lives of Brahma

Lord Vishnu 154,586,880,000,000,000 years (1.5 x 10 to the 17th power)

or 155,000 trillion years

 

1 Life of = 1000 lives of Lord Vishnu

Lord Shiva 154,586,880,000,000,000,000 years (1.5 x 10 to the 20th

power) or 155 million trillion years

 

1 Life of = 1000 lives of Lord Shiva

Mother Divine 154,586,880,000,000,000,000,000 years (1.5 x 10 to the

23rd power) or 155 billion trillion years

 

Eternal life = innumerable lives of Mother Divine (Shakti)

of Absolute ? (many, infinite, unfathomable)

Being UNCOUNTABLE REPETITIONS of the 155 BILLION-TRILLION YEAR

CYCLE!!!

 

 

I hope this knowledge is of some service. Reading it can have both

a humbling and a very expansive effect on the relative intellect.

 

Namaste,

 

Michael

 

PARA - The Center for Realization

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