Vaishnavite Tattvam of Kaalam or Time.

[Guest guest]

There was a query earlier on this important Tattvam . A preliminary discussion

of this would also be

relevant for an understanding of the Nitya Soori and their relation to Time or

Kaala.

 

After this posting , I will assemble the material on Bhaddha, Mukta Jivans and

Nitya

Suris. I will conclude with a posting on the Ontological, Philosophical and

Religious status of

SRI in our Sri Vaishnava Sampradhayam.This will be the most difficult topic to

handle given all

the sensitivities involved. If these postings generate a stimulating discussion

similar to the one we

had in the past three days, that will be most welcome.

 

As the learned scholar Sri A.Srinivasa Raghavan said " the acquisition of the

knowledge that Sriman Narayana is the Tattva, Hita and Purushartha is the end of

all Learning" for a Sri Vaishnava.

I will be quoting extensively and some times verbatim from Sri A.S. Raghavan"s

monograph

published by TT Devasthanam in this posting, since I understand that this

monograph is not

readily available to the members of our group.

 

The three Tattvaas in our Tradition is Achetana, Chetana and Isvara. Achetana is

the entity devoid

of Knowledge or Chaitanya.Unlike the Chetana, it can not "know a thing, nor can

it act on its own accord ,

nor enjoy the fruits of such action". Achetana is also known as Nonsentient.

 

The Achetana Tattvam is divided further into three parts: Prakriti -the

inanimate matter, Kaala-Time and

Suddha Sattva -the unalloyed and self luminous Sattva. We will focus in this

posting on KAALA ,

the second of the three sub Tattvas of Achetana.

 

 

KAALA OR TIME

*****************

 

** Kaala is an entity, which is eternal and infinite. "It is eternal , because

there was no time ,

when Time did not exist, nor there will be any time, when Time will NOT exist.

It is infinite

as there is no place ,where it does not exist. It is devoid of the three Gunas :

Sattva , Rajas and

Tamas that make up Prakriti or primordial matter. How then , it may be asked ,do

they speak

of Kaala as being Sattvika, Raajasa or Taamasa ? THESE QUALITIES EXIST ONLY IN

THE BEINGS, WHICH EXIST IN TIME AND FROM THOSE BEINGS THE QUALITIES ARE LOOSELY

SPOKEN OF

AS PERTAINING TO KAALA ITSELF."

 

** There is an elaborate division of Kaala from the winking of an eye (a Second)

up to an Yuga. There

are four Yugas : Krita Yuga(1.728 Million Years, which is the longest ; Kali

Yuga , the shortest

with a time span of 432,000 years. Dharma in Kali Yuga is postulated to be one

fourth in effectiveness

compared to Krita Yuga, where it is 100% efficient or effective.

 

One cycle of 4 Yugas from Krita to Kali constitutes a Chaturyuga. Thousand

Chaturyugas form

a day in the life of the Creator known as Chaturmukha Brahma . Another thousand

Chaturyugas

constitue a night of Brahma. One year of Brahma therefore comprises of 365 of

HIS TYPE of

days and nights. The age of Brahma is one hundred such Brahmic Years or

DVI-PARARDHA or

Two Parardha. We are said to be in the second Parardha of the PRESENT Brahma.

That is

why we say In our Sankalpas, Dwidiya Paraardhe .

 

One day of Brahma is subdivided into 14 Manvantras, each of which accounting for

71.43 Chatur-

Yugas. Each of these Manvantra is presided over by a Manu. The current Manu is

known as

Vaivasvata Manu. That is why , we say in Sankalpa, Vaivasvata Manvantareh .

 

One month of the Human beings is considered equal to one day in the Time scale

of the Manes

or Pitrus. One year or Samvatsara in human life is considered to be the equal

of one day in the

life of Gods. The day dawns for the Gods with the Month of Marghazhi and hence

, that month

is sacred to Gods and Us. Gods too have a finite life, although , their life

span is much, much

longer than humans . Their name as Amara or Immmortal does not mean that they

are deathless,

but their life is much longer in content. It is like the pond and an Ocean .

>From one side of the

pond, you can see the other side. For an ocean, the other shore is hard to see

and it looks endless.

 

ALL THE BEINGS OF THIS UNIVERSE INCLUDING CHATURMUKHA BRAHMA AND OTHER GODS

ARE RULED BY TIME .THEY ARE CREATED, LIVE AND ARE DESTROYED BY ONE SUPREME

AND POWERFUL BEING , WHO HAS NO BIRTH OR DEATH. This destruction is of four

types:

(1) Nitya Pralaya (2) Naimittika Pralaya (3) Maha Pralaya and (4) Aatyantika

Pralaya.

 

Nitya Pralaya is the sleep or by an extension thereof , Death.

 

Naimittika Pralaya is the end of a single day of Brahma, when the three worlds

(Bhuh:, Bhuvaha:

and Suvaha:) disintegrate.

 

Maha Pralaya is the great deluge at the end of the age of one Brahma ,which

consists of 100

Brahmic Years (365 Times 2,000 ChaturYugas).

 

Aatyantika Pralaya is "the final deliverance or the attainment of Salvation by

a Jivan and after that

the Jivan is never again in the clutches of Karma nor bound by the tight ropes

of Samsara.It is

therefore a variable time span conditioned by the practise of the different kind

of Yogas or Prapatti.

 

After these definitions of Units of Kaala and the alloted life spans of the

Humans and Gods, we

come to the concept of Kaala in the Nitya Vibuthi or Sri Vaikuntam. Since, Kaala

is omnipresent,

it has to be in Sri Vaikuntam also. However, it does not have the same power as

in Leela Vibuthi or

the Physical Universe, which serves as the play ground for Sriman Narayana.

Kaala in Sri Vaikuntam

is powerless and hence does not bring about growth, decay or destruction of any

thing. Hence all

there have eternal existence. Kaala is helpful there only "to describe one

action as taking place

before or after another. For instance in the service that the Muktas do to

Sriman Narayana ,

they give a bath (Snana) at a point of time previous to that in which they

offer food(Bhojana). It is

all day there for ever and there is no division into day and night. Kaala is

under the control of

Sriman Narayana and he manipulates it as He likes it. It is used as an

Instrument by Him in bringing

about the modification of the various objects in Lila Vibhuti."

 

 

V.Sadagopan

 

..

 

..