The Puranic account of Time

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The Puranic account of Time

The three main divisions of time employed in the Hindu Scriptures are Yugas,

Manvantaras, and Kalpas. These will now be described.

There are four Yugas, which together extend to 12,000 divine years. Their

respective duration is as follows:-The Krita Yuga = 4,800 divine yearsThe Treta

Yuga = 3,600 divine yearsThe Dvapara Yuga = 2,400 divine yearsThe Kali Yuga =

1,200 divine years

"One Year of mortals is equal to one day of the gods." As 360 is taken as the

number of days in the year -

The Krita Yuga = 4,800 x 360 = 1,728,000 years of mortalsThe Treta Yuga = 3,600

x 360 = 1,296,000 years of mortalsThe Dvapara Yuga = 2,400 x 360 = 864,000

years of mortalsThe Kali Yuga = 1,200 x 360 = 432,000 years of mortals

One Mahayuga, or Great Age, including the four lesser Yugas, therefore, being

12,000 divine years = 4,320,000 years of mortals. "A thousand such Mahayugas

are a day of Brahma," and his nights are of equal duration; a Kalpa, therefore,

or Day of Brahma extends over 4,320,000 ordinary years. " Within each Kalpa 14

Manus reign; a Manvantara, or period of a Manu, therefore is consequently

one-fourteenth part of a Kalpa, or day of Brahma.

"In the present Kalpa, six Manus, of whom Swayambhuva was the first, have

already passed away; the present being Vaivasata. In each Manvantara (period of

a Manu), seven Rishis, certain deities, an Indra and a Manu, and the kings, his

sons, are created and perish. A thousand systems of the four Yugas occur

coincidentally with these fourteen Manvantaras, and consequently about 71

systems of four Yugas elapse during each Manvantara, and measure the lives of

the Manus and the deities of the period. At the close of this day of Brahma, a

collapse of the universe takes place, which lasts through a night of Brahma,

equal in duration to his day, during which period the worlds are converted into

one great ocean, when the lotus-born god (Brahma), expanded by his deglutition

of the universe, and contemplated by the Yogis and gods in Janaloka, sleeps on

the serpent Sesha. At the end of that night he awakes and creates anew.

"A year of Brahma is composed of the proper number of such days and nights, and

a hundred of such years constitute his whole life. The period of his life is

called Para, and the half of it Pararddha, or the half of a Para. One Parardha,

or half of Brahma's existence, has now expired, terminating with the great Kalpa

called the Padma Kalpa. The now existing Kalpa, or day of Brahma, called Varasha

(or that of the boar), is the first of the second Pararddha of Brahma's

existence. The dissolution which occurs at the end of each Kalpa, or day

Brahma, is called nainmittika, incidental, occasional or contingent."

The four Yugas mentioned above - viz. the Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali - have

characteristic qualities. The Krita is the golden, and Kali the iron age. The

Mahabharata gives these characteristics very distinctly. Hunuman, the

monkey-god, is the speaker, describing the four ages to Bhimasena, one of the

Pandus.

"The Krita is that age in which righteousness is eternal. In the time of that

most excellent of Yugas (everything) had been done (Krita), and nothing

(remained) to be done. Duties did not then languish, nor did the people

decline. Afterwards through (the influence of) time, this Yuga fell into a

state of inferiority. In that age there were neither gods, Danavas, Gandharvas,

Yakshasas, Rakshasas, nor Pannagas; no buying and selling went on, on efforts

were made by men; the fruit (of the earth was obtained) by their mere wish;

righteousness and abandonment of the world (prevailed). No disease or decline

of the organs of sense arose through the influence of age; there was no malice,

weeping, pride, or deceit; no contention, no hatred, cruelty, fear affliction,

jealousy, or envy. Hence the Supreme Brahma was the transcendent resort of

these Yogins.

In the Treta men acted with an object in view, seeking after reward for their

rites and their gifts, and no longer disposed to austerities, and to liberality

from ( a simple feeling of) duty. In this age, however, they were devoted to

their own duties and to religious ceremonies.

"In the Dvapara age righteousness was diminished by two quarters, Vishnu became

yellow, and the Veda fourfold. Some studied four vedas, some three, other two,

and some none at all. The scriptures being thus divided, ceremonies were

celebrated in a great variety of ways; and the people, being occupied with

austerity and the bestowal of gifts, became full of passion (rajasi). Owing to

ignorance of the one Veda, Vedas were multiplied. And now from the decline of

goodness (Sattva), only few adhered to truth.

"In the Kali, righteousness remained to the extent of one-fourth only.

Calamities, diseases, fatigue, faults such as anger, etc., distresses, anxiety,

hunger, fear, prevailed. As the ages revolve, righteousness again declines; when

this takes place, the people also decline. When they decay, the impulses which

actuate them also decay. The practices generated by the declension of the Yugas

frustrate men's aims. Such is the Kali Yuga, which has existed for a short time.

Those who are long-lived act in conformity with the character of the age." In

the "Bhishmaparvan" there is a paragraph in which it is said that "Four

thousand years are specified as the duration of life in the Krita Yuga, three

thousand in the Treta, and two thousand form the period at present established

on earth in the Dvapara. There is no fixed measure in the Tishya (Kali).

It should be noticed that the immense duration of the ages as quoted above from

the "Vishnu Purana" is peculiar to the Puranas. In the text of the Mahabharata

"no mention is made of the years comprising the different Yugas being divine

years," though the earlier books certainly favour far more extravagant notions

of chronology than those which Western nations accept.

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Sairam and tks for nice msg.

Sairam/papu

 

 

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Ravi

SaiBabaNews

Sunday, March 14, 2004 7:48 AM

[saibabanews] The Puranic account of Time

 

 

An interesting article Downloaded from an old site hindumythology

 

The Puranic account of Time