The Hindu cosmology and timeline is
considered by some the closest to modern scientific timelines[2]
and even more which might indicate that the Big Bang
is not the beginning of everything,[3]
but just the start of the present cycle preceded by an infinite number of
universes and to be followed by another infinite number of universes.[4]
The Rig Veda
questions the origin of the cosmos in: "Neither being (sat) nor non-being
was as yet. What was concealed? And where? And in whose protection?…Who really
knows? Who can declare it? When was it born, and when came this creation? The
devas were born later than this world's creation, so who knows from where it
came into existence? None can know from where creation has arisen, and whether
he has or has not produced it. He who surveys it in the highest heavens, He
alone knows-or perhaps does not know." (Rig Veda 10. 129)[5]
The Rig Veda's view of the cosmos
also sees one true divine principle self-projecting as the divine word, Vaak,
'birthing' the cosmos that we know, from the monistic
Hiranyagarbha or Golden Womb.
The puranic
view asserts that the universe is created, destroyed, and re-created in an
eternally repetitive series of cycles. In Hindu cosmology, a universe endures
for about 311,040,000,000,000 years
(one life of Brahma, the creator) and is then destroyed. In a process named pralaya
(literally especial dissolution in Sanskrit,
commonly translated as Cataclysm), days and nights of Brahma, each
lasting 4.32 billions years, repeat for 100 Brahma years (311 Trillion, 40
Billion Human Years) that represents Brahma's lifespan. Brahma is regarded as a
manifestation of Brahman as the creator.
In current occurrence of Universe,
we are believed to be in the 51st year of the present Brahma and so about 156
trillion years have elapsed since he was born as Brahma. After Brahma's
"death", it is necessary that another 100 Brahma years (311 Trillion,
40 Billion Years) pass until a new Brahma is born and the whole creation begins
anew. This process is repeated again and again, forever.
Brahma's day is divided in one
thousand cycles (Maha Yuga, or the Great Year). Maha Yuga, during which life,
including the human race appears and then disappears, has 71 divisions, each
made of 14 Manvantara (1000) years. Each Maha Yuga lasts for 4,320,000
years. Manvantara is Manu's
cycle, the one who gives birth and governs the human race. before & after
each manvantara there's a sandhikal as long as krutyuga & in that time
there is all water on earth. Each Maha Yuga consists of a series of four
shorter yugas, or ages. The yugas get progressively worse from a
moral point of view as one proceeds from one yuga to another. As a
result, each yuga is of shorter duration than the age that preceded it.
The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight 17 February / 18 February in
3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar (Year 6898 of the Holocene Era.)
kalpa=ahoratra of brahma. Space and time are considered to be maya
(illusion). What looks like 100 years in the cosmos of Brahma could be
thousands of years in other worlds, millions of years in some other worlds and
311 trillion and 40 billion years for our solar system and earth. The life span
of Lord Brahma,
the creator, is 100 'Brahma-Years'. One day in the life of Brahma
is called a Kalpa or 4.32 billion years.[6][7]
Every Kalpa creates 14 Manus one after the other, who in turn manifest and
regulate this world. Thus, there are fourteen generations of Manu in each Kalpa.
Each Manu's life (Manvantara) consists of 71 Chaturyugas (quartets of Yugas or eras).[8]
Each Chaturyuga is composed of four eras or Yugas: Satya, Treta, Dwapara
and Kali.[8]
If we add all manvantaras(4320000x71x14), as long as 6 Chaturyugas will be
missing because sandhikaal after and before each manvantara (so 15 sandhikaal).
All matter, i.e. nature, has three basic attributes/forces or gunas –
Satva (mode of goodness), Rajasa (mode of passion) and Tamasa (mode of
ignorance). During brahma ratri, these forces remain in a balanced state. In
the next kalpa i.e. divine day, the three forces get realigned to form
elementary particles called Mahat or Aapah, which combine further to form other
basic particles of this material universe.
The span of the Satya Yuga is
1,728,000 human years, Treta Yuga is 1,296,000 human years long, the Dwapara
Yuga 864,000 human years and the Kali Yuga 432,000 human years.[9]
When Manu perishes at the end of his life, Brahma
creates the next Manu and the cycle continues until all fourteen Manus and the Universe
perish by the end of Bramha's day. When 'night' falls, Brahma goes to sleep for
a period of 4.32 billion years, which is a period of time equal one day (of
Brahma) and the lives of fourteen Manus. The next 'morning', Brahma creates
fourteen additional Manus in sequence just as he has done on the previous
'day'. The cycle goes on for 100 'divine years' at the end of which Brahma
perishes and is regenerated. Bramha's entire life equals 311 trillion, 40
billion years. Thus a second of Brahmā is 98,630 years. Once Brahma dies there
is an equal period of unmanifestation for 311 trillion, 40 billion years, until
the next Bramha is created. During one life of Brahma there are 504 000 Manus
(Vedic "Adams")
are changing, there are 5040 Manus are changing during one year of Brahma, and
420 Manus manifest during one month of Brahmā. (See: List of numbers in Hindu scriptures for more such numeric details).
The present period is the Kali
Yuga or last era in one of the 71 Chaturyugis (set of four Yugas/eras) in
the life one of the fourteen Manus. The current Manu is said to be the seventh
Manu and his name is Vaivasvata.[10]
According to Aryabhata,
the Kali Yuga began in 3102 BC, at the end of the Dvapara Yuga
that was marked by the disappearance of Krishna
Aryabhata's date is widely repeated in modern Hinduism.
The beginning of the new Yuga
(era) is known as "Yugadi/Ugadi", and is celebrated every year
on the first day (Paadyami) of the first month (Chaitramu) of the 12-month
annual cycle. But this is a disambiguation for beginning of new year in
lunisolar calendar followed by most Hindus. The Ugadi of 1999 begins the year 1921 of the
Shalivahana era (5101 Kali Yuga, 1999 AD). The end of the Kali Yuga is 426,899
years from 1921.[11]
Time
calculations of Universe
There are two Kalpa in a day of
Brahma (one day and one night).
1 Kalpa = 1000 Chaturyugis
= 14 Manvantars + Buffer periods of 6 Chaturyugis
1 Manvantar = 71 Chaturyugis;
and 1 Chaturyugi = 4,320,000
years
Each Chaturyugi is subdivided into
four Yugas:
- Satya Yuga (Krita Yuga):- 1,728,000 Human years
- Treta Yuga:- 1,296,000 Human years
- Dwapara Yuga:- 864,000 Human years
- Kali Yuga:- 432,000 Human years (as of 2015, 5,117 years have passed; 426,883 years remain). Kaliyuga started in 3102 B.C.
Of the 14 Manvantars, the universe
expands for the first seven, remains stagnant during the buffer period of 6
Chaturyugis and then contracts for the next seven Manvantars.
At present, Kaliyuga of the 28th
Chaturyugi of the 7th Manvantar is in progress. After the 7th Manvantar, the
universe will stop expanding for 6 Chaturyugis and then will contract for the
rest.
Evolution in cosmological order
Living organisms or life is not
present in all the manvantara. In the first manvantara, sky takes form, air
in the second manvantara, followed subsequently by ocean in the third,fire
in the fourth manvantara and earth in the fifth manvantara. In this way
five basic gross elements are formed in the first five manvantras. Vegetation
start appearing in the sixth manvantara. In the seventh manvantara animal
species including humans appears. Then in the following
manvantaras the reverse process takes place, animal disappears in the eighth
manvantara, vegetation disappears in the seventh manvantara. This is followed
by the disappearance of the five gross elements in reverse order.
Further
elaborations from the Vedic texts
Rig
Veda
The Nasadiya Sukta
of the Rig Veda
describes the origin of the universe. The Rig Veda's view of the cosmos also
sees one true divine principle self-projecting as the divine word, Vaak,
'birthing' the cosmos that we know, from the monistic
Hiranyagarbha or Golden Egg.[12]
The Universe is preserved by Vishnu
(The God of Preservation) and destroyed by Shiva (The God of Destruction). These
three constitute the holy trinity (Trimurti)
of the Hindu religion. Once the Universe has been destroyed by Shiva, Brahma
starts the creation once again. This creation-destruction cycle repeats itself
almost endlessly as described in the section above on Brahma,
Manu and the Yugas.
The
Puranas
The later Puranic
view asserts that the Universe is created, destroyed, and re-created in an
eternally repetitive series of cycles. In Hindu cosmology, a universe endures
for about 311,040,000,000,000 years—one life of Brahma,
the creator, and is then destroyed.
A process named Pralaya
(Cataclysm) is the successive passage of days and nights of Brahma along
with the associated deaths and rebirths. It repeats for 100 Brahma years (311
trillion, 40 billion human years) and represents Brahma's lifespan. Brahma is
the creator but not necessarily regarded as God in Hinduism
because there are said to be many creations. Instead, he is regarded as a
creation of the Supreme God or Para Brahman.
We are currently believed[13] to be in the 51st year of the present
Brahma's life and so about 158.7 trillion years have allegedly elapsed since
the birth of Brahma. After Brahma's "death", it is necessary that
another 100 Brahma years pass until he is reborn and the whole creation begins
anew. This process is repeated again and again, forever.
Brahma's day is divided in one
thousand cycles (Maha Yuga, or the Great Year). Maha Yuga, during which life,
including the human race appears and then disappears, made of 14 Manvantarahas
each has 71 divisions. Each Maha Yuga lasts for 4,320,000 years. Manvantara is Manu's
cycle, the one who gives birth and governs the human race.
Each Maha Yuga consists of a series
of four shorter yugas, or ages as described earlier. The degree of happiness,
prosperity and righteousness progressively decays as one proceeds from one yuga
to another. Each yuga is of shorter duration than the age that preceded it. The
current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight 17 February / 18 February in
3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. (Year 6898 of the Holocene Era.)
Only some Puranas describe a universe
that is cyclical or oscillating and infinite in time. The universe is described as a cosmic egg
that cycles between expansion and total collapse. It expanded from a
concentrated form — a point called a Bindu.
The universe, as a living entity, is bound to the perpetual cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
The Padma Purana discusses the number of different types of life-forms in
the universe. According to the Padma Purana, there are 8,400,000 life-form species, 900,000 of which
are aquatic ones; 2,000,000 are trees and plants; 1,100,000 are small living
insects species; 1,000,000 are birds; 3,000,000 are beasts and reptiles; and
400,000 are mammal species. [14]
Multiverse
in Hinduism
The concept of multiverses
is mentioned many times in Hindu Puranic
literature, such as in the Bhagavata Purana (400–1000 CE):
Every universe is covered by seven
layers — earth, water, fire, air, sky, the total energy and false ego — each
ten times greater than the previous one. There are innumerable universes
besides this one, and although they are unlimitedly large, they move about like
atoms in You. Therefore You are called unlimited (Bhagavata Purana 6.16.37)
After separating the different
universes, the gigantic universal form of the Lord, which came out of the
causal ocean, the place of appearance for the first puruṣa-avatāra,
entered into each of the separate universes, desiring to lie on the
created transcendental water
(Bhagavata Purana 2.10.10)
The number of universes seems to be
uncountable, immeasurable, or incalculable according to the Puranic literature:
Even though over a period of time I
might count all the atoms of the universe, I could not count all of My
opulences which I manifest within innumerable universes (Bhagavata Purana 11.16.39)
Analogies to describe multiple
universes also exist in the Puranic literature:
What am I, a small creature
measuring seven spans of my own hand? I am enclosed in a potlike universe
composed of material nature, the total material energy, false ego, ether, air,
water and earth. And what is Your glory? Unlimited universes pass
through the pores of Your body just as particles of dust pass through the
openings of a screened window
(Bhagavata Purana 10.14.11)
Because You are unlimited, neither
the lords of heaven nor even You Yourself can ever reach the end of Your
glories. The countless universes, each enveloped in its shell, are
compelled by the wheel of time to wander within You, like particles of dust
blowing about in the sky. The śrutis, following their method of eliminating
everything separate from the Supreme, become successful by revealing You as
their final conclusion
(Bhagavata Purana 10.87.41)
The layers or elements covering the universes
are each ten times thicker than the one before, and all the universes clustered
together appear like atoms in a huge combination (Bhagavata Purana 3.11.41)
Yoga Vashishtha, the text which
states conversations between Vashistha,
a rig vedic teacher, and various Gods and Kakbhusundi, a creature which stands
outside of normal time and sees all. It recounts the cyclical nature of time,
where Kakabhushundi has seen Ramayan 11 times with different outcomes and seen
Mahabharat 16 times with different results, but, after seeing Daksha Yagya
twice, he did not either care to see it again or saw no point to seeing any
more, as it ended the same way each time. Further conversations talk about the
atoms or anu at quantum level and inside each quantum level are different
universes. A sorrowful queen is shown that her husband is still alive in one of
the quantum or atomic universes and ruling wisely and is given the option to
join him there. The idea of Heisenberg's Principle is enunciated when a rishi
visits and illustrates a decision tree by showing how several parallel
universes, with all possible results of a decision, could occur and uses that
illustration to explain why he took the decision he did in this universe.
Reception
Science writers Carl Sagan
and Fritjof Capra have pointed out similarities between the latest scientific
understanding of the age of the universe, and the Hindu concept of a "day
and night of Brahma", which is much closer to the current known age of the
universe than other creation views. The days and nights of Brahma posit a view
of the universe that is divinely created, and is not strictly evolutionary, but
an ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth of the universe. According to
Sagan:
The Hindu dharma is one of the world's great faiths
dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an
infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only dharma in which time
scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from
our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years
long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since
the Big Bang.[15]