rd<\/sup>century BC). But Aristarchus’s Heliocentrism attracted little attention, possibly due to loss of scientific works during the Hellenistic Era.<\/p>\nIn the Vedic context, these time cycles refer to earth. Other realms within the universe have different time cycles. A day in pitralok <\/i>corresponds to one month on earth. Pitris<\/i> are dead ancestors who, though not as exalted as demigods, had accumulated pious credits. A day on the planet of the demigods, devlok, <\/i>is equivalent to one earth year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Megacycles of time<\/b><\/p>\n
The larger times cycles are known as yugas<\/i>. There are 4 yugas<\/i> of decreasing duration, namely, satya, treta, dwapar<\/i> and kali<\/i>. They represent, respectively, 4000, 3000, 2000 and 1000 years in devlok<\/i>. Also, at the beginning and end of each yuga<\/i>, there is a sandhya<\/i> period representing one tenth of the respective yuga<\/i>length. Hence the total length of kaliyuga<\/i> is 432,000 earth years. During the sandhya<\/i> periods, significant events of religious and spiritual significance occur. We are now in the beginning sandhya<\/i> of kaliyuga. <\/i>The Lord incarnated in this period as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to inform humanity that His Holy Name is the only antidote for the vicissitudes and tribulations of kaliyuga<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Caitanya\u2019s mission to disseminate the Holy Name of the Lord around the world is currently underway. <\/p>\n
The sum of four yuga<\/i> cycles is 4,320,000 earth years. At the end of such a cycle, a new cycle starts all over again. Hence, Vedic time moves cyclically, rather than linearly. The next larger unit of time is a manu<\/i> cycle which is equivalent to 71 yuga<\/i> cycles, and hence about 306 million earth years. This is normally the life span of demigods (devtas<\/i> and devis<\/i>). 14 such manu<\/i> periods is equal to one day of Brahma, the first created being in the cosmos. Manus<\/i> are beings created specifically by Brahma, mandated with the task of increasing the earth\u2019s population. One day of Brahma equals 4 billion, 320 million years. Since Brahma\u2019s night is of the same length, and he lives for 100 Brahma years, in earth time, his age is 310 trillion years. According to Vedic estimates, Brahma has lived about half of his life so far, and a similar period will elapse before he dies, Brahma also being under the control of kaal<\/i> (time) and mahamaya <\/i>(the Lord\u2019s external creative potency). Both are insurmountable potencies of the Supreme Lord Visnu. Brahma\u2019s present age is about 155 trillion earth years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The space-time continuum<\/b><\/p>\n
Time therefore, is relative, being experienced at different rates in different planetary systems. There is an interesting anecdote in Vedic literature. A king named Kukudni, accompanied by his daughter Revati, visited Brahmalok<\/i> seeking advice regarding selection of a suitable husband for Revati. He must have accumulated substantial pious credits in order to be able to do so. On arrival in Brahmalok<\/i>, they found Brahma engrossed in a musical concert by gandharvas<\/i> (celestial singers). Father and daughter waited for the concert to end. When King Kukudni finally asked Brahma for advice, Brahma laughed, saying, \u201cWhile you were here, 120 million years have elapsed on earth. Not only your friends and relatives, but your whole civilization has disappeared, and no one remembers anything about you. Earth time has passed you by.\u201d This situation is superficially similar to a spaceship with astronauts, flying to distant galaxies at near the speed of light. On return after one year, they find that everything has changed on earth since thousands of years have elapsed. There is a marked similarity between the Vedic interpretation of time and Einstein\u2019s theory of relativity, a satisfactory explanation of which is outside the scope of this article. <\/p>\n
Vedic time is like a geometric coordinate. All events and happenings, past, present and future, exist, but in different realms of space. They existed, and will continue to exist in the future, all laid out in the space-time matrix. An event which occurred in the past does not disappear for ever from existence, though from humans\u2019 limited perspective, they appear so. The space-time continuum is real, and great rishis<\/i> and munis<\/i>, more powerful than the demigods, known as trikaaldarshis, <\/i>can look into the past and see real events unfolding before their eyes. Likewise, they can peer into the future and see all events that will occur. Narada Muni is renowned throughout Vedic literature as one who can travel freely in the space-time continuum, being empowered to reach even the highest realm of existence, the spiritual planet of Krsna or Visnu, Golaka Vrindaavan, <\/i>where The Lord resides with His most confidential associates, any time he wants. AsTrikaaldarshi<\/i>, he had predicted Krsna\u2019s killing of Kamsa, the Mahabharata and other pastimes of the Lord, before they occurred. He also knows in intimate detail, the pastimes of the Lord during His various past incarnations. <\/p>\n
What about our free will ?<\/b><\/p>\n
If the past and future are already laid out in the space-time continuum, which can be seen clearly bytrikaaldarshis<\/i>, are all events, past, present and future, foreordained and predestined ? Are all living entities puppets on strings, dancing to the machinations of mahamaya, <\/i>the Lord\u2019s supremely powerful external potency ? Do humans act helplessly, like animals being prodded and driven through narrow passages to the electric shock chamber in a modern abattoir, with no other way to go ?<\/p>\n
As humans, of course we enjoy the choice of our own thoughts, words and actions. While a living entity engages in the acts of breathing, touching, smelling, eating, sleeping, evacuating, and receiving, only its senses are engaged with their objects. The soul, atma<\/i>, is aloof from these activities (Gita 5.8-9), and is not under the control of time or material nature. The material body, however, is under the control of mahamaya <\/i>and kaal.<\/i>A human being, although endowed with intelligence, often fails to understand its eternal spiritual self and goal, preferring to wallow in matter and its enjoyment, enticed and encouraged by mahamaya. <\/i><\/p>\n
Krsna knows our destination because He is trikaaldarshi. <\/i>The living entity was originally released into the material realm because it had chosen<\/i> to enjoy separately from Him. Driven by lust and pride, the human is mostly only interested in a better home, spouse, family, belongings and material comforts, thereby allowing oneself to be beguiled and entrapped by mahamaya <\/i>(Bhagavatam 9.8.25). This ensures one\u2019s perpetual wandering and attendant suffering in the material world. Krsna knows the fate awaiting us for each of our chosen thoughts or actions. Since living entities want to enjoy freedom, He does not meddle in our choices, even though he knows each one\u2019s outcomes. <\/p>\n
We exercise free choices but enjoy \/ suffer karmic<\/i> reactions accordingly. Krsna, eager that we come out of the material maelstrom and return to Him, sometimes sends us a devotee or learned sage who shows us the way, enabling us to make informed choices and turn towards Him again, providing us with our only chance to escape from the shackles of material existence. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The whole picture<\/b><\/p>\n
Physics and chemistry understand and recognize only material substances. All material interactions and processes are driven by fixed laws. In Vedic understanding, all actions and occurrences in the universe are influenced by desires of the myriad living entities. A child has independence to act, though most of its actions are predictable, because its parents know everything about it. Likewise, Krsna knows everything about our activities and their outcomes, never interfering with us. <\/p>\n
A spiritual experience is independent of time and karmic <\/i>reaction. In the spiritual world of Golaka Vrindaavan<\/i>, everything is timeless or eternal. The bodies of the Lord and His associates are fully spiritual. Whenever the Lord descends to enact His pastimes, His body is not made from the material elements by mahamaya<\/i>, but created by His internal spiritual potency, yogamaya. <\/i>The pastimes of Krsna, being fully spiritual, are also eternal. They existed during the past, exist at present, and will exist in the future. The word pastime<\/i>, referring to leela,<\/i> the transcendental activities of Lord Krsna, appears paradoxical. <\/p>\n
Caitanya Mahaprabhu referred to the Lord\u2019s body and pastimes as \u201cacintya bheda bheda tattva<\/i>\u201d, simultaneously one, yet variegated. This inconceivable principle is confirmed in the Gita (9.4-6). Krsna Consciousness is the only way to transcend material life and return to the spiritual world (Gita 12.6-7). Exalted rsis<\/i> like Narada Muni, Vyasa Deva and Sukhdev Goswami, celebrated by Vedic scriptures, have instructed us accordingly. We must accept their instructions as absolute, without demur, reservation or speculation. It is unwise to be guided by our or other humans\u2019 limited intelligence and imperfect senses. The verdict of the Vedic rsis have been accepted by the great acaryas <\/i>down the millennia. It would be wise to follow suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![\"Hare](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/kvNmwIL.jpg\")
By Gautam Saha<\/strong><\/p>\n One day of Brahma equals 4 billion, 320 million years. Since Brahma\u2019s night is of the same length, and he lives for 100 Brahma years, in earth time, his age is 310 trillion years. According to Vedic estimates, Brahma has lived about half of his life so far, and a similar period will elapse before he dies, Brahma also being under the control of\u00a0kaal\u00a0(time) and\u00a0mahamaya\u00a0(the Lord\u2019s external creative potency). Both are insurmountable potencies of the Supreme Lord Visnu. Brahma\u2019s present age is about 155 trillion earth years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47224,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47222\/revisions\/47224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/hhOC1kS.jpg\")
<\/p>\n