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 by Dr. Rita Louise
The stories of early man's existence as told in epic tales such as the Hindu Mahabharata and Ramayana or the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh are typically viewed upon as being mythic fiction. They are often described as being fantastical stories created by the brilliant imagination of our ancestors who had nothing better to do than to document their flights of fancy.
It wasn't until the 1870's that Heinrich Schliemann, digging in Turkey, discovered a site that dated back to the 13th or 12th century BCE. Schliemann believed this site matched the descriptions of the city of Troy as told the epic tales the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. This discovery changed the course of modern archaeology. It also spurred interest in areas such as biblical archeology, where the search for Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah's ark and proof of the people's, places and things mentioned in the bible could be proven to having existed in our distant past.
In the same breath, contemporary scientists typically pooh-pooh information of a technical nature found in these ancient texts. But what if our ancient ancestors knew something we didn't know? Then who will be laughing in the end.
With 2012 fast approaching, many people wonder what is going on. Books and television shows which talk about the 2012 phenomena discuss what is coming in our near future. This is based upon their interpretation of the Mayan Calendar. Interestingly, they will often refer to Hindu texts, allude to their cycles and timelines, and give the impression that the ancient people of India were in agreement with the Maya. While there are some vague similarities between these two systems of time keeping, they are not as closely aligned as the 2012-ers try make them sound.
There are a multitude of "religious" texts that come from the Hindu tradition. The Rig Veda, the oldest of the Hindu texts, for example, has been dated to having been writing before 4000BCE. This date is based upon astronomical references in the hymns. The Mahabharata, another ancient Hindu text, is thought to have been written around 3100BC. Other texts which lay the groundwork for the Hindu culture also predate the age of "science".
According to Hindu Tradition, the length of time our universe will exist is as one day in the life of Brahma, the god of this universe. This includes the Earth, our galaxy and all that we know of in space. When Brahma awakens, the universe appears. When he sleeps, it disappears. It is also said that one day in the life of Brahma lasts for 4,320,000 years. Remarkably, scientists have estimated the age of the earth as being 4.54 billion years old. They have also determined that life on earth has existed here for approximately 3.8 million of these years.
Each day in the life of Brahma is broken down into ages or yugas. They include: the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dwapar Yuga and the Kali Yuga.
Without going into a lot of detail regarding the math that supports these ages, it is believed that the Satya Yuga lasted for 1,728,000 years, the Treta Yuga, for 1,296,00 years, the Dwapar for 864,000 years. It is also believed that we are now in the Kali Yuga, which started on the day Krishna died in 3102 BC. The Kali Yuga is to last for 432,000. At this time, Brahma will again slumber and our would (what we know of as our universe) will disappear from existence.
Similar to the Long Count of the Maya, each Yuga has a particular characteristic. The Satya Yuga, for example, can be roughly translated as the Age of Truth. It is sometimes thought of as the Golden Age of Man. During this age, goodness and high ideals ruled supreme. Human intelligence and consciousness were at their peak. After 1,728,000 years of enlightenment we entered the Treta Yuga. During the Treta Yuga, there was a fall in man's spiritual consciousness. Moral and ethical ideals began to decline.
As we moved into the Dwapar Yuga, man's level of consciousness was now 1/2 of where it was during the Satya Yuga. It was during the Yuga that man began using what he knew for his own personal comfort regardless of its impact on others. According to the texts, during the final age, the Kali Yuga, man experiences a total loss of spiritual awareness. Trapped in spiritual darkness, we can only comprehend our physical bodies and the object within our physical world.
Meaning "Age of Vice", the Kali Yuga it is characterized by strife, discord and contention. Evil and dishonesty has replaced the truth found in the Satya Yuga. In the Hindu Text, the Vishnu Purana, thought to be written somewhere between 800 and 300BCE, we find a detailed description of the Kali Yuga. Here are a few excerpts for this document.
" The minds of men will be wholly occupied in acquiring wealth; and wealth will be spent solely on selfish gratifications. Women will follow their inclinations, and be ever fond of pleasure. Men will fix their desires upon riches, even though dishonestly acquired."
"The kings of Kali Yuga will be addicted to corruption and will seize the property of their subjects. Then property and wealth alone will confer rank; falsehood will be the only means of success. Corruption will be the universal means of subsistence."
"Princes, instead of protecting, will plunder their subjects; and, under the pretext of levying customs, will rob merchants of their property. In the Kali age everyone who has cars and elephants and steeds will be a Rájá: everyone who is feeble will be a slave."
Based on society today, it seems as if we are well into the energy dynamics of the Kali Yuga and accordingly, we still have 427,000 more years to go. That is, we have 427,000 more years until the universe as we know it will disappear.
Where we are going and how this will play out, based upon these texts, I don't even want to think about... but it seems as if we still have a long road ahead of us. As you can see, however, we will not be reentering the Satya Yuga as has been intimated by 2012 scholars .
Interestingly, also contained within the Vishnu Purana's, more specifically, the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana is a conversation between the Lord Krishna and Ganga Devi. Here Krishna foretells of a Golden Age which is to last for 10,000 years. Krishna tell Ganga that this Golden Age will commence 5,000 years after the beginning of the Kali Yuga. If, according to texts, the Kali Yuga started around 3100 BCE, are we coming to that time period now (2100AD)? Does the Golden Age parallel the period of enlightenment many say the Maya prophesy in their calendar? For all of our sakes, we can only hope so...
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