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Prologue:
Since childhood, I have had a fascination for the cosmos - the only existential reality. Very naturally, the gigantic timescales of the cosmos have intrigued me. Exploring more into it, I tried to trace the historical mentions of these colossal timescales of billions of years, if any. Surprisingly, only one culture on the globe, proudly that of us, has dared to explore timescales of this order. With time, a cyclical concept here, one more aspect got me engaged, that there are different cycles of time, of which our Earth is bound to a particular one. The cycles of time here on Earth determine the rise and fate of organisms (especially humans). It is measured in terms of Yuga.
Especially those who have a blind belief in certain interpretations of different texts that has absolutely no match with practicality, please don't read forward. It might enrage you or offend you. Here, I will share my journey of more than a decade, some conclusive notes, and some open questions.
The journey:
My first exposure to the concept of Yugas was with books written by devotional societies, that rely solely on belief and not necessarily on facts. It was written that the cycles of time for this Earth when human societies reach their pinnacle and eventually perish, are in the order of hundreds of thousands of years. To be precise, ages were divided into four parts in decreasing order of time - Satya Yuga (1,728,000 Earth years), Treta Yuga (1,296,000 Earth years), Dwapar Yuga (864,000 Earth years) and Kali Yuga (426,000 Earth years). The Satya Yuga, is the most pious amongst all ages, with humans evolved of the highest order, having an average lifespan of 100,000 years! It is followed by yugas with a progressive decline of human consciousness, the Treta, where the average human lifespan is 10,000 years, the Dwapar, where the average human lifespan is 1000 years, and finally with the Kali, which is the darkest age with the most cruelty and ignorance, with an average human lifespan of 100 years. It is said that now we are in Kali Yuga, and it has been just 5000 years out of 426,000 years! (Source)
I was probably 12 or 13 when I read it, and something felt off about the timescale that is being translated here. Even if we try not to reject it, very modestly, it is established today that one of our earliest and most successful ancestors, for example, the Homo Erectus, who inhabited the planet for 1.5 million years, had a lifespan of 60-63 years. We, the Homo Sapiens, are around 400,000 years old, and globally had a life expectancy not exceeding 40 years for the entire history of the species until modern medicine came in to almost double our lifespan!*
It has been recently discovered that there were times when more than 6 species of humans inhabited the planet simultaneously. From all the evidence we have, the oldest written Indian scriptures barely surviving, are around 5000 years old. And if they talk of humans, it is sensible to think that it is about us, the Homo Sapiens. Even if we assume the million-year timescale of Yugas, there is no evidence that ANY vertebrate species, let alone us humans, lived beyond 400 years. Biologically, it is implausible. Hence, the average life expectancy described here is totally beyond the scope of practical considerability.
The problem is when texts from scriptures are mistranslated like these and are aggressively propagated as ultimate truths without questioning, even when every scientific evidence shows otherwise, these mistranslated ideas, which are often very subtle laws of nature, become a joke and get settled into the land of religious dogmas and prevent true scientific inquiry into the essence of what was said. An imposed notion of a belief system often subjugates the profundity which needs an open exploration. This needs to change and this is precisely the purpose of this blog.
Looking at it from another angle, our knowledge of the planet's history and species is often discontinuous. It is a giant jigsaw puzzle, and every day, with the discovery of new forms of evidence and sophisticated methods of analysis, new pieces of facts fit some corner of the puzzle. It seems very plausible that no civilization we know of, could sustain the sands of time for more than a few thousand years, all of them perished; some with trace and many without. Hence, cycles of time of a civilization spanning many hundred thousand years somewhere don't make any sense, archaeologically or otherwise.
There is one more fundamental flaw in this notion. Assuming Kali Yuga to be 426,000 Earth years which started 5000 years back leaves us with almost 420,000 Earth years for this darkest age to end. It is stated that in this Yuga, human intellect gradually dampens up to a great extent, often leading to a significant level of devolution, until society goes into complete darkness in terms of morality, humanity, and the intellect of humans becomes gross enough to be completely ignorant of subtler realities of existence. Negating this proposition needs no big brains, it is clear. Suddenly, over the last 400-500 years, there has been a surprising surge of humans comprehending subtler forces of existence and manipulating them to form technologies that defy sense. And the surge in our understanding that pierced right through the minutest of quantum scales to the gigantic cosmic scales, the technologies that can turn sand into very powerful transistors, forming the basis of complex computational systems, harnessing light waves into communication systems, building extremely complex machines that can slap a fundamental particle with another leading to ground-breaking discoveries, sending men to outer space, you name it! And it is not merely a linear surge, the surge of human knowledge is hyper-exponential. We discovered and harnessed subtle laws like gravity, electromagnetism, and thermodynamics to a great level of precision. Never before in the entire history of the human species as we know of, was it possible to make systems that mimic human behavior with extreme precision and perform daunting tasks with ease, welcoming the age of A.I.! Never before was human life so sorted, so comfortable, so taken for granted! Never before were women as safe and secure as what it is today. Peace treaties make complex global trade possible and political boundaries across the globe are collaborating to create new knowledge in ways that were never conceived of before. Harnessing energies from the winds, by breaking atoms, or from light, in the form of electricity and magnetism, we built devices that are no less than magic. Reaching from one part of the planet to another within a few hours, availing sophisticated surgeries that can save human life in unthinkable ways, including but not limited to tumor removal and organ transplant, we have come a long, long way. And with every passing year, we are running even faster. There seems to be no end to what humans can achieve with collective knowledge being gathered in every front of enquiry. Certainly, there lacks even the minutest of evidence to suggest that we are in the age of Kali.
So, the timespan of yugas as translated and taken forward by devotional communities doesn't make sense, the timespan of humans in each Yugas is even more implausible, coupled with the forced notion that humans are getting into a darker phase of life every day - which is certainly not the case. So, what's next?
That is exactly where I was stuck 5 years back. While I had an overarching desire to rubbish this idea of Yugas, something intrigued me and I couldn't entirely shake it off. I was amazed at why the episodes of the global renaissance started only in the last few centuries and how this century might witness a doomsday as well, owing to severe global warming and overutilization of non-renewable resources. The doomsday might not wash off the entire species, but might certainly give us a fresh start with all the knowledge we have at our disposal, to explore and harness it responsibly. There is certainly a cyclicity in human evolution, but it is of a different scale, which is more explainable and practical. That's precisely when someone recommended the book 'The Holy Science' written by Sri Yukteshwar Giri, famously known as 'Gyanavatar' (one who is an incarnation of knowledge). Sri Yukteshwar Giri was adept in Oriental astronomy and was extremely evolved Kriya Yogi. I quote from his book the paragraph that cleared most of my doubts.
"The position of the world in the Dwapara Sandhi era at present (A.D. 1894) is not correctly shown in the Hindu almanacs. The astronomers and astrologers who calculate the almanacs have been guided by wrong annotations of certain Sanskrit scholars (such as Kulluka Bhatta) of the dark age of Kali Yuga, and now maintain that the length of Kali Yuga is 432,000 years, of which 4994 have (in A.D. 1894) passed away, leaving 427,006 years still remaining. A dark prospect! and fortunately not true."
I had a sigh of relief. He went on explaining the idea with a more technical rigor which I put in as it is down below:
".....We learn from Oriental astronomy that moons revolve around their planets, and planets turning on their axes revolve with their moons round the Sun; and the Sun, with its planets and their moons, takes some star for its dual and revolves round it in about 24,000 years of our earth—a celestial phenomenon which causes the backward movement of the equinoctial points around the zodiac. The sun also has another motion by which it revolves around a grand center called Vishnunabhi, which is the seat of the creative power, Brahma, the universal magnetism. Brahma regulates dharma, the mental virtue of the internal world.
When the Sun in its revolution round its dual comes to the place nearest to this grand center, the seat of Brahma (an event which takes place when the Autumnal Equinox comes to the first point of Aries), dharma, the mental virtue, becomes so much developed that man can easily comprehend all, even the mysteries of Spirit.
The Autumnal Equinox will be falling, at the beginning of the twentieth century, among the fixed stars of the Virgo constellation, and in the early part of the Ascending Dwapara Yuga.
After 12,000 years, when the sun goes to the place in its orbit which is farthest from Brahma, the grand center (an event which takes place when the Autumnal Equinox is on the first point of Libra), dharma, the mental virtue, comes to such a reduced state that man cannot grasp anything beyond the gross material creation. Again, in the same manner, when the sun in its course of revolution begins to advance toward the place nearest to the grand center, dharma, the mental virtue, begins to develop; this growth is gradually completed in another 12,000 years.
Each of these periods of 12,000 years brings a complete change, both externally in the material world and internally in the intellectual or electric world, and is called one of the Daiva Yugas or Electric Couple. Thus, in a period of 24,000 years, the sun completes the revolution around its dual and finishes one electric cycle consisting of 12,000 years in an ascending arc and 12,000 years in a descending arc.
Development of dharma, the mental virtue, is but gradual and is divided into four different stages in a period of 12,000 years. The time of 1200 years during which the sun passes through a 1/20th portion of its orbit (see Diagram) is called Kali Yuga. Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in its first stage and is only a quarter developed; the human intellect cannot comprehend anything beyond the gross material of this ever-changing creation, the external world.
The period of 2400 years during which the sun passes through the 2/20th portion of its orbit is called Dwapara Yuga. Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in the second stage of development and is but half complete; the human intellect can then comprehend the fine matters or electricities and their attributes which are the creating principles of the external world.
The period of 3600 years during which the sun passes through the 3/20th part of its orbit is called Treta Yuga. Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in the third stage; the human intellect becomes able to comprehend the divine magnetism, the source of all electrical forces on which the creation depends for its existence.
The period of 4800 years during which the sun passes through the remaining 4/20th portion of its orbit is called Satya Yuga. Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in its fourth stage and completes its full development; the human intellect can comprehend all, even God the Spirit beyond this visible world.
Manu, a great rishi (illumined sage) of Satya Yuga, describes these Yugas more clearly in the following passage from his Samhita:
[Four thousands of years, they say, is the Krita Yuga (Satya Yuga or the "Golden Age" of the world). Its morning twilight has just as many hundreds, and its period of evening dusk is of the same length (i.e., 400+4000+400=4800). In the other three ages, with their morning and evening twilights, the thousands and the hundreds decrease by one (i.e., 300+3000+ 300=3600; etc.). That fourfold cycle comprising 12,000 years is called an Age of the Gods. The sum of a thousand divine ages constitutes one day of Brahma; and of the same length is its night.]
The period of Satya Yuga is 4000 years in duration; 400 years before and after Satya Yuga proper are its sandhis or periods of mutation with the preceding and the succeeding Yugas respectively; hence 4800 years in all is the proper age of Satya Yuga. In the calculation of the period of other Yugas and Yugasandhis, it is laid down that the numeral one should be deducted from the numbers of both thousands and hundreds which indicate the periods of the previous Yugas and sandhis. From this rule it appears that 3000 years is the length of Treta Yuga, and 300 years before and after are its sandhis, the periods of mutation, which make a total of 3600 years.
So 2000 years is the age of Dwapara Yuga, with 200 years before and after as its sandhis; a total of 2400 years. Lastly, 1000 years is the length of Kali Yuga, with 100 years before and after as its sandhis; a total of 1200 years. Thus 12,000 years, the sum total of all periods of these four Yugas, is the length of one of the Daiva Yugas or Electric Couple, two of which, that is, 24,000 years, make the electric cycle complete.
From 11,501 B.C., when the Autumnal Equinox was on the first point of Aries, the sun began to move away from the point of its orbit nearest to the grand center toward the point farthest from it, and accordingly the intellectual power of man began to diminish. During the 4800 years which the sun took to pass through one of the Satya Couples or 4/20th part of its orbit, the intellect of man lost altogether the power of grasping spiritual knowledge. During the 3600 years following, which the sun took to pass through the Descending Treta Yuga, the intellect gradually lost all power of grasping the knowledge of divine magnetism. During the 2400 years next following, while the sun passed through the Descending Dwapara Yuga, the human intellect lost its power of grasping the knowledge of electricities and their attributes. In 1200 more years the sun passed through the Descending Kali Yuga and reached the point in its orbit which is farthest from the grand center; the Autumnal Equinox was on the first point of Libra. The intellectual power of man was so much diminished that it could no longer comprehend anything beyond the gross material of creation. The period around A.D. 500 was thus the darkest part of Kali Yuga and of the whole cycle of 24,000 years. History indeed bears out the accuracy of these ancient calculations of the Indian rishis, and records the widespread ignorance and suffering in all nations at that period.
From A.D. 499 onward, the sun began to advance toward the grand center, and the intellect of man started gradually to develop. During the 1100 years of the Ascending Kali Yuga, which brings us to A.D. 1599, the human intellect was so dense that it could not comprehend the electricities, Sukshmabhuta, the fine matters of creation. In the political world also, generally speaking, there was no peace in any kingdom.
Subsequent to this period, when the 100-year transitional sandhi of Kali Yuga set in, to effect a union with the following Dwapara Yuga, men began to notice the existence of fine matters, panchatanmatra or the attributes of electricities; and political peace began to be established.
About A.D. 1600, William Gilbert discovered magnetic forces and observed the presence of electricity in all material substances. In 1609 Kepler discovered important laws of astronomy, and Galileo produced a telescope. In 1621 Drebbel of Holland invented the microscope. About 1670 Newton discovered the law of gravitation. In 1700 Thomas Savery made use of a steam engine in raising water. Twenty years later Stephen Gray discovered the action of electricity on the human body......."
Now this is much closer and in sync with observable parameters on which we can draw conclusions. Yet there is a fundamental factual inaccuracy here, which nonetheless doesn't disturb the astronomical calculations. That is, there is an assumption that the Sun has a dual around which it revolves in 24000 years. Well, not exactly. We have very advanced mathematics to study the motions of cosmic bodies and possess the technological capability to observe across billions of light years. There is no dual star to our Sun around which it revolves once in 24000 years. Although it does revolve around the grand center as mentioned, Vishnunabhi, which is very close to the modern finding of the supermassive black hole, the Sagittarius A*. But one revolution taking place in many hundreds of millions of years doesn't make that workable for calculation of Yugas.
Our solar system's primary motion in the galaxy is its orbit around the Milky Way's center, taking hundreds of millions of years to complete one cycle. So what is the 24,000-year cycle? Well, the closest cycle we can think of is approximately 25,772 years is linked to the precession of the Earth's axis, not an orbital period around another star. The precession is primarily caused by the gravitational forces exerted by the Sun and the Moon on Earth’s equatorial bulge. Because Earth is not a perfect sphere—it has an equatorial bulge due to its rotation—these forces create a torque that acts to slowly change the orientation of Earth’s axis. Earth's axial precession can be likened to the motion of a spinning top. Just as a top wobbles as it spins, Earth’s axis describes a circular motion over time due to the gravitational torques. This motion is called a precessional motion. As the Earth progresses, the position of the north celestial pole changes. Currently, the North Star is Polaris, but due to precession, in about 12,000 years, it will be Vega.
Recently, another accomplished Yogi, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, in his 8-day exclusive experiential program of Mahabharat, reconfirmed the above calculations by giving a slightly modified duration of the four Yugas combined as 25,950 years - which is the closest to the axial precession period. With this, there is a general agreement that at present, we are in the Dwapar Yuga, heading towards the Treta Yuga, an age of more advancement and comprehension of subtle forces in existence. According to Sadhguru, we would be entering into the Treta Yuga in another 60-odd years, with the Sandhi period in between, which can be seen in irreversible global warming followed by upcoming massive floods, and destruction of civilization en masse to begin a new age world with more mature and developed humans.
Interestingly, both Sri Yukteswar Giri's and Sadhguru's calculations point to around 11,500 BCE, when the last Satya Yuga is said to have ended. Across the mythology of different civilizations around the globe, there are mentions of a great flood that washed the entire planet around this time. It precisely points to the end of the last Ice Age, thereby reaffirming the fact that the cycles of human existence as observed by saints of the past are not without merit but are a profound result of minute observations of astronomical and other cycles in existence.
Fig: The cycle of Yugas
Fig: The axial precession of the Earth
Epilogue:
However, having explored all the ideas and trying to get to the closest one that can be examined with the scientific tools of today, there remain some open questions:
How is the evolution/devolution of the human brain & human society related to Earth's axial precession? What are those undiscovered subtle forces that would account for this?
One Manvantara is a timescale corresponding to 71 Chatur Yugas (1 Chatur Yuga = 25772 years approximately). For each Manvantara, there is a personification of its existence called Manu. Hence 1 Manvantara = 71 x 25772 years = 1.82 million years, which is precisely the time when the earliest trace of our genus Homo is found. Is this a mere coincidence? Can we say that this Manvantara is of Homo, and there would be future evolution of us into a species entirely different?
Adding to that, it is also said across many Puranas that 6 Manvantaras have already happened. That is approximately 10 million years. The origin of human life, with this definition, is restricted to 10 million years, which is scientifically termed the Miocene epoch, the age of significant diversification of vertebrates and many marine species. However, this doesn't exactly fit the aforementioned calculations and present scientific evidence. How can it be reconciled?
Although nature knows no human-centricity, evolving a brain over billions of years that can ask questions, is flabbergasting. It can go into many tangents, but this blog isn't for those. Most of the Universe makes sense to us, the Homo Sapiens, the way we are exploring it and continue to do so, which might not be the case with any other species. Because all explorations fuel the curiosity of the human mind, the human-centricity of exploration makes sense.
I would be very elated if someone, after thorough research, could give their perspectives or comment on the feasibility of these timescales for their practical relevance. Exploring the fusion of science and ancient scriptures of explorations (not dictate) continue to give me immense joy and I would be grateful if there is someone who can help me give the requisite clarity. You can contact me at lahiri.jb@gmail.com regarding your informed opinions on this which I would be happy to carry forward.
* This might be different from the case of India, because the way life was divided into four ashrams, was suggestive of the fact that the average human life expectancy here must have been around 70-80 years, which is quite plausible owing to the knowledge that people of this subcontinent had.
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