॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Monday, 3 October 2022 - Maitreya defines units of time and how long an aeon is.
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This chapter gives an inkling of how the ancient rishis perceived Time and Space as a continuum and how the creation is perceived to be in cycles.
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Maitreya spoke:
चरम: सद्विशेषाणामनेकोऽसंयुत: सदा । परमाणु: स विज्ञेयो नृणामैक्यभ्रमो यत: ॥
T:“The smallest indivisible particle in existence is the Paramanu or the atomic particle. It is invisible, but makes up all matter through its combinations.”
“In their natural state, all atomic particles form a single continuum. The bodies we see are all different and separate, but the atoms are all one composite whole (what we call a field!).”
“Time is the potency of the Lord. It can be perceived by the relative movement of matter.”
Maitreya defines the double atom (what we call a compound!) and says that they make up in large numbers the hexaatom called a Trasarenu (the smallest perceivable cluster).”
Relating time to the duration it takes for three Trasarenus to combine by themselves (visible in a window screen against sunlight!), Maitreya calls that time span a truti. A hundred trutis make a vedha, three vedhas make a lava, and three lavas make one nimesha. Three nimeshas make one kshana, three kshanas make one kashtha, and fifteen kashthas one laghu.
Fifteen laghus make one nadika (नाडिका) also called a danda (दण्ड). Two nadikas/dandas make a muhurta, (which corresponds to 48 minutes in our reckoning). Between six/seven nadikas/dandas is one yaama, also called a prahara.
“To measure how long is a danda, we can create an experiment. Take a six pala (weight) pot of copper, use a gold needle of four masa weight and four fingers long, and make a hole at its bottom. Immerse it in a large tub of water. The water will slowly rise within and eventually overflow. The time it takes for the water to overflow is one danda!”
A day and night cycle is eight praharas/yaamas. Fifteen days make one paksha and the dark and bright paksha (lunar cycle) is one maasa. Twelve maasas ( six ritus or seasons) represent the time wherein twelve rashis are traversed by the sun making up one year. During this time, the sun traverses the northern and southern parts of the earth (by shining on the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn as we call it now.) The human being has a longevity of a hundred years.
Two such cycles of the sun make one day/night of the gods.
The sun, moon, stars, and planets- all are in cyclic orbits, under the direction of the Lord. That is the effect of Eternal Time or Kala. Each has his own year (samvatsara).
The sun gives heat and light to enliven all life. He also limits the longevity of beings.
He makes people think about the illusion of transient material possessions and their attachments. He, therefore, shows the path to higher realms. Therefore the sun should be worshipped.
Vidura now has a query about the life spans of entities who live beyond one Kalpa.
Maitreya answers:
There are four yugas, each a thousand years of the gods, that make up one cycle. The Satya Yuga is 4800 years of the gods, Treta is 3600 such years, Dvapara is 2400 years and Kali is 1200 years, together making up 12000 years (4.38 million human years). The transition between two yugas is a few hundred years, called Yugasandhya. They are the best times for all religious activities according to those in the know.
In Satya Yuga (also called Krita Yuga), Dharma stood firm on four legs as everyone was righteous. In each later Yuga, one leg was eroded.
Brahma’s one day (daytime) is one thousand four-yuga cycles. His one night is also one thousand four-yuga cycles.
Brahma undertakes creation at the start of his day. The creation survives through the life-duration of fourteen consecutive Manus, or fathers of mankind. Every Manu lives for seventy-one Yuga cycles.
Each succeeding Manu establishes his rule over the planets. The seven famous sages (Saptarishis), and gods like Indra and their followers, such as the gandharvas, all appear simultaneously with every Manu. During Brahma’s day, the three lokas — Svarga, Martya and Patala (पाताल) — revolve, and the inhabitants, including the lower animals, human beings, demigods and Pitriss, appear and disappear according to their Karma.
The Lord appears as His different incarnations whenever a new Manu takes over. Thus He maintains the universe by His immeasurable and incomprehensible power.
At Brahma’s nightfall, all beings are dissolved and remain in a merged condition. The three worlds are invisible, and the sun and moon have no brightness.
The dissolution occurs by the blaze emanating from the mouth of Sankarshana. At that time, Sage Bhrigu and other such inhabitants of the higher Loka (Mahar) move even higher up to Janaloka to save themselves. The seas become violently stormy and submerge all creation.
As the Lord lies, reclining in Yoga Nidra on Ananta (Adishesha), the inhabitants of Janaloka go and pray to Him.
Thus, we can see that everyone, including Brahma, is bound by Time.
Brahma’s life, called a Brahma Kalpa, is in two parts of fifty years. The beginning of the first fifty was when he came into existence and the Vedas were born simultaneously. Maitreya tells Vidura that the second half of Brahma’s life is going on at present. Brahma Kalpa is also called Padma Kalpa because Brahma emerged from the Padma or lotus out of Maha Vishnu’s navel.
The first Yuga of the second half of Brahma’s life is called Varaha Kalpa. That is when the Lord took up the incarnation of the boar.
Eternal Time can control only those who are body conscious, even up to the Satyaloka or the other higher planets of the universe.
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.
तदाहुरक्षरं ब्रह्म सर्वकारणकारणम्। विष्णोर्धाम परं साक्षात्त्पुरुषस्य महात्मनः॥
T: “The learned sages say that the Eternal Immutable Brahman, the cause of all causes, is precisely the transcendental abode of Lord Maha Vishnu, the Supreme Being, Purusha.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
