Time - An intriguing concept

‘Time’ is an intriguing construct. It has fascinated humans from time immemorial. Time machine and Time travel have caught our imagination. ‘Time Machine’ by H G wells continues to fascinate even the current generation. We take ‘Time” to be absolute and still believe so! When a great scientist like Albert Einstein says “Time is an Illusion”, it is counter intuitive to most of us. Understanding his space-time continuum is all too much for us, the lay people.

It is interesting to see how time has been perceived and adopted since ages.

The Gregorian calendar, is today’s international calendar, named after the man who first introduced it in February, 1752 – Pope Gregory XIII. Before 1752, England and her Empire followed the Julian calendar, first implemented by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. However, this calendar had an inbuilt error of 1 day for every 128 years, due to miscalculation of solar year by 11 minutes! This affected the date of Easter, traditionally celebrated on 21^st March, as it started to move away from the spring equinox with each passing year.

To get over this problem, Gregorian calendar was introduced. This is a solar calendar, based on a 365-day year divided into 12 months. Each month consists of 30 or 31 days with one month consisting of 28 days and once in 4 years a leap having a month with 29 days. This was adopted in many countries like France, Italy etc., in 1582 with Turkey adopting it as late as 1927. As a result, the year 1751 was just 282 days from 25^th March (start date of the Julian year) till 31^st December. 1752 started on January 1.

England adopted this in September 1752, but there was a problem. To align the calendars, England had to “drop” 11 days from the calendar – Wednesday, 2^nd September was followed by Thursday, 13^th September! There are rumours floating that there were riots in England with workers demanding their “lost” 11 days! Quite hilarious to say the least and whether this is true or a myth is not known!

While the European civilization was thus accounting for time, it would be interesting to see what our ancestors thought of time and how they accounted for it. Ancient Indians had the concept of “Yuga” and we had four Yugas running one after the other. It starts with the Krita Yuga, followed by Tretha Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and the present Kali Yuga in that order.

Going bottom up, Kali Yuga is 432,000 years in human life terms.

Dvapara Yuga is two times of Kali Yuga - 864,000 years.

Tretha Yuga is three times of Kali Yuga - 1,296,00 years.

Krita Yuga is four times Kali Yuga - 1,728,000 years.

These four continue in a cycle and together are called a ‘Chatur Yuga’. Therefore, a Chatur Yuga is 4,320,000 Years or 4.32 Million Years!

Kali Yuga started in 3102 BCE after Krishna left Dwaraka at the end of Dvapara Yuga. Since we are in 2019 CE, we have only spent about 5121 years in Kali Yuga and technically Hindus call this “pratame pathe” or first quarter of Kali Yuga. Therefore, we have another 426,879 years for Kali Yuga to end at which time, according to scriptures, Lord Vishnu would incarnate as Kalki Avtar (the original one!) to redeem the world and establish Dharma.   

Once Kali Yuga is over, the Krita Yuga commences again!

1000 Chatur Yuga’s is called a “Kalpa” which translates to 4.32 Billion Years! And, as per our scriptures, Brahma, who created the world, has a DAY consisting of 1 Kalpa and a NIGHT consisting of 1 Kalpa.

If this is not already mind boggling, ancient Hindus have gone even further. And Brahma, lives for 100 celestial years! Thus, the life of a Brahma is equivalent to 2X4.32X365x100= 315.36 Trillion Years in human terms! That is the life span of a Brahma!   

These 1000 Chatur Yugas are managed by 14 Manus and roughly each Manu gets about 71 Chatur Yugas. Each of these 71 Chatur Yuga segments is called a ‘Manvantara’.

We are presently in the first day of 51^st year of the current Brahma, in the 28^th Chatur Yuga and managed by the 7^th Manu titled Vivastha Manu (Vivasvaan). If you think all these are farfetched, you are mistaken. Whenever we perform a Homa or a pooja, we do a sankalpa. This is nothing but a statement of purpose for the pooja much like the SOP’s we prepare to get admitted to prestigious schools. This is what we chant:

Adhya Brahmanaha – Current Brahma

Dvithiya pararthe – Second half of the 50 years of the Brahma

Swetha Varaha kalpe – 1^st day of the above year

Vivastha Manvanthare – ruled by Vivastha Manu

Ashtam vigumsathi thame – 28^th Manvantharam

Kaliyuge pradame pathe – first quarter of kali Yuga

This is followed by the Geographical location of where we are doing the pooja – Bharata Varshe etc., if we are in India and suitably modified if you are in other countries. Can it become anymore systematic and detailed?

If you look at the celestial day of a Brahma, it is 4.32 Billion years in our time scale. It roughly equates to the age of the earth as computed by scientists today! How uncanny! Further, our sastras go on to add that once the life of a Brahma is over, all plurality is resolved and the entire universe goes from a manifest state to an unmanifest state! Remember that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. When a new Brahma takes charge, after a deep slumber as it were, the entire creation moves from a unmanifest state to a manifest state! This is called pralaya and Shristi in the Sastras – what the modern scientists call expansion-contraction; evolution-involution. Thus, the Universe goes in a cyclic form of manifestation and unmanifestation.  The whole Universe goes in a cyclic form eternally!

If you are not astounded by such an imagery and deep insight of our forefathers, please listen to what Carl Sagan, one of America’s greatest astronomers has to say about this.

“The Hindu Religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only Religion in which the time scales correspond, no doubt by accident, 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 Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still.

There is an appealing notion that the world is but a dream of GOD, who after a hundred Brahma Years, dissolves himself into a dreamless sleep. The Universe dissolves with him, until after another Brahma century, he stirs, recomposes himself and begins again to dream the big cosmic dream.” He also goes on to add,

“In India, there are many GODs and their many manifestations. The Chola bronzes cast in the 11^th Century, include several different incarnations of God Shiva. The most elegant and sublime of these is a representation of the creation of the Universe at the beginning of each cosmic cycle, a motif known as the cosmic dance of Shiva. The GOD, called in this manifestation Nataraja, the dance King, has four hands. In the upper right hand is a drum whose sound is the sound of creation. In the upper left hand is a tongue of flame, a reminder that the Universe, now newly created, will from billions of years from now, be utterly destroyed.

These profound and lovely images are, I like to imagine, a kind of premonition of modern astronomical idea.”

What else can one say?

I started this blog using the word “construct” for time. Why is it so? Is Time real? Does it really march onward or as Einstein said is it an illusion? These questions need a serious enquiry!

Now that we are on the subject of Time and since the New Year is round the corner, let me wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!