CYCLES OF CHANGE
THE YUGA FORM OF YOGA
TIME AS UNDERSTOOD IN VAIŚŅAVA VEDĀNTA
By STEVEN J. ROSEN
Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds...
Śrī Krśna Bhagavad Gīta 11.32
Reprinted with permission from Namarupa Magazine, Namarupa, Inc.
In contrast to the western concept of linear time, the sacred texts of India view reality from the perspective of cycles called yugas. Apropos of this, our current cycle of history is seen as one of many stages that recur eternally. Ages turn into new ages, and then back again. Nature shows hints of this throughout life: the seasons repeat themselves, the days of the week recur perpetually, as day turns into night and then day again.
Interestingly, the notion of the world expanding and contracting in perpetual cycles has a parallel in modern science. There has been a recent return to such ideas by physicists Paul Steinhardt (Princeton) and Neil Turok (Cambridge). Steinhardt, in particular, now espouses what he calls "the Cyclical Universe Theory," which seeks to explain recently uncovered flaws in prior theories of origin and evolution, and which has much in common with ancient Hindu paradigms of time. (See his work "A Brief Introduction to the Cyclic Universe" at http://www.phy.princeton.edu/~steinh/).
Indian seers, however, go further, taking the cyclical nature of time as suggestive of what happens to all aspects of reality: life does not end with death; rather, the soul is reborn in a new body. In this way, the soul lives through a cycle of lives, much as the various ages associated with cosmic time tend to repeat themselves. Such truths are also suggested in the world of modern science. The First Law of Thermodynamics tells us that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Thus the eternality of the soul. Newton's Third Law of Motion says that for every action there is an equal and commensurate reaction. The metaphysical extension of this law is found in the law of cause and effect, or karma. Thus, if energy, once existing, does not cease, and if the living being reaps what he or she sows, reincarnation becomes a logical, perhaps probable, step in the passage of time.
Time also unfolds in history, and history moves in a succession of great cycles called divya yugas. Ancient India's religious scriptures give minute details on the length of these cycles. Each divya-yuga is composed of four ages progressively declining in length: Satya Yuga (sometimes called Krita Yuga) lasts 1,728,000 years; Treta Yuga consists of 1,296,000 years; Dvapara Yuga is 864,000 years; and Kali Yuga, our current age, goes on for 432,000 years.
The four yugas have also been called the golden, silver, copper, and iron ages. These are comparable to the ages of the Greco-Roman tradition, which, like the ages described in ancient India's Vedic texts, decline in moral excellence as the round moves forward. People become more and more unfortunate, with decrease in strength, memory, discretion, and a commensurate shortening of their lifespans.
Some say that there are hidden references to these divisions of time in biblical literature, too. The most obvious example is Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:3145). Here we are introduced to a frightening image, a statue with a head of fine gold, a chest of silver, hips of brass, and legs of iron. The feet and toes are said to have been composed of iron mixed with clay. The statue was destroyed by stone, which crushed the feet to dust and caused the pieces to blow away in the wind. Although Daniel the prophet interpreted the various metals as the world empires succeeding Babylon, the dream has also been interpreted as describing the great ages of time. The legs represent the Iron Age, or Kali Yuga, which deteriorates at the end of its cycle into a dysfunctional civilization, represented by the feet of iron and clay.
The classical ages of the West took their names from metals-gold, silver, brass, and iron-whereas the names of the Vedic ages originated from the four throws of an ancient Indian dice game. Those throws were called Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali, signifying four, three, two, and one-one being a losing throw.
We are now more than 5,000 years into that age of defeat, Kali Yuga. According to Vedic texts, in roughly 427,000 years, there will be a partial destruction of the universe, and then a new Satya Yuga will dawn. The four yugas all together (and thus one divya yuga) last 4,320,000 human years. One thousand such cycles (4.32 billion years) make up merely one day in the life of Brahma, the first created being, who, according to Indic literature, lives on a higher planetary system, his life almost half over. Each of his days is followed by a night of equal length. During the night, Brahma sleeps and most planets are submerged in waters of devastation. At the end of the night, Brahma awakens and another day of one thousand cycles commences. Three hundred and sixty of these days and nights make up one of Brahma's years; Brahma lives one hundred such years.
The broad concept of time found in these esoteric Indic texts naturally begins with a discussion of the four yugas, as outlined above. However, the Vedic concept of time goes far beyond the basic yuga cycle. The solar calendar divides the year into six astronomically determined seasons: vasanta (spring), grishma (hot season), varsha (rainy season), sharad (autumn), hemanta (winter), and shishira (cool season). The twenty-fourhour solar day is further divided into thirty muhurtas of forty-eight minutes each. A muhurta is again divided into two ghatis of twenty-four minutes each. Each ghati is broken down into thirty kalas of forty-eight seconds each. Each kala is divided into two palas of twentyfour seconds each, and each pala into six pranas of four seconds each. Each prana is divided into ten vipalas of 0.4 seconds each, and each vipala into sixty prativipalasof 0.00666 seconds each. In this way, time is calculated down to the minutest of measurements.
Although the spiritual world is timeless, all beings in the material world are subject to time and thus suffer repeated birth and death. They appear in the world and gradually go through six phases of life: birth, growth, persistence (staying for some time), production of by-products, dwindling, and finally, death.
Theologically, the Vedic literature discusses time as a potency of God. It is measured in terms of the movements of atomic particles and is identified with the Supreme Himself, or with His all-pervading impersonal aspect. This atomic particle (called anu) is among the fundamental building blocks of material nature. The Srimad Bhagavatam, an ancient Indian spiritual text, elaborates, explaining how atoms take up material space and are consequently subject to time (since time is measured in terms of motion in space). Because both space and time are material, the Bhagavatam connects them to Maya, the illusory nature of created things. In other words, all changes that result from the vicissitudes of time are temporary, like a dream. God and his Avatars-incarnations-belonging to the spiritual domain, are beyond the dictates of time. So are we-but only when we transcend the bodily concept of life.
The Bhagavatam is quick to inform us that, in some ways, time appears in the spiritual realm as well. For example, Krishna, in His pastimes, rises in the morning, milks the cows, eats breakfast, goes to the forest with His friends, plays all day, and in the evening returns to Vrindavan village. This appears to have sequence and thus appears to exist in time. It must be noted, though, that all of these pastimes are said to exist simultaneously. Each moment is eternally present. Since this constitutes an unfathomable concept of time, the sacred literature of the East concludes that, in the spiritual realm, time (as we know it) is conspicuous by its absence. Those who become adept at contemplating this aspect of time become "Yuga Yogis."
One of the most important meditations of the Yuga Yogis is to focus on particular incarnations of the Divine peculiar to each age. The Eleventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam (11.5.32) forms the basis for these meditations, creating a graphic image for the mind's eye by citing the incarnations for each yuga in chronological order-and also by describing them in terms of color, both figuratively and literally.
In Satya Yuga the Lord descends in whitish form (sukla); in Treta Yuga, he is red (rakta); in Dvapara Yuga, dark blue (shyama); in Kali Yuga he is alternately black (krsna) and yellow (pita)-in the forms of Lord Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu', respectively. Along these lines, it should be noted that when Krishna incarnates, all the features of other incarnations are present within him. He is therefore known as the purna avatara, or complete manifestation of God; He is also known as avatari, the source of all incarnations. Accordingly, He exhibits the full colors of the entire spectrum, that is, He embodies the qualities of all other avataras.
The Supreme Being, whether appearing as white, red, yellow, etc., remains the same person. When He appears in different incarnations, and therefore in different colors, He is just like the sunshine. The sun manifests variously, depending upon how and where it shines its rays upon us. Sometimes the colors of sunshine are represented separately; at other times, they function as bright light. The multiple avataras described in the Vedic literature are represented by the individual colors; Lord Krishna by the bright light.
Kali Yuga is considered a special age in that Krishna is worshiped in a very particular manner. His full blackish beauty is augmented by a golden luster-as if He and His beloved consort Radha have merged into one person. And indeed they have, according to esoteric Vedic texts which reveal that Radha and Krishna have combined as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Though they remain separate to relish loving exchange, they merge to experience perfect union.
With Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance in sixteenth-century India, Kali Yuga experiences the dawning of a new era. It is not the recurring Sarya Yuga, which will not unfold for another 427,000 years, but rather a special "Prema Yuga," an age of Love. In the midst of Kali, small clusters of fortunate souls will know ecstasies that surpass those of the Golden Age. They will do so only by the mercy of Mahaprabhu's particularly efficacious method of singing and dancing. This brings us to our final area of discussion: with each age comes a corresponding method of self-realization.
In satya yuga one attained the Absolute through deep meditation. The Lord was close at hand; everyone knew Him in their heart of hearts, and so meditating on Him was second nature. In Treta Yuga, He was achieved through opulent sacrifices. The Vedas are replete with instructions for building gorgeous altars and the execution of intricate ceremonies, led by priests who lit fires with mantras and who knew well the secrets of age-old mystical traditions. In Dvapara Yuga, iconic deity worship and temples came to the fore, with centralized locations where all would meet and praise the Lord with fanfare and luxury. Such praise reaches its climax in Kali, where one attains the Lord through chanting His holy name. All scriptures sing the praises of chanting the holy name. Though the process is simple, through proper chanting one can experience the Lord face-to-face and make time stand still.
'Chaitanya was born of Vaishnava (devotees of Lord Vishnu) parents in Bengal, India in the year of 1486. His whole life was dedicated to the teachings of Lord Krishna. Among the Vaishnava community, Chaitanya is considered a direct incarnation of Lord Krishna. His purpose in coming was to teach that the highest religious principle for the age of Kali was to constantly chant the holy names of the Lord.
In conclusion, god creates the cycle of time in order to establish visions and movements of life, measuring the universe in periodic timeframes. He also uses time to descend in a variety of forms, to inaugurate the yuga dharma-the method of self-realization appropriate to each age-and to create the "illusions" of life and death, time being accountable for old age and our ultimate demise.
By becoming Yuga Yogis, however, we can overcome time, and become immortal, bidding adieu to the cycles that wear away at us. We can become situated in awareness of our eternal nature, beyond the illusions associated with time and space. The cyclic patterns of the material realm are meant to serve a particular end, enabling us to transcend the duality of material nature and become established in Vishnu's timeless reality. ). |
