paThanthu SaasthraaNi yajanthu dEvaan പഠന്തു ശാസ്ത്രാണി യജന്തു ദേവാൻ
kurvvanthu karmmaaNi bhajanthu dEvathaaH കുർവ്വന്തു കർമ്മാണി ഭജന്തു ദേവതാഃ
aathmaikyabODHEna vinaa vimukthir - ആത്മൈക്യബോധേന വിനാ വിമുക്തിർ -
na siddhyathi brahmaSathaantharE//pi ന സിദ്ധ്യതി ബ്രഹ്മശതാന്തരേfപി
(*1) The basic unit of Vedic cyclical time is the day of Brahma,(Creator of Universe) which lasts 4.32 billion years. The day of Brahma (also called a kalpa) is followed by a night of Brahma, also lasting 4.32 billion years. The cycle of days and nights of Brahma toes on for Brahma's lifetime of one hundred years (36,000 nights), equivalent to 311.04 trillion of our human years. During the day of Brahma, life, including human life manifest.s During the night of Brahma, life is not manifest.
Each yuga cycle is composed of 4 yugas. The first, the Satya-yuga, lasts 4800 years of the devas (demigods) The second, the Treta-yuga, lasts 3600 years of the devas. The third, the Dvapara-yuga, lasts 2400 years of the devas. And the fourth, Kali-yuga, lasts 1200 years of the devas . Since a deva-year is equivalent to 360 human or earth years, the lengths of the yugas in earth years are, acording to standard Vaishnava commentaries, 432,000 years for the Kali-yuga, 864,000 years for the Dvapara-yuga, 1,296,000 years for the Treta-yuga, and 1,728,000 years for the Satya-yuga.
This gives a total of 4,320,000 years for the entire yuga cycle. One thousand of such cycles, lasting 4,320,000 years, comprises one day of Brahma, (the Creator in the Hindu Holy trinity ) whose job is to create this visible and invisible universe and all its dead and alive. inhabitants A day of Brahma is also called a kalpa. Each of Brahma's nights lasts a similar period of time. Life is only manifest on earth during the day of Brahma. With the onset of Brahma's night, the entire universe is devastated and plunged into darkness. When another day of Brahma begins, life again becomes manifest.
Each day of Brahma is divided into 14 manvantara periods, each one lasting 71 yuga cycles. Preceding the first and following each manvantara period is a juncture (sandhya) the length of a Satya-yuga (1,728,000 years). Typically, each manvantara period ends with a partial devastation. According to Puranic accounts, we are now in the twenty-eighth yuga cycle of the seventh manvantara period of the present day of Brahma.
Altogether, 453 yuga cycles have elapsed since this day of Brahma began. Each yuga cycle involves a progression from a golden age of peace and spiritual progress to a final age of violence and spiritual degradation."
This would give the inhabited earth an age of about 2 billion years. Interestingly enough, the oldest undisputed organisms recognized by paleontologists - algae fossils like those from the Gunflint formation in Canada - are just about that old.
kurvvanthu karmmaaNi bhajanthu dEvathaaH കുർവ്വന്തു കർമ്മാണി ഭജന്തു ദേവതാഃ
aathmaikyabODHEna vinaa vimukthir - ആത്മൈക്യബോധേന വിനാ വിമുക്തിർ -
na siddhyathi brahmaSathaantharE//pi ന സിദ്ധ്യതി ബ്രഹ്മശതാന്തരേfപി
Vivekachudamani (1:16)
വിവേകചൂഡാമണി (൧:൧൬)
വിവേകചൂഡാമണി (൧:൧൬)
ശാസ്ത്രങ്ങള് പഠിക്കട്ടെ, ദേവന്മാരേ ഉദ്ദേശിച്ചു യാഗയജ്ഞങ്ങള് ചെയ്യട്ടെ, ധര്മ്മ കര്മ്മ കലാപങ്ങള് അനുഷ്ഠിക്കട്ടെ, ദേവതകളെ ആരാധിക്കട്ടെ, ഇതും മറ്റെന്തൊക്കെ തന്നെ ചെയ്താലും, ബ്രഹ്മാത്മൈക്യജ്ഞാനം കൂടാതെ നൂറു വിരിഞ്ചന്മാരുടെ ആയുഷ്ക്കാലംകൊണ്ടുപോലും നിരതിശയ സുഖസ്വരൂപമായ മോക്ഷം പ്രാപിക്കാന് സാധ്യമല്ല. നാനത്വബോധമാണ് ബന്ധകാരണം; അതിനു പ്രതിവിധി ആത്മൈക്യബോധമേ ഉള്ളൂ. മറ്റുള്ളവയൊക്കെ സഹകാരി കാരണങ്ങളേ ആകൂ; സാക്ഷാല് ഉപായം അദ്വൈതജ്ഞാനം മാത്രമാകുന്നു.
വ്യാഖ്യാനം : സിദ്ധിനാഥാനന്ദസ്വാമി ((C) ശ്രീരാമകൃഷ്ണമഠം, പുറനാട്ടുകര, തൃശ്ശൂര്)
You may learn countless scriptures and study thousands of theologies, You may do countless Yajnas and holy sacrifices and make offerings to Gods, You may be an atheist and go about doing your daily duties or Karma, You may be an ardent believer and do your daily prayers and worships ,But until and unless you understand and realize that God (Brahman or the omnipresent and omnipotent) and You (Atman or soul) are one and the same, You will never ever attain salvation or freedom from worldly existence (Jeevanmukti or Moksha) even if you try for lifetimes of a hundred Brahmas (*1) ( Creator of life)
(*1) The basic unit of Vedic cyclical time is the day of Brahma,(Creator of Universe) which lasts 4.32 billion years. The day of Brahma (also called a kalpa) is followed by a night of Brahma, also lasting 4.32 billion years. The cycle of days and nights of Brahma toes on for Brahma's lifetime of one hundred years (36,000 nights), equivalent to 311.04 trillion of our human years. During the day of Brahma, life, including human life manifest.s During the night of Brahma, life is not manifest.
The Yuga Cycles
Each yuga cycle is composed of 4 yugas. The first, the Satya-yuga, lasts 4800 years of the devas (demigods) The second, the Treta-yuga, lasts 3600 years of the devas. The third, the Dvapara-yuga, lasts 2400 years of the devas. And the fourth, Kali-yuga, lasts 1200 years of the devas . Since a deva-year is equivalent to 360 human or earth years, the lengths of the yugas in earth years are, acording to standard Vaishnava commentaries, 432,000 years for the Kali-yuga, 864,000 years for the Dvapara-yuga, 1,296,000 years for the Treta-yuga, and 1,728,000 years for the Satya-yuga.
This gives a total of 4,320,000 years for the entire yuga cycle. One thousand of such cycles, lasting 4,320,000 years, comprises one day of Brahma, (the Creator in the Hindu Holy trinity ) whose job is to create this visible and invisible universe and all its dead and alive. inhabitants A day of Brahma is also called a kalpa. Each of Brahma's nights lasts a similar period of time. Life is only manifest on earth during the day of Brahma. With the onset of Brahma's night, the entire universe is devastated and plunged into darkness. When another day of Brahma begins, life again becomes manifest.
Each day of Brahma is divided into 14 manvantara periods, each one lasting 71 yuga cycles. Preceding the first and following each manvantara period is a juncture (sandhya) the length of a Satya-yuga (1,728,000 years). Typically, each manvantara period ends with a partial devastation. According to Puranic accounts, we are now in the twenty-eighth yuga cycle of the seventh manvantara period of the present day of Brahma.
Altogether, 453 yuga cycles have elapsed since this day of Brahma began. Each yuga cycle involves a progression from a golden age of peace and spiritual progress to a final age of violence and spiritual degradation."
from the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 3, Chapter 11
This would give the inhabited earth an age of about 2 billion years. Interestingly enough, the oldest undisputed organisms recognized by paleontologists - algae fossils like those from the Gunflint formation in Canada - are just about that old.
(From Stewart, Wilson N. (1983) Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.)
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