Vedic Cycle Of Existence

According to the Vedic version, Lord Brahma, the four-headed cosmic engineer of this universe, lives in a body that is subtle, because it is made primarily of intellegence, and he lives for the duration of this universe, the equivalent of 311 trillion of our years, which seem to him to be only one hundred of his years. From our viewpoint, 311 trillion years is an eternity, but from the point of view of Lord Visnu, the original cause of the material creation, that's the time it takes Him to exhale one breath. When Visnu exhales, all the universes come out of the pores of His skin in seedlike forms, then they develop, and when He inhales, all the universes merge within Him.

The purpose of the cosmic creation is to accommodate those souls wishing to assume Krsna's position as the supreme enjoyer and proprietor. Since the constitutional position of everyone is subordination to God, it is impossible to compete with Him. So Krsna makes the impossible a possibility, by creating a temporary illusion called the material world, where we may forget Him and enjoy being illusory controllers for some time.

"Time I am," the Lord declares in Bhagavad-gita (11.32), "the great destroyer of the worlds." Under the influence of eternal time the cosmic manifestation is created, maintained and annihilated at regular intervals.

Time passes differently according to one's situation in the cosmos. Lord Brahma lives for one hundred years, but his twelve hours consist of one thousand cycles of four ages (yugas): Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. A single cycle of Kali, the shortest, yuga, corresponds to 4,320,000 solar years.

The duration of life is one hundred years in the present Kali age; one thousand years in Dvapara-yuga; ten thousand in Treta-yuga; and one hundred thousand years in Satya-yuga. Time is relative to the kind of body one occupies. While Brahma's one hundred years equal 311 trillion of our years, an insect's one hundred years might come to no more than one of our days or less. And on the heavenly planets ruled by Lord Indra, one day equals six of our months.

Time controls and subdues all embodied beings. Anyone can easily see and experience that material bodies undergo six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, reproduction, decay and death. Whether we like it or not, every rising and setting of the sun brings us closer to inevitable death. The rise and fall of civilizations follow the same pattern, and their Taj Mahals, Parthenons, Chateaus de Versailles and pyramids stand as pathetic reminders that time and tide wait for no man.

The four ages are fully under the corrupting influence of time. Whereas Satya-yuga is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion, these qualities deteriorate with the passing of time, and when Kali-yuga rolls around, we experience mostly strife, vice, ignorance and irreligion, true virtue being practically nonexistent.

To correct for the imbalance created by the degrading influence of time, the Lord advents Himself "millenium after millenium." He first spoke Bhagavad-gita to Vivasvan, the sungod, millions of years ago. "I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sungod, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku" (Bg. 4.1). This is confirmed in the Mahabharata: "In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-yuga this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lord Ramacandra appeared." Bhagavad-gita has therefore existed in human society from the time of Maharaja Iksvaku.

Speaking to Arjuna, Lord Krsna further said, "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost" (Bg. 4.2). The Lord then explained that same science again to Arjuna five thousand years ago, and it has been brought to us through an unbroken chain of self-realized spiritual masters, culminating in His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Arjuna raised a doubt concerning the point that Krsna had spoken millions of years ago to Vivasvan. How could Krsna have instructed him? Lord Krsna replied: "Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot" (Bg. 4.5). Krsna remembered acts He had performed millions of years before, but Arjuna could not remember anything, despite the fact that both Krsna and Arjuna are eternal in nature. This is due to the fact that whenever the Lord appears, He appears in His original transcendental form, which never deteriorates. An ordinary person, however, transmigrates from one body to another. And from one life to the next, he forgets his former identity. But Krsna, the very principle of subduing time, is never under the control of time, and thus He remembers everything at all times. "O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows" (Bg. 7.26).

The Srimad-Bhagavatam compares time to the deadly sharp blade of a razor. Because time imperceptibly devours the duration of life of everyone, one must carefully use one's life properly. Since time represents Krsna, using time to search for the Absolute Truth is the best practical use of time. The Narada Pancaratra advises: "By concentrating one's attention on the transcendental form of Krsna, who is all-pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of Krsna and then attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him."