In the previous episode, we had witnessed a detailed accord on how Svaayambhuva Manu continues the job of creation as per Bhagawan Brahma’s instructions. As he keeps continuing with the job, there was a time when the Raakshasa Hiranyaksha comes into action and with his powers, he “hijacks” the entire creation and hides it into the ocean floor! He has now held the entire world to ransom. This is where, Svaayambhuva Manu and Bhagawan Brahma run to Bhagawan Vishnu for a quick intervention and Bhagawan Vishnu immediately responds by incarnating as Bhagawan Varaaha, in the form of a huge pig, which is of the strength of a thousand elephants put together. With this immense strength, Bhagawan Varaaha takes on the Raakshasa Hiranyaksha and finishes him off swiftly. Thus, Bhagawan Varaaha brings all the creation back to its original shape and place. With this, the incarnation of Bhagawan Varaaha comes to an end.
As this happens, Svaayambhuva Manu and Bhagawan Brahma are pretty much relieved and with this, the job of creation continues further. In the meanwhile, as the creation continues on and on, we’ve to digress a little bit from this and look into the concept of “Time” or ”Kaala” as explained by Sage Paraashara here. In fact, we’ve witnessed a relatively similar accord during our Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana text, wherein Sage Sukhaachaarya gives an account on “Time” and its parameters of measurements. We shall have a “refresher” session here, so that readers who haven’t got a hold of the concept by then, can benefit as well.
This detail is present in the third Adhyaaya of the first Amsa that we’re discussing here. Now Sage Paraashara explains to Sage Maithreya thus, “Oh Maithreya! Whatever creation that we’ve seen till now – Do you know for how much of time would it exist? Let us keep a simple arithmetic here!” In fact, the arithmetic he’s going to explain here is never going to be simple! It’s going to be a little complicated and we shall see how. I shall try and explain it in a bit of a lucid form for the benefit of our readers. At this point, I would urge readers to take down notes and record it, as it is a complex one to comprehend in the first attempt itself.
The first unit of classification starts with “Kaata” wherein Sage Paraashara explains that 30 “Kaatas” makeup to one “Kalai”. If 30 such “Kalais” come together, it forms a “Muhurta”. One Muhurta is equal to two “Naazhikas”. Thus, 60 “Naazhikas” combine to form one day. This also implies that 30 “Muhurtas” combine together to form one day. This day is what we calculate as 24 hours in the modern-day procedure. Thus, seven such days would constitute a week. Four such weeks would constitute a month. Six months combine together to form an “Ayana”. This is where we have two “Ayanas” in a year – “Uttharaayana” and the “Dakshinaayana”. This is calculated based on the direction in which the sun moves. Thus, these two “Ayanas” or, twelve months together constitute a year. Similarly, around 43 lakh years constitute to form a “Chatur Yuga”. Continuing with this, a thousand such “Chatur-Yugas” combine to form one “Day-time” for Bhagawan Brahma who resides at the “Satya Lokha”. Similarly, Bhagawan Brahma’s Satya Lokha comprises of the day, month, year, etc. and once Bhagawan Brahma completes 100 such years, the world would come to an end and there would be a “Pralaya”!
We can thus witness here how “long” is a day for Bhagawan Brahma! From the above calculation, we can witness that Bhagawan Brahma’s one day is around 2000 “Chatur Yugas” long, which in turn comes to around 87 Lakh years, according to the “year” calculation which we have in this world. So if one day takes this much time to get over, we can imagine how long would one year of “Satya Lokha” take to get over, and subsequently 100 years! Thus, we can witness here that the world is never going to end any soon, as being propagated by a few “scary elements” from some corners of the world! So for today, let us understand this basic arithmetic, and as we move into the next episode, we shall witness the continuation of the arithmetic calculations at a more complex level! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 