Bhagavadgita Pages, Chapters 1 to 18
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V.Krishnaraj
08/11/2008
Chapter Eight: Brahman The Imperishable
Brahman from the standpoint of the individual soul is presented as follows. Nyaya Book one, Chapter 1, Verse 22: "Release is the absolute deliverance from pain." Explanation: Absolute deliverance is non-recurrence of rebirth and that is final release. This condition of immortality, free from fear, imperishable (unchanging), consisting in the attainment of Bliss, is called Brahman. Radhakrishnan page 361, Indian Philosophy.
8.1: Arjuna said:
What is
Brahman? What is adhyātma or
Self ? What is karma? O Purusottama, What is
adhibhūta? What is adhidaivam?
Adhyātma is “Self
”. Karma is action. Adhibhūta is the
material world. Adhidaivam is god. Purushottama is the Supreme Being. First,
there is the Absolute Self (Brahman); second, there is the controller Isvara;
third, there is the Blueprint, Hiranyagarbha; and last, there is the Prakara
(Cit and Acit or the sentient and the insentient). This is the scheme of
creation, according to Brahman. Isvara is the manifest form of the unmanifest
Brahman; Hiranyagarbha is the blueprint of Cit and Acit; it is also a name for
Brahma.
When you subtract the body from an object, sentient or insentient, you arrive at Brahman, which is Pure Consciousness and awareness, according to Panchadasi (3.21). When you strip away all the sheaths, Matter (Anna), Life (Prāna), Mind (Manas), Intelligence (Jnāna) and Bliss (Ānanda), what is left is the Witness or the Self (Pure Consciousness)-- IBID, 3.22.
I am sure you have a question like this: Do you mean to say that if your subtract the body from a stone, there is Brahman or Pure Consciousness? Yes. Isvara (Brahman) has as His body, the Cit and Acit (stone in this instance...). Consciousness sleeps in stone, feels in flora, senses in fauna and thinks in man. Sentience runs parallel with consciousness. If you take a man in deep sleep, he is a stone because his mind does not exist; he is not aware of his surroundings; his body senses are on a low or absent alert, or rendered hypoactive to perceive only a high-grade stimuli; his muscles are toneless; he has no speech, no hearing, no sight; and all his biological functions are under autonomic control.
The Uddhava Gita, a discourse by Krishna, elaborates further what Self is.
Dialogue 5, Verses 5.7 to 5.13.
The self-luminous Self is Consciousness akin to fire. The fire is different from the burning log. While the log by itself cannot dispel darkness, flame can do it. Though flame and log are two entities, the flame takes the form of the log. Similarly, Self assumes the form of the body and takes on its attributes; thus ignorant people think that the Self and the body are the same. This identification of the Self and the body is the work of mysterious power of Maya with its co-conspirators Gunas, which are the cause of human bondage and Samsara (birth and rebirth). Knowledge of the Self breaks the bonds. Krishna suggests that one should stop identifying with the body and start identifying with the Self. Here Krishna gives an analogy within an analogy. Guru is the kindler of fire; the aspirant is the log; Guru's Bodhana (teaching) connects the two and induces the fire of knowledge; the interaction produces the spark, the flame, and the fire of knowledge which brings Bliss. When all this is taking place, there is an automatic attenuation or removal of Maya caused by the Bodhana of the Guru. Eventually the fire itself dies for lack of fuel; similarly the knowledge itself dies; only the eternal Self remains.
8.2: Who is the Adhiyajna in this body? O
Madhusudhana, at the time of departure (Prayāna-kale) from life, how can
the self-controlled know You?
8.3: Sri Bhagavan said:
Brahman
is supreme and imperishable; Its nature is (declared as that) of the Self; and
the creative force that makes visible all living material beings is called
karma.
Bhūta-bhāva-udbhavakarah: creating - living beings -
production/ becoming visible
Bhūta-bhāva: creating living being. Udbhava-karah:
productive, birth, becoming visible.
Without karma, there is no material body, because zero-sum karma leads
to liberation of the soul and the complete divestiture of the physical body
T
Notes: In Post Vedic mythology Yama is the Restrainer, Punisher, the Appointed Judge. His abode is Yama Pura in the nether world. Chitragupta reads an account of the departed soul from a book called Agra SamdhAnA (A Register of Human Actions) to mete out a meet punishment. Yama wears blood-red garments and sports a glittering sable hue and appearance. He rides a buffalo and holds a club and noose.
Chitra Purnima
By
Sri Swami Sivananda
THE TWELVE months of the Hindu year, based on the lunar calendar, are named after that star during whose ascendency the full moon of that month occurs. The full moon day of Chaitra month, that is, the Purnima during the ascendency of the Chitra star is particularly sacred to the Chitra Guptas, the recording angels of the Hindu pantheon.
A special worship is offered to these celestial representatives of the god of death (Yama), and an offering of spiced rice is prepared and later distributed as prasad or holy sacrament. A fire worship is done at the close of the ritualistic worship. By the performance of this religious observance annually, these angels of the other world are greatly pleased and judge man’s actions with more sympathy.
The psychological effect of this worship, done on the very first full moon day of every year (Chaitra is the first of the twelve months), is to vividly remind us of the higher power that maintains a constant watch over every act of ours on this earth-plane. This memory serves as an invisible check on one’s conduct. The conception of the Chitra Guptas as located within each shoulder is a powerful inducement to keep oneself engaged in constantly doing good actions only.
The term Chitra Gupta means “hidden picture”. A true picture of all our good and evil actions is preserved in the ethereal records. The Hindu personifies it for the sake of worship. The real significance of the worship of the Chitra Guptas is beautifully brought out in the following story connected with it.
Brihaspati is the Guru or preceptor of Indra, the king of the gods. Indra disobeyed Brihaspati on one occasion and the Guru relinquished his task of instructing Indra in what he should and should not do. During the period of the Guru’s absence, Indra did many evil deeds. When the compassionate Guru resumed his duty again, Indra wanted to know what he should do to expiate the wrongs he had done in his Guru’s absence. Brihaspati asked Indra to undertake a pilgrimage.
While Indra was on pilgrimage, he suddenly felt the load of sins taken off his shoulders at a certain place (near Madurai in South India), and he discovered a Shiva Lingam there. He attributed the miracle to this Lingam and wanted to build a temple for it. He had this constructed immediately. Now he wished to perform the worship of the Lingam; the Lord Himself caused golden lotuses to appear in a nearby pond. Indra was greatly pleased and blessed. The day on which he thus worshipped the Lord was Chitra Purnima.
When you perform worship on the Chitra Purnima day, remember this story. If you have intense faith, if you feel with a contrite heart that you have committed sins on account of ignorance, if you pray with faith and devotion to the Lord to forgive your sins, if you resolve never to commit them in the future, and if you resolve to be obedient to your Guru and never to flout his counsel, then your sins will be forgiven. There is no doubt about this. This is the significance of the above story of Indra. Meditate on this story on Chitra Purnima day.
The Hindu scriptures prescribe elaborate worship of the Chitra Guptas on this day. The Deity is invoked in an image or a kalasa (vessel filled with water) and then worshipped with all the rituals and formalities of the worship offered to God’s image. Meditate on Chitra Gupta, reciting the following verse:
Chitra guptam mahaa praajnam lekhaneepatra dhaarinam;
Chitra-ratnaambara-dhaararn madhyastham sarvadehinaam.
Then offer ritualistic worship with incense, camphor, flowers, etc. Feed some Brahmins, the poor and the needy. Give bountifully in charity and receive the Lord’s blessings.
8.4: Adhibhūtam is perishable, Purusa is
Adhidaiva, and I am Adhiyajna in the body, O the Best of embodied beings
(Arjuna).
Adhibūtam, being matter, is a product of prakriti; therefore,
it is liable to change and destruction. As opposed to Adhibhūtam, Purusa
or Adhidaivam is noumenal, immutable, constant, cosmic, all controlling and Self itself.
It is Sat (Being or Real beyond change). Krishna declares that He is Adhiyajna
(sacrifice in the form of body on this earth); and this Self, seated in the
heart within the individual self, is its controller, chronicler, and modes of
consciousness. (See supplement section on the modes of Self and levels of
consciousness.) Adhiyajna means that all the sacrifices made to the gods reach
Lord Krishna. The Lord is an embodiment of all the Yajnas performed by four
kinds of devotees: Relief seeker, Atman
Seeker, Wealth Seeker and Knowledge Seeker.
Garuda Purana (11.12.11-12) states that among all living beings
Brahmavadin (the propounder of Vedas) is the best followed by, in descending
order, Brahmana scholars, men, intelligent animals and animals. Arjuna is the
best of the embodied beings because he is a Vedic scholar.
8.5: At the time of death, he, who remembers Me
when leaving the body, goes to My being. Of this, there is no doubt.
There is story in the
Puranas and Narayaneeyam about a Brahmana Ajamila with evil ways. He left his
legally married wife and associated with another women and had ten children by
her. He named one of his sons, Narayana, after the Lord. As Death’s (Yama)
ruthless messengers came to grab him, Ajamila yelled out unknowingly (of its
effect) for his son, Narayana, which prompted the arrival of the messengers of
Narayana at his deathbed. Yama’s servants tied him up and were about to haul
him to hell. But the emissaries of Lord Narayana stopped them (Minions of Yama),
who read out loud a rap sheet of evil deeds perpetrated by Ajamila. The Lord’s emissaries
pointedly told the Yamas’s messengers of the utterance of the Lord’s name
Narayana by Ajamila at the time of death. That utterance has the expiatory
power, destroys all sins, and makes the utterer eligible for residence in
Vaikuntha, Lord’s abode and heaven. Yama’s servants went back to their master
and told him about the incident; subsequently, Yama ordered his servants to
leave the devotees of Narayana alone and never to approach them.
நாராயணா. Alvars recommend chanting his name, Narayana, while going to and getting up from the bed. Call him by his name until you sleep. Benefits from chanting though unuttered in sleep are obtainable to the devotee.
Gandhi, when he was shot by a lunatic Hindu fanatic, knew he was mortally
injured and uttered ‘Hey Ram.’
When Draupadi underwent the humiliation of being stripped naked by the Kauravas, she uttered the name of Govinda. Govinda did not appear in person to protect her but the utterance of His Naamam (name of Govinda) offered the instantaneous effect of endless sari. Krishna Himself says, "It is not Me but the Govinda Naamam which helped Draupadi from the humiliation of stripped naked."
Hindus utter the names of Ishta-devata, when they trip, sneeze, fall down, and yawn and this is recommended in Bhagavatam 5.3.12. It is like saying 'God Bless,' when someone sneezes.
Achoo, achoo.---gezhunteit!
Mat Bhāvam: My being
The body of the Lord is made of the universe and beings. Puranas
consider the human body as the microcosm of the body of the Lord. Human body
parts and the cosmos in its parts (Garuda Purana, 11.32.105-119).
|
Soul of
the foot = Atala |
Dorsum
of the foot = Vitala |
Knee =
Satala |
Calf =
Talatala |
|
Thigh =
Rasatala |
Genitalia
= Mahatala |
Hips =
Patala |
Navel =Bhur |
|
Pit of the
stomach = Bhuvar |
Heart =
Svar |
Throat = Mahar |
Mouth = Janas |
|
Forehead
= Tapas |
Anterior
fontanel = Satya |
Shoulder
Blade = The Mount Meru |
Lower
angle of hips = Mount Mandara |
|
Right
angle of hips = Mount Kailasa |
Left angle
of hips = Himalaya |
Upper
surface of hips = Mount Nisada |
Right
side of hips = Ghanda-madana |
|
Left
side of the hips = Ramana |
Bones =
Jambu Dvipa |
Marrow
= Saka dvipa |
Flesh =
Kusa dvipa |
|
Head =
Kusa dvipa |
Skin =
Salmali dvipa |
Hair =
Gomeda |
Nail =
Puskar dvipa |
|
Urine =
Salt ocean |
Milky
exudates/ secretions = Milky ocean |
Phlegm
= Wine ocean |
Marrow
= Butter ocean |
|
Lymphatic
fluid = Rasa ocean |
Blood =
Curd ocean |
Excreta
= Water ocean |
Vital fluid
= Sugar cane juice ocean |
|
Sound
area = sun |
Spot = Moon |
Eyes = Mars |
Heart =
Mercury |
|
Navel =
Jupiter |
Vital
fluid = Venus |
Navel
area = Saturn |
Mouth =
Rahu |
|
Feet –
Ketu |
|
|
|
8.6: Whatever one remembers of being at the time
of giving up the body, similar being he becomes O Kauteya, having always
remembered that being.
8.7:
Therefore, always remember Me and fight (yudhya). You will reach Me
without doubt, if your mind and intellect intent on (arpita) Me.
Krishna says that everyone should always
think of Him, as one performs his duty. This thought will come to the fore at
the time of death and help the individual soul attain the feet of Krishna. Here
“yudhya” means that Arjuna should fight the enemy according to his dharma.
8.8:
He, who is steady in constant practice of meditation on the Supreme
Person with the mind not distracted otherwise and always thinking of Me,
reaches the Divine Me.
8.9:
He, who meditates on the Kavi (sage, seer, or poet), the ancient, the
(inner) controller, the one smaller than the smallest, and the supporter of
everything, and whose form is inconceivable (acintya rūpam), is
sun-colored (Āditya-varnam) beyond darkness.
One should meditate on the Lord. He is the
sage, the most ancient and the timeless, the ultimate inner controller of the
soul, the one smaller than the smallest, the supporter, and the sustainer of
this universe. He is of an inconceivable form, sun-colored and beyond darkness
of this material world.
Brahma Sutra: Section 1 (1-8) reflects what Bhagavan says here in this verse.
1.2.1
sarvatra prasiddhopadeśāt
Sarvatra = everywhere; Prasiddha = well known; upadesat = because of teaching.
According to sacred texts, I am well known and all-pervasive.
This Sutra refers to ChAndogya Upanishad III.14. The text is as follows:
All this is Brahman, who is the beginning, the middle and the end. One should worship Him with tranquillity. Purpose makes a man. Worshipful Purpose stays with him on his departure from this world. (Man is thought, word and deed, which determine his after-life and next life.) Brahman is mind; His body is life-breath; He is Light-form; He is Truth; His Atma is space; He contains all desires, all odors, and all tastes; He is all this--the world; He is without speech, concern, torment or pain.
This is Brahman talking: I remain in the heart, smaller than a grain of rice, a barley corn, a mustard seed, a grain of millet, and a kernel of the grain of millet. This is Myself in the heart, greater than (jyAyAs) than the earth, the atmosphere, the sky and all these worlds.
The individual soul says: I encompass all acts, all desires, all odors, all tastes, and all worlds without speech, care or concern; my self abides in the heart. That is Brahman, with whom I merge on leaving hence.
Thus said Sandilya, who pronounces that the individual soul and Brahman are one. SAndilya says beings and matter come from Brahman, by whom the beings live and into whom they repose. What happens in our next life depends on karma of this life. The Great Soul (Atman) is immanent and transcendent. The end of man's journey is merger with the Self.
There is no person who can describe the Lord
better than the Lord Himself. He is as luminous and self-effulgent as the sun
itself and transcends the darkness of this material world. Vishnu is
sun-colored according to this verse. The sun, the moon, and the fire receive
light from the Lord. The sun-color (Āditya varnam) connotes three aspects
of the Lord: the physical light of the sun, the light of the individual soul
(or jiva or monad or ātman), and the Light (Jyoti) of the Self or the
Lord.
8.10:
At the time of departure, with the mind fixed (on the Lord) in devotion,
by the strength of yoga, with his prāna fixed between the eyebrows, he
attains to Purusam and Divyam.
Prāna is life and breath; Purusum is the
Supreme Person; Divyam is divine. This particular moment in the life and times
of a yogi is penultimate. He is in full control of himself and concentrates his
attention and life-breath on the glabellar locus. According to the
Kundalini
yoga, the glabellar plane is the Ajna Chakra, which is the seat of the mind.
The yogi who rises to this level of attainment resolves (burns) all previous
prārabda karmas, receives Vijnāna or the intuitional wisdom and
knowledge, and earns liberation in this life: This is jivan mukti (liberation
while alive); and he becomes one with the divine. Such a person is Ramana
Maharishi.
Go to Kundalini Power for details. Glabella = spot in the forehead between the eyebrows.
8.11:
I shall briefly explain to you the path, which the Veda Vidahs call
Imperishable (Aksaram), desiring which the ascetics practice bramacharya. They
enter Aksaram by freeing themselves from passion.
Veda Vidhas are those proficient in Vedas.
Aksara is the imperishable word AUM.
Brahmacharya or celibacy is one of the angas, limbs, or steps that an
ascetic has to climb, before he can be called an ascetic.
The angas are eight in all:
(1) Yama, Abstinence
(2) Niyama, Restraint (Dos)
(3) Asana, Body Postures
(4) Prānayama, Breath Control
(5) Pratyahara, Abrogation of contact with
sense objects
(6) Dharana, Concentration
(7) Dyana, meditation
(8) Samādhi, Union or Absorption
8.12:
Controlling all the gates of the body, holding the mind in the heart,
fixing the his own life-breath in the head, and established in yogic concentration,
(continued)
The body, a nine-gated city, has two ears,
two eyes, two nostrils, one mouth and one excretory or evacuative and one
generative organ.
Prana or life-breath as the basis for the proper functioning of the senses is a manifestation of Brahman. Prana by itself is not a whole, as Brahman is a whole (PUrna) and as such is the Life of life (Pranasya Prana). The bodily organs interact because Prana is the common denominator. The medium of interaction is the guna, which has three components: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva (quality of purity or goodness) has a steadying influence; Rajas is motion and passion; Tamas is darkness. Rajas and Tamas have to be suppressed for Sattva to take the upper hand and control the senses so that Prana and senses act in a medium of Sattva. Holding the mind in the heart is cognizing the Supreme Witness (the World Soul) in the heart or Anahata Chakra; fixing the life-breath in the head is channeling the Prana up the Susumna Nadi to the head above the Ajna Chakra; this is the migration of consciousness from wakeful state (jagrat) to Turiya Consciousness, which is the sine qua non of Yogic concentration.
8.13: Anyone, who utters the monosyllable OM of (Sabda-) Brahman and leaves the body, remembering Me, attains the Supreme goal.
Sabda-Brahman is OM. Param Brahman is Supreme Brahman. AUM also represents the Hindu Holy Trinity, A: Brahma, U: Vishnu, and M: Siva. AUM knows neither fear nor death because of which men, gods, and asuras take refuge in it; they sing it sotto voce and have no fear of anything. In Sanskrit A and U combine to form O sound and M gives that resonance. OM is the syllable, the utterance of which helps a soul to penetrate Brahman proportionate to the degree of belief in it, detachment, abrogation of desires and contact with sense objects, and awareness. Its power diminishes with exegesis (critical evaluations). Upanishads (Mundaka 2.2.4) mention that OM is the bow, the jivātman is the arrow, and the Brahman is the target. (A bow must be strong and tensile in that the faith is strong, one has depth, and breadth in Vedic wisdom and life is lived by Sattva. One should sharpen the arrow with devotion; the mind is the tip of the arrow; the goal (target) is silence and stillness.) When the arrow hits the target, it becomes one with the target; the atman becomes one with Brahman when it merges with It.
8.14:
He, who remembers Me constantly lacking extraneous thoughts and is
absorbed in Me constantly, O Partha, is a Yogin to whom I am easily accessible.
His qualities are Jnana (Knowledge), Bala (strength, Tejas (splendor), Virya
(Energy), Aisvarya (sovereignty, opulence), Saulabhya (Easy Accessibility),
Sausilya (Gracious Condescension), Vatsalya (parental love), Krpa (Compassion),
Audarya (Generosity), and Bandhuttva (Friendship). There is no God like Lord Krishna or Narāyana according to Alvars,
for the above reasons:
Note: Vatsalya is a two-way relationship between man and God. God can
act like the tender loving cow (parent) towards its newborn by licking the calf
clean (forgiveness of sins). Alternatively, the devotee can be the tender
loving mother: Yasoda’s love for Baby Krishna.
8.15: The highly perfected great souls, after
coming to Me, do not go back to rebirth, which is impermanent and an abode of
miseries.
8.16: O Arjuna, from the abode of Brahma down, all
worlds (beings) are subject to return (to rebirth), but for the one who comes
to Me, rebirth does not exist, O Kaunteya.
8.17: Those, who know that a Brahma’s day is one
thousand Yugas and a Brahma’s night is one thousand
Yugas, understand (the
meaning of) day and night.
One Brahma's day is one Kalpa made up of one thousand Yugas or periods. There are many Yugas. The period preceding a Yuga is called Sandhya and the period that follows it is Sandhyansa. Sandhya and Sandhynsa are of equal duration for a particular Yuga though they vary according to a particular Yuga. See Table.
One night of Brahma is one Kalpa made up of one thousand Yugas or periods.
Therefore, there are two thousand Yugas in one Brahma's day and night. In
earthly terms, these two thousand Yugas are 8,640,000,000 years long (8.64
billion earth-years). There are four Yugas:
Krta or Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvāpara Yuga and Kali Yuga.
According to Srimad Bhagavatam Book three, Krita Yuga had the highest Dharma,
which diminished progressively by a quarter in the following Yugas with
proportional increase in Adharma. Dharma, compared to a cow, has four legs:
Severe penance, Internal and external purity, Compassion and Truthfulness.
As opposed to Dharma the four legs of Adharma are falsehood, violence,
discontent, and discord
Table:
The Four Yugas
|
Krita Rg Veda was one. |
Dharma
was dominant. No Varna system. Long life span, 100,000 yrs. Golden age-
Krishna (Narayana) of white color. Narayana was the refuge of all and all
sought refuge in Him. No sexual reproduction. A mere mental wish is the
begetter. One Veda. |
|
Treta |
Life span, 10K yrs. Silver age– Krishna of red color. Knowledge more than Dharma is the working principle. Reproduction by palpation or touch. |
|
Dvāpara |
Life
span 1K yrs. World Soul, Krishna of yellow color. Human miseries abound. Varna system
active. Sexual reproduction is the norm. Puranas are popular. |
|
Kali |
Life
span 100 yrs, Krishna of black color 25% Dharma and 75% Adharma. Perversion
in all fields common. |
It appears as if the skin color of Krishna was symptomatic of the deterioration of Dharma from Kreta to Treta to Dvapara to Kali Yuga.
In Kali
age, the Dharma-cow has short stubby legs, only one-fourth its original length
in Krita Yuga.
Table:
The Yugas
|
All in Divine years. for Conversion to years of Mortals, multply by 360. |
||||
| Yuga | Sandhya (Pre) | Yuga | Sandhyansa (post) | Total: Divine/Mortal |
| Krita | 400 | 4000 | 400 | 4800 X360 = 1.728M |
| Treta | 300 | 3000 | 300 | 3600 X 360 = 1.296M |
| Dwapara | 200 | 2000 | 200 | 2400 X 360 = 864,000 |
| Kali | 100 | 1000 | 100 | 1200 X 360 = 432,000 |
| All these Yugas as depicted below are in years of the Mortals | ||||
|
Yugas |
Duration |
Standards |
Color |
Disposition |
|
Krita |
1,728,000
Years |
Age of
Perfection |
White |
Over |
|
Treta |
1,296,000
Years |
Age of
Triad |
Red |
Over |
|
Dvāpara |
864,000
Years |
Age of
Doubt |
Yellow |
Over |
|
Kali |
432,000
years |
Age of
Vice |
Black |
Present |
|
Maha Yuga
(total) |
4,320,000
years |
AUM |
AUM |
AUM |
Note: AUM
is space filler of empty boxes.
Kali Yuga lasts for 432,000 years; this is a magical number in many cultures. Early settlers in Iceland in 8th and 9th centuries established settlements 432,000 Roman feet apart in terms of cosmic relationship.--Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, Page 94.
Kali Yuga started at midnight of 02/18/3102 BC. These Yugas are
cyclical in nature starting from Krita Yuga. Lord Krishna was on earth by the
end of Dvāpara Yuga. As you notice in the table, Krita Yuga is the
longest, four times longer than Kali Yuga, the Treta Yuga three times longer
and the Dvāpara Yuga is only twice longer.
Brahma's Life
and Times
Brahma’s Life Span: 100 Brahma years (311.04
Trillion earth-years.)
Table: The Kalpas
|
Brahma Units |
Kalpa Units |
Man-years |
|
One Day |
1 |
4,320,000,000 (4.32 Billion) |
|
Day and Night |
2 |
8,640,000,000 (8.64 Billion) |
|
1 Month |
60 |
259,200,000,000 (259.2 Billion) |
|
1 Year |
720 |
3,110,400,000,000 (3.1104 Trillion) |
|
100 Years |
72,000 |
311,040,000,000,000 (311.04 Trillion) |
Brahma's day precedes a night of equal
duration. There are two thousand Yugas or periods in Brahma's one day and one
night, which last (4.32 billion years X 2) 8.64 billion earth-years. His
Kalpal one-day (4.32 billion years) consists of
one thousand cycles of all four yugas
and there are fourteen Manvantaras in one Brahma's day. Each Manvantara has its own Manu, Indra, and Rishis. Manvantara means period of Manu
and there are 14 Manus in a Brahma’s day, 5040 Manus in one year and 504,000
Manus in one Brahma's lifetime of 100 Brahma years. Brahma and the attending
Manus and Rishis come and go, but Maha Vishnu remains forever. To restate these
figures in another way, each Manu has his term and power lasting for 71.42857
cycles through a set of four yugas (one Maha Yuga or Chatur Yuga) and in human terms for
306,720,000 years. 306.72 Million or 71.42857 cycles = 4.2941 Million (4.32
Million years a cycle of one Maha Yuga.) Each Manvantara has his own retinue of
descendants, seven Rishis (Sapta Rishis), gods, Indra, and Ghandharvas. It is
like change of administration in Washington, when a new president is sworn in.
When the day's work comes to fruition, Brahma retires for the night with an
infinitesimal amount of soporific called Tamas (One of the Gunas or modes).
When he retires, the whole universe (the three worlds, Bhu, Bhuvah, and Swah)
is absorbed into him. These worlds are consumed by fire emitted by the serpent
God, Lord Sankarsana and the heat is intense and felt in the world above. It
gets so hot in the upper Maharloka, the abode of Bhrgu Muni, that he moves to a
higher and safer location namely Janaloka. The oceans swell and swallow all
three worlds. In the midst of all this devastation, Lord Hari, surrounded and
praised by Sri, Bhu, Rudra, Sanatkumara and others, the usual residents of
Janaloka, reclines on His Snake-bed in the ocean with His eyes closed as
if sleeping and unconcerned, but in reality in meditation and full
awareness (Yoga-Nidra = sleep
meditation with full awareness, one of the Vishnu's Yoga
māyās.)
Brahma is past middle age now. That means
Brahma had been around at least 155 trillion years. In Brahma's life, there are
two halves. In the beginning of the first half, the Lord and the Vedas appeared
in the first millennium of the Kalpa called Brahma Kalpa.
The name of next kalpa was
Padma Kalpa
because the lotus flower grew out of the navel reservoir of water of Bhagavan
Vishnu. The first millennium of the second half goes by the name
Sveta Varaha Kalpa,
because the Lord incarnated as a White Hog or Boar, lifting the earth from the
Rasatala, one of the netherworlds; Hiranyaksa hid the earth in the netherworld. He is now in the second half of his life
and the duration of the two halves of life of Brahma (311.04 trillion years) is
less than one nimesa (less than one second) for the beginningless Lord, the
Soul of the Universe (Vishnu).
When Brahma goes to sleep in the (Brahma's)
night, all planetary systems below his abode, Brahmaloka, are inundated with
water. He dreams about Maha Vishnu who directs Brahma to rejuvenate the
universe again.
8.18:
From Avyaktat, all living entities become manifest at the beginning of
the day. At the arrival of night, they dissolve into the unmanifest.
Avyakta is totipotent, unmanifested and undifferentiated
stem substance. Avyakta (of Brahma) is another name for Sūkshma
sarīra of Brahma, which is the subtle body. Purusa is above it and the
intermediate substances between avyakta and the manifested world are linear,
cascading, branching and reproducible both forwards and backwards. The process,
named Māyā, is enzymatic and transformational. Avyakta is Prakrti or
matter. The primal matter or stem substance is Ākāsa or Ether.
Prāna is the primal force or the all-purpose energy or enzyme in evolution
of material (Ākāsa) from one substance to another substance or
according to Sankya from the fine to the gross material and conversely. The
following elements explain what is fine and what is gross: Oxygen and hydrogen,
two invisible (fine elements) substances, combine to form invisible substance
water vapor, which in turn condenses into water (gross substance), which in
turn freezes into ice. In projection or evolution, the Ākāsa, the
primal substance of the universe, becomes Prakāra in all its forms (Cit
and Acit, both sentient and insentient forms). The universe of the insentient
and the sentient is made of nine substances, such as earth, water, light, air,
ether (Ākāsa), time, space, soul and mind. This Ākāsa is
(sometimes called) undeveloped, imperishable (aksara) and māyā.
Prāna energizes Akāsa for its evolution. Prāna is more than mere
breath, it is life-breath, it is a force, and it is a phenomenon.
The days and nights of Brahma: Two kalpas,
one in the beginning and one at the end of the first half of life of Brahma
(Brahma and Padma kalpas), marked the first half of Brahma’s life. In Brahma
kalpa, Lord Vishnu taught Brahma the Vedas, at which he became proficient; in
the Padma kalpa, there sprang a lotus bearing all the worlds from the water-laden
navel of Sri Hari (Vishnu). The beginning of Vārāha kalpa marked the
latter half of Brahma’s life, when the Lord incarnated in the form of a boar.
All these kalpas in the time frame of the Lord is a mere fraction of an eye
blink, described here as Nimesah, a second. The Time resides in the Lord and
has no control over Him. Brahma meets his maker at the end his life at the age
of one hundred Brahma years. Each celestial being except for Lord Narāyana has a
life span of 100 god-years, which in human terms is of a variable time for each
being. For example, one god-year is equal to 360 earth-years. Please do not
confuse god with Lord Vishnu, who is the God of gods and all living
creatures. Therefore, a god lives for 36,000 earth-years or 100 god-years. Brahma
is above the gods and the longest living being except for Lord Narāyana
(Vishnu), and lives for 100 Brahma years equal to 311.04 Trillion earth-years.
These 311.04 Trillion earth-years is a Nimesah or a second for Lord
Narāyana, who is eternal and beyond Time. The second half of Brahma's life began on 02/18/3102 B.C at
midnight.