TRETA-YUGA (Silver Age)
Duration – 3,600 demigod years or 1,296,00 human years
Life span – 10,000 years
Yuga dharma – Fire sacrifice, Yajna
Yuga Avatara – The yuga avatara is red. He has four arms and
golden hair. He wears a triple belt representing
initiation into the three Vedas. His symbols are
the sruk, sruva, etc.,(ladle, spoon and other
implements of sacrifice).
Symptoms of Treta-yuga
In Treta-yuga the people are thoroughly
religious. In Satya-yuga people are naturally
Krsna conscious. In Treta-yuga they are inclined
to become Krsna conscious. To achieve that end
they are very strict in following Vedic
principles.
DVARPARA-YUGA (Copper Age)
Duration – 2,400 demigod years or 864,000 human years
Life span – 1,000 years
Yuga Avatara – In Dvapara-yuga his complexion is dark blue. He
wears yellow garments. His body is marked with
Srivatsa and other distinctive ornaments, and He
manifests His personal weapons.
NOTE: In other Dvapara-yugas before Krsna’s appearance,
the yuga avatara was somewhat greenish.
The original Personality of Godhead from whom all
other incarnations expand is Sri Krsna. He
appears once in a day of Brahma, during the
period of the seventh manu (Vaivasvata) in the
28th divyayuga. The original Personality of
Godhead Krsna only comes once in a day of Brahma.
Although in every Dvapara-yuga there is a yuga
avatara, they are all expansions of Visnu,
who is an expansion of Sri Krsna.
Symptoms of Dvapara-yuga
In Dvapara-yuga people have the weaknesses of
mortal beings, but they have a strong desire to
know about the Absolute Truth and they worship
the Lord in the mood of honoring a great king,
following the prescriptions of both Vedas and
tantras.
KALI-YUGA (Iron Age)
Duration – 1,200 demigod years or 432,000 human years
Life span – 100 years
Yuga dharma – Chanting the Hare Krsna (Maha) mantra
Yuga Avatara – The yuga avatara for the age of Kali is golden or
yellow. For this Kali-yuga Lord Caitanya has
appeared although He does not appear in every
Kali-yuga. The yuga avatara for Kali-yuga is
generally black. Lord Caitanya, who is Krsna
Himself, appears only in the Kali-yuga
immediately following the appearance of Sri Krsna
in Dvapara-yuga.
Symptoms of Kali-yuga
O, learned one in the age of Kali, men have but
short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy,
misguided unlucky and above all, always
disturbed.
(S.B.1.1.10)
NOTE:
There is a chronological order of the four yugas – Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali. Sometimes there is an overlapping.
During the regime of Vaivasvata Manu there was an
overlapping of the twenty eighth divya-yuga and the third
yuga, Treta appears before the second, Dvapara. When this
happens the source of all incarnations, Krsna, appears.
Every yuga is divided into three periods called sandhyas.
(S.B. 1.4.14)
One thousand divya-yugas equals one day of Brahma. In Brahma’s one day there are fourteen Manus. In each one Manu enjoys a life of seventy-two divya-yugas or 852,000 years of the demigods or 306,720,000 human years. After the dissolution of every Manu a new Manu comes. The seven great sages as well as the leaders in the heavenly planets like Indra, etc., also rotate along with each change of Manu. Thus with the change of each and every Manu the universal management also changes.
In Brahma’s one day there are 14 Manus
In Brahma’s one month there are 420 Manus
In Brahma’s one year there are 5,040 manus
In Brahma’s lifetime there are 504,000 Manus
MANVANTARA AVATARAS
The present age is the Vaivasvata Manu and Brahma’s present day is the Sveta Varaha Kalpa.
14 Manus for this day of Brahma
1) Svayambhuva Manu – son of Lord Brahma
2) Svarocisa Manu – son of Agni
3) Uttama Manu – son of Priyavrata
4) Tamasa Manu – brother of Uttama
5) Raivata Manu – brother of Tamasa
6) Caksusa Manu – son of the demigod Caksu
7) Vaivasvata Manu – son of the sun-god Vivasvan
8) Savarni Manu – son of the sun-god by his wife Chaya
9) Daksa Savarni – son of Varuna
10) Brahma Sarvani _ son of Brahma
11) Dharma Savarni – son of Ruci
12) Rudra Savarni – son of Rudra
13) Deva Savarni – son of Satyasaha
14) Indra Savarni – son of Bhuti
During the period of each manu different sages accept the position of Vyasa or the compiler of the Vedas, Puranas, etc. Thus in the Dvapara-yuga of each divya-yuga a different sage accepts the position of Vyasa.
28 Vyasas of the Vaivasvata Manvantara
1) Brahma 15) Trayyaruna
2) Prajapati or Manu 16) Dhananjaya
3) Usana, Sukracarya 17) Krtanjaya
4) Brhaspati 18) Rina
5) Savitri 19) Bharadvaja
6) Yamaraja 20) Gautama
7) Indra 21) Uttama
8) Vasistha 22) Vena
9) Sarasvata 23) Somasushmapana
10) Tridhama 24) Riksha or Valmiki
11) Trivishan 25) Sakti, father of Parasara Muni
12) Bharadhvaja 26) Parasara Muni
13) Antariksa 27) Jaratkaru
14) Vapra 28) Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa
In the next Dvapara-yuga the Vyasa will be Asvattama the son of Drona.
LESSON FIVE
PART THREE
During Brahma’s one day there are twenty-five Lila-avataras also known as Kalpa avataras because they appear in every Kalpa. Of these Lila-avataras Hamsa and Mohini are not very well known.
1) Catursana – The four Kumaras.
They appeared in the beginning of creation
and are specifically empowered to distribute
transcendental knowledge. They are empowered
with the Lord’s jnana-sakti. They are also
known as Saktyavesa.
2) Narada Muni – The son of Lord Brahma.
He is empowered with the Lord’s Bhakti-sakti.
He is also Saktyavesa.
3) Varahadeva – Sukara or the Boar incarnation.
The Boar incarnation appeared in two
different milleniums. During the period of
Svayambhuva Manu, the earthly planet remained
submerged in the water of devastation, so the
Lord appeared as a white boar and lifted the
earth and set it properly. During the period
of Caksusa Manu Lord Boar was red and He
killed the demon Hiranyaksa.
4) Matsya – The Fish incarnation.
He appeared to show special mercy to
Satyavrata Muni. After the period of Caksusa
when there was a partial inundation, he also
protected Vaivasvata Manu by keeping him safe
on a boat.
5) Yajna – The son of Prajapati Ruci and his wife Akuti.
During the period of Svayambhuva Manu there
was no qualified Indra. So the Lord appeared
as Yajna and took that position.
6) Nara Narayana – The twin sons of the wife of King Dharma.
They are partial expansions of Krsna and
Arjuna. Nara and Narayana Rsis exhibited the
Lords renunciation.
7) Kapiladeva – The son of Devahuti.
He explained the Sankhya philosophy.
Kapiladeva exhibited the Lord’s
transcendental knowledge.
8) Dattatreya – The son of Atri Rsi and Anasurya.
He is a combined incarnation of Lord Visnu,
Brahma and Siva. He spoke on the subject of
transcendence to Alarka, Prahlad, Yadu, etc.
9) Hayasirsa – Lord Hayagriva
At the end of the millenium ignorance
personified took the form of a demon, stole
the Vedas and took them to the planet
Rasatala. At that time the Lord, at the
request of Brahma, retrieved them after
assuming the form of a horse.
10) Hamsa – The Swan incarnation.
Due to bewilderment, Brahma, could not answer
some questions put forward by his sons. At
that time the Lord appeared as a swan and
answered the questions.
11) Prsnigarbha – The incarnation who appeared before Dhruva.
He created the planet known as Dhruvaloka for
the habitation of Dhruva Maharaja.
12) Rsabha – The son of King Nabhi and his wife Merudevi.
His oldest son was Bharata Maharaja of which
the earth was named after – Bharat-varsa. He
instructed his sons to follow the path of
perfection by tapasya.
13) Prthu – The incarnation of the Lord’s ruling force.
Due to the demonic nature of King Vena, the
sages killed him by a curse. They prayed for
the Lord to appear and churned the two arms
of the dead body according to a specific
method and the Lord appeared as Prthu.
14) Nrsimhadeva – The half man half lion incarnation.
He appeared to protect Prahlad by killing
Hiranyakasipu.
15) Kurma – The Tortoise incarnation.
He appeared to become the resting place of
the Mandara Hill, used as a churning rod by
the demons and demigods to produce nectar.
16) Dhanvantari – The father of Ayurveda.
He appeared from the ocean of milk with the
pot of nectar.
17) Mohini – The Lord’s form of a beautiful woman.
The Lord tricked the demons by appearing in
the form of a beautiful woman and asked the
demons for the nectar and distibuted it to
the demigods.
18) Vamanadeva – The Dwarf incarnation.
Assuming the form of a dwarf brahmacari the
Lord visited the fire sacrifice of Bali
Maharaja. He begged three steps of land and
with those steps He took the whole universe.
He is the son of Kasyapa and Aditi.
19) Parasurama – Bhrgupati, the son of Jamadagni and Renuka.
He annihilated the administrative class
twenty-one times because of their rebellion
against the brahmanas.
20) Raghavendra – Lord Ramacandra.
He came to perform pleasing work for the
demigods, protect His devotees and kill
Ravana and his followers. The Lord assumed
the form of a human being and exhibited
superhuman powers by controlling the Indian
Ocean.
21) Vyasadeva – The son of Parasara Muni and Satyavati.
He divided the one Veda into several branches
and sub-branches, seeing that the people in
general were less intelligent.
22) Lord Balarama – The first plenary expansion of the Lord.
23) Lord Krsna – The original form of the Lord.
Both Balarama and Krsna appeared in the
family of Vrsni (Yadu dynasty)and in doing
so removed the burden of the world.
24) Buddha – The son of Anjana.
He appeared in the province of Gaya in Kali
-yuga to delude those who are envious of the
faithful. He also appeared to stop animal
slaughter in the name of Vedic sacrifices by
preaching non-violence and by not accepting
Vedic authorities.
There is also another Buddha incarnation
mentioned. There are seventy-two Kali-yugas
during the period of one Manu. During one
Kali-yuga the Lord appeared as Buddha to
bewilder the demons who were destroying
the inhabitants of other planets by flying
unseen in space ships made by the demon Maya.
25) Kalki – The son of Visnu Yasa.
He will appear in the village Sambhala. He
will mount a horse, Devadatta and taking His
sword, will kill millions upon millions of
bandits. He will also commence Satya-yuga.
NOTE:
During Brahma’s one day there are fourteen manus and
twenty-five Lila-avataras. There are thirty such days in
Brahma’s one month. There are twelve months in a year and
Brahma lives for one hundred years.
One hundred years is divided into two halves. The first half
is over and the second half is now current. Fifty years complete
one parardha. Brahma must complete another fifty years after
which everything will be destroyed.
Thus Brahma’s life span is 311 trillion 40 billion earthly
years. Brahma’s life, however, is calculated to be less than a
moment for the Personality of Godhead. In the Causal Ocean there
are millions of Brahmas appearing and disappearing like bubbles
in the Atlantic Ocean.
LESSON FIVE
PART FOUR
THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF THE UNIVERSAL ANNIHILATION
There are four kinds of annihilation sumarized as constant, occational, material and final.
1) When a person achieves knowledge of his relationship with Krsna or when he understands his factual identity, he is then liberated from the material nature. This is called final annihilation or Atyantika.
(S.B.Canto 12 Ch.4)
At the time of devastation, when Lord Ananta desires to destroy the entire creation, He becomes slightly angry. Then from between His eyebrows, the three-eyed Rudra carrying a trident becomes manifested. This Rudra who is known as Sankarsana is the embodiment of the eleven Rudras. He appears to devastate the creation.
In each creation the living entities are given a chance to go back to Godhead. When they misuse this opportunity and do not go back home, Lord Sankarsana becomes angry and annihilates the universe.
(S.B. 5.25.3)
2) When Brahma’s life span is finished there occurs the Prakrtika or total material annihilation. At that time the entire universal egg is destroyed.
As the annihilation approaches there will be no rain on the earth for one hundred years. Drought will lead to famine and the starving populace will consume one another. Thus they will gradually be destroyed.
The sun will then drink the water of the oceans, of the living bodies and of the earth itself. But the devastating sun will not give rain in return.
Next the fire of annihilation will flare up from the mouth of lord Sankarsana. Carried by the mighty wind, this fire will burn throughout the universe, scorching the lifeless cosmic shell. Burned from all sides, from above by the blazing sun and from below by the fire of Lord Sankarsana, the universal sphere will glow like a burning ball of cow dung. A great and terrible wind of destruction will begin to blow for more than one hundred years, and the sky, covered with dust, will turn grey.
After that, groups of multicolored clouds will gather, roaring terribly with thunder, and will pour down floods of rain for one hundred years. At that time, the shell of the universe will fill up with water, forming a single cosmic ocean. As the entire universe is flooded, the water will rob the earth of its unique quality of fragrance, and the element earth, deprived of its distinguishing quality, will be dissolved.
The element fire then seizes the taste from water and water merges into fire. Air seizes form from fire and fire merges into air. Ether then seizes the quality of touch from air and air merges into ether. False ego in ignorance seizes sound from ether. False ego in passion seizes the senses and false ego in goodness seizes the demigods. The mahat-tattva seizes false ego and thus everything is wound up.
(S.B. 12.4.7-19)
3) One thousand cycles of the four yugas constitute one day of Brahma. During his night Brahma sleeps and the three planetary systems meet destruction. This is called Naimittika or occational annihilation.
(S.B. 12.4.2-4)
When Brahma’s night appears, the sun and the moon are without glare. The sun and the moon do not vanish, they appear in the remaining portion of the universe.
The devastation takes place due to fire emanating from the mouth of Sankarsana. The great sages like Bhrgu and other inhabitants of Mahaloka, transport themselves to Janaloka, being disturbed by the warmth of the blazing fire that rages throughout the universe. At the beginning of devastation all the seas become ferocious and in no time all the three worlds become full of water. The fire from Sankarsana’s mouth rages for 36,000 years. Then for another 36,000 years there are torrents of rain with wind, etc., and the oceans overflow. These reactions for 72,000 years are the beginning of the partial devastation of the three worlds. When Brahma goes to sleep, the three worlds below Brahmaloka are submerged in the water of devastation. In his sleeping condition Brahma dreams about the Garbhodakasayi Visnu and takes instruction from the Lord how to recreate the devastated area.
(S.B.Canto 3 Ch 11)
There is also a partial annihilation up to the earthly planet after the period of each Manu.
4) At every moment time invisibly transforms the bodies of all created beings and all other manifestations of matter. This process of transformation causes the living entity to undergo the constant annihilation of birth and death.
Those possessed of subtle vision state that all creatures, including Brahma himself, are always subject to generation and annihilation. Material life means birth and death or generation and annihilation. The only boat suitable for crossing the ocean of material existence, which is otherwise impossible to cross, is the boat of submissive hearing of the nectarean pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(S.B. Canto 12 Ch 4)
LESSON SIX
STUDENTS GUIDE
The Big Bang Theory
First there was a big chunk of matter which exploded in a big bang. All the pieces of matter were flung out and scattered all over the universe, separately forming whirling clouds of gas and dust which became galaxies.
Then in each galaxy many millions of smaller discs of gas and dust formed around hot centres called suns. After colliding, merging and cooling off over billions of years, these discs of gas and dust became planets, all travelling and orbiting around their own suns and formed solar systems. This solar system is a group of nine planets including earth.
How Life Formed
The earth is born – a molten ball of rock which condenses from a cloud of dust and gas. As the earth cools the crust buckles and cracks, and the volcanoes belch out gases. With further cooling, water condenses and clouds form. Rains come and wash chemicals out of the atmosphere into the oceans and form a `primeval’ or `primordial soup’. Electrical storms form organic compounds, which gradually develop into self-supporting cells. Life thus becomes established.
NOTE:
It is believed that the first living things to develop were probably viruses. And the first true cells resembled bacteria. The first plant life is thought to be algae, found in stagnant pools.
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