This blog entry has been long overdue, since November last year, when I listened to John Anthony West’s (JAW, for short) PhoenixFire show, episode 8, Consider the Kaliyuga. However, I wanted to write a well thought piece and so I didn’t rush into it. I read his article by the same title on Graham Hancock’s website. Among other things, JAW reminds us of his favourite belief that progress is not linear. Progress does not go, in his own words, “from dumb, primitive caveman to smart old us, with our weapons of mass destruction and bobble-head dolls.” To support this, he gives the example of Plato’s concept of ‘Cyclic life’ and the even more elaborately explained ‘Yuga’ concept in Hindu Vedic literature. I agree with this form of life and progress/regress myself and do not believe that we are the first advanced human civilisation this planet has “endured”. You will find this opinion mentioned in few of my other blog entries as well. Human race has reached the pinnacle of progress and then has tumbled off the throne at least once, if not more times, before. As JAW points out, almost every civilisation has legends of ancestors who were more progressed, materialistically and spiritually, than us. Up until recently we have called them a myth, a fantastic invention of some innovative mind etc. only because we were never progressed enough to grasp the ideas in those stories. Only when we exploded our first atomic bomb did we realise that one such bomb, Brahmastra, was used in epic war of Mahaabhaarat. Only when we ourselves fly around the globe in 747s and A380s do we understand that the flying machines appearing in legends worldwide can actually be manufactured and used. These are only couple examples that should help us open our minds and consider the myths and legends more rationally. And, more importantly, not think of us as the most progressed homo sapiens ever.
As illustrated in JAW’s audio show and his article, ancient Hindu philosophy measures the time in ‘Yuga’, age or epoch. There are 4 different Yuga, each characterised by a virtue that is accorded the highest value in each one. (Source: Wikipedia, text in [ ] mine.)
Krita / Satya Yuga: Dhyana (meditation). In the highest yuga, the great majority of people can experience spirituality by direct intuitive realization of truth. The veil between the material and the transcendent realms becomes almost transparent. It is a period free from any kind of unhappiness or misery. [Plato’s Golden age]
Treta Yuga: Yadnya (sacrifice). The Treta Yuga is the mental age. Mental power is harnessed and men are in power. There are inventions that dissolve the illusion of time. Clairvoyance and telepathy are common skills. [Plato’s Silver age]
Dwapar Yuga: Archana (worship). In the Dwapar Yuga, science flourishes, people experience the spiritual in terms of subtle energies and rational choices, inventions are abundant, particularly those that dissolve the illusion of distance (between people and between things), and power is mostly in the hands of women. [Plato’s Bronze age]
Kali Yuga: Daana (alms). In the lowest epoch, Kali Yuga, most people are aware only of the physical aspects of existence. The predominant emphasis of living is material survival, and power is mostly in the hands of men. [Plato’s Iron age]
The occurrence of these Yuga best makes sense when considered as illustrated in the figure at the top which depicts the ideas of Sri Yukteswar. There is some dispute over the time scale of each of the Yuga, the one in Hindu scriptures requiring 4.3 million years for one cycle to finish. Sri Yukteswar revised these estimates to 24000 years in total and JAW feels these are more agreeable. I’m not going to comment on which time scale is correct though I feel the original 4.3 million year one is way too long based on the rate of progress/regress of modern humans in last few thousand years. I keep typing ‘progress/regress’ because that is a relative term and also it will depend on which Yuga we are in right now, which will be clear in some time. The cycle of progress/regress should, logically, go like this: Krita/Satya (descending half) → descending Treta → descending Dwapar → descending Kali → ascending Kali → ascending Dwapar → ascending Treta → Krita/Satya (ascending half) ….. and this continues to cycle. So now based on the “definitions and characteristics” of the various Yuga mentioned earlier, below is my interpretation of what could be happening,
- In descending half of Krita/Satya, a great majority of people can experience spirituality by direct intuitive realization of truth. But the spiritual consciousness decreases over time. The veil between the material and the transcendent realms, which was almost transparent, becomes less so. Communication and experience are still possible through mental power, physical aspect is redundant. It is a period free from any kind of unhappiness or misery.
- In descending Treta, the spiritual consciousness is about 75% of that in Krita [source here]. But mental power can still be harnessed and men are in power. Clairvoyance and telepathy are common skills. But the veil between the material and the transcendent realms thickens. People lean towards reuse of various inventions that allow physical transcendence of time and space.
- In descending Dvapara, people experience the spiritual only in terms of subtle energies and rational choices and spiritual consciousness is reduced to 50% of Krita [source here]. Scientific and technological regress makes lifestyle more materialistic. Some knowledge is lost and science and technology become limited to 3-d of space instead of 4-d of space and time in Treta. People become more warlike. It is definitely not a period free from unhappiness or misery as in Krita and Treta.
- In the lowest epoch, Kali Yuga, most people are aware only of the physical aspects of existence. The predominant emphasis of living is material survival, and power is mostly in the hands of men. Spiritual consciousness is reduced to 25% of Krita [source here]. In descending Kali, whatever remains of scientific and technological knowledge is lost, people are forced to adopt primitive lifestyle, that of cavemen or hunter-gatherers. There are some signs of “religion” in form of rituals whose meaning has been long lost. Then the march of progress begins again, with the ascending half of Kali, which is probably what we know as “history” today.
- In ascending Dwapar, science flourishes, inventions are abundant, particularly those that dissolve the illusion of distance (between people and between things). People experience the spiritual in terms of subtle energies and rational choices and power is mostly in the hands of women. I feel that we are on verge of going into the ascending Dwapar now. Or in fact, it looks like not whole of the human race makes the transition all at once. Some sections of the society and some nations are already showing signs of being well and truly into ascending Dwapar but majority of the world population is still struggling in Kali. May be it always happens that some lead the way and rest follow, which can only be logical reflecting on our history so far.
- The ascending Treta is the mental age. Mental power is harnessed and men are in power. There are inventions that dissolve the illusion of time. Clairvoyance and telepathy are common skills. People become more peace-loving as the ability to transcend time and space makes warring over anything futile. We are obviously yet to reach this stage but we do have examples of such inventions and skills in legends and mythology, which might be from the descending Treta. It is plenty clear that we will only be able to grasp the features of a given Yuga (descending, in the past) when we ascend back to it.
- In the ascending half of Krita/Satya, the highest yuga, a great majority of people acquire ability to experience spirituality by direct intuitive realization of truth. The veil between the material and the transcendent realms becomes almost transparent. It is a period free from any kind of unhappiness or misery.
If we think of life on this planet in such cyclical manner, so many things become clearer. Myths do not seem like myths anymore. According to the article in Wikipedia, “Inventions are characteristic of both Dwapar and Treta yuga. Temples, wars, and writing are hallmarks of Dwapar and Kali yugas. In the higher ages (Treta and Krita/Satya), writing is unnecessary because people communicate directly by thought. Temples are unnecessary because people feel the omnipresence of God. Wars are rare but they do occur.” So then does it not make sense that the archaeological finds are never those indicating very highly sophisticated societies? If things that can be “found” tens of thousands of years later are made only in Kali and Dwapar yuga, how will we ever see an evidence for a society that has attained Treta or Krita/Satya yuga progress? If such finds are a rarity that is only logical! And if they get classified as OOParts that just shows our lack of understanding of the history of human race and the manner in which life has continued on this planet.
Wow. I will probably return several times to read this again. It puts things into an entirely different perspective and indeed makes you look at myth in a different light. Share more of this with us.
Yes, I agree that this post needs more than once read. It took me quite some time to get it right in writing. And yes, I would be really glad if my posts make people think differently about our history, legends and myths … not as legends and myths! If you click on the "unconventional" tag on my post, you should find more such stuff on here. Happy reading :).