Hindu timeline says that the universe is created and destroyed in a cyclic way (for 84 times) and each cycle consists of 4 phases, namely, Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dwapara-yuga and Kali-yuga. It is said that each phase has a different span running over millions of years whereas Science says that humans evolved from African region only about 500,000 years back. Following questions arise:
- How does one explain this mismatch?
- Or, is it that there were no humans before Kaliyuga?
- Why 84 times?
- What was there before the first cycle of the universe?
- What will happen after the 84th cycle?
Even if we ignore the mismatch between Hindu timeline and the theory of evolution, I am very curious to know what the Hindu saints had to say about "what was there or what will be there apart from the 84 cycles of creation and destruction". Is there any mention of this aspect anywhere in Hindu scriptures?