6

The Brahma Kumaris believe that:

The universe follows an eternal, naturally occurring 5,000-year cycle, composed of four ages (yugas): the Golden Age (Satya Yuga), the Silver Age (Treta Yuga), the Copper Age (Dvapara Yuga), the Iron Age (Kali Yuga) and each represents 1250 years of the cycle. They also believe that at the end of the Iron Age (i.e., Kali Yuga) there will be "Destruction."

Question:

Is this kind of theology supported by any canonical scripture?

Or, from Vedic perspectives, should it be discarded as a purely non-Hindu (nāstika) theological hypothetical-conjecture?

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    You may read the book "The Chronology of India" by Vedveer Arya. The duration of Yuga was not the same throughout the history of India. In the Vedic period, one yuga used to be comprised of 5 years! 20 years used to make a maha yuga. Then it gradually changed. It might sound strange, but it is historically true. It is a well-researched book with references.
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Apr 15, 2022 at 16:38
  • 1
    4000 or 5000 (I can't remember exactly) years maha yuga was the accepted norm once upon a time.
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Apr 15, 2022 at 16:40
  • 1
    Yes. I'd like to read those kind of content. Thanks for the reference. Although, we can't add them on this site as answer sources because there's many restrictions on sources. See this deleted answer of mine for instance., so even if it might be factually or historically true this site isn't allowing any scholarly works @AmritenduMukhopadhyay
    – Vivikta
    Apr 16, 2022 at 14:30
  • Yes, unfortunately, that is true. I read your answer. It is really unfortunate that this kind of stuff gets deleted. You will be surprised to know that even answers with proper scriptural reference get deleted just because it does not fit the "narrative". See this hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/45170/…
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Apr 17, 2022 at 4:20

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Vishnu Puran I.3.8-12

"Oh, best of sages! Fifteen twinklings of the eye make a Kastha; thirty Kasthas, one Kala; and thirty Kalas, one Muhurta. Thirty Muhurtas constitute a day and night of mortals: thirty such days make a month, divided into two half-months: six months form an Ayana (the period of the sun's progress north or south of the ecliptic): and two Ayanas compose a year. The southern Ayana is a night and the northern a day of the Gods. Twelve thousand divine years, each composed of (three hundred and sixty) such days, constitute the period of the four Yugas (ages). They are thus distributed: the Krta (Satya) age has four thousand divine years; the Treta three thousand; the Dvapara two thousand; and the Kali age one thousand: so those acquainted with antiquity have declared."

At the end of each Caturyuga, Vedas perish, and Saptarishis come down on earth to restore the Vedas. Manvantara (One Manu's period) comprises 71 such Caturyugas. At the end of 14 such Manus, one Kalpa (one day of Brahma) is over. The deluge takes place (one night of Brahma), and the universe perishes. It is consumed with fire. After completing 360 such Ahoratras (one day and one night of Brahma), Brahma completes 1 year (Brahma Varsha). The life span of one Brahma (Mahakalpa) is 120 Brahma Varsha. So at the end of this period, Brahma himself perishes. After the death of Brahma, a great flood (Mahapralaya) comes. (from Vishnu Purana I.3 and Manavantara discussion in Puranic Encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani)

The Caturyuga scheme is described in the Puranas. Here I quoted from Vishnu Purana. There could be a slight variation between different Puranas. But overall, this is the scheme.

You can clearly see that scripture talks about a really long period (in human years), not 5000 years!

Your second question, I think, is opinion-based.

Improve this answer
10
  • can you post actual link to online vishnu purana website from which you copy/pasted above verse ?
    – mar
    Jun 11, 2021 at 0:19
  • @mar I did not copy it from an online site. I have the Vishnu Puran pdf. There are many translations available in the internet archive. Manmatha nath dutta, H H Wilson etc.
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Jun 11, 2021 at 4:07
  • 1
    @mar sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp037.htm
    – YDS
    Jun 11, 2021 at 5:38
  • 1
    @Vivikta I could not find in exactly which volume of Katha Amritsaman I read that info. That's why I deleted that info. It was not essential in this answer.
    – Amritendu Mukhopadhyay
    Jun 11, 2021 at 10:52
  • 1
    it makes their job easier if u can link the website (if you copied from website). in this particular case, since you copied from pdf, it's fine.
    – mar
    Jun 13, 2021 at 13:00

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .