Intro to Satsang - Time and Space

  • TIME AND SPACE

    • TIME AND SPACE

    The purpose of the description is to emphasize the rarity of attaining the association of God and His saint and influence one to commit his life to devotion rather than worldly matters. If a human birth does not occur in an auspicious place where there is the presence of saints and incarnations of God, one must suffer the cycle of birth and death for 8.4 million lives before attaining a human birth again (Hindu scriptures describe 8.4 million different life forms). This is intended to highlight the extreme importance of this very place and moment in which God and His saint have been met.

    Liberated entities in Akshardham are beyond maya, and so, beyond kaal or time.
    In Swami Ni Vato chapter 6, number 18 Gunatitanand Swami explains:
    1 day of [Mul]Prakruti-[Mul]Purush (or MahaMaya-MahaPurush) = 100 years of Pradhan-Purush
    1 day of Pradhan-Purush = 100 years of ViratNarayan (or ViratPurush = Brahma)

    The Shrimad Bhagavat gives descriptions of space and time as experienced by sages in meditation. Lord Swaminarayan discusses this in the 'Bhugol-khagol' letter, which is given at the end of the Vachanamrut and Harililamrut, kalash (chapter) 6, vishraam (section) 11, verse 12 onwards. Time is described relative to Brahma's life:

    Brahma's TimeHuman YearsAge of Brahma/brahmaand
    1 life is divided into 100 years

    1 paraardh = 50 years

    At the end of Brahma's 100-year life, there is praakrut-pralay    		51st year
    1 year of Brahma is made up of 360 days (12-hours) and nights (12-hours) 1st day
    1 day (12-hours) of Brahma, called 1 kalp, contains 14 periods called manvantar, with a period equal to 4-yug before and after each manvantar

    At the end of Brahma's day (12-hours) there is nimit-pralay    		 4.32 billion
    = 14 x 306,720,000
    + 15 x 1,728,000     		7th manvantar
    1 manvantar is divided into 71 maha-yug or chokdi 306,720,000
    = 71 x 4,320,000     		28th maha-yug
    1 maha-yug is sequentially made up of satya-yug, treta-yug, dvaapar-yug, and kali-yug

    1 satya-yug is 4 times 1 yug,
    1 treta-yug is 3 times 1 yug,
    1 dvaapar-yug is 2 times 1 yug, and
    1 kali-yug is equal to 1 yug    		 4,320,000
    = 10 x 432,000

    1,728,000 = 4 x 432,000
    1,296,000 = 3 x 432,000
    864,000 = 2 x 432,000
    432,000 = 1 x 432,000     		Kali-yug

    Lord Rama incarnated in treta-yug in Surya-vansh (lineage of Surya-deva). Lord Krishna incarnated at the end of dvaapar-yug in Chandra-vansh (lineage of Chandra-deva)
    1 yug 432,000 We are about 5,000 years into kali-yug (kali-yug started around 3102 BC)

    Lord Swaminarayan incarnated in 1781 AD

    1 day (12-hours) = 30 ghadi
    1 ghadi (24-minutes) = 60 pal
    1 pal (24-seconds) = 60 nimish
    1 nimish (2/5-second) = 60 lav
    1 lav = 1/150 second

    14 manus

    Six entities are associated with a manvantar: (1) manu or the head and progenitor of humans, (2) indra or the king of the demigods, (3) devataas or demigods, (4) manu's children, (5) saptarshi or seven main rushis (sages), and (6) ansh-avatars or incarnations / 'part' of God.

    The word manvantar is made of two words, manu plus antar: antar means time or period or separation, and manvantar means "manu's time." The 14 manu for the current day of Brahma are:
    1. Svayambhuva
    2. Svarochish
    3. Uttam
    4. Tamas
    5. Raivat
    6. Chaakshus
    7. Vaivasvat or Shraaddhadev
    8. Saavarni
    9. Daksha Saavarni
    10. Brahmaa Saavarni
    11. Dharma Saavarni
    12. Rudra Saavarni
    13. Deva Saavarni
    14. Indra Saavarni


    4 yugs

    Yug Meaning Approx. life of humans in years
    1. Satya-yug 'Age of goodness' where all lived a good/pious life 100,000
    2. Tretaa-yug 'Age of three' where bad deeds are appearing (three-fourth are good) 10,000
    3. Dvaapar-yug 'Age after the second' or the third age 1,000
    4. Kali-yug 'Age of darkness' where there is rampant ignorance 100


    4 pralays

    1. Nitya-pralay is the regular death of souls and demigods.
    2. At the end of Brahma's 12-hour day, called nimit-pralay, all 10 lower loks of a brahmaand (world) are destroyed (i.e. all souls and demigods of a brahmaand that belong to the lower 10 loks enter a dormant state).
    3. At the end of Brahma's 100-year life, called praakrut-pralay, all 14 loks of a brahmaand are destroyed (i.e. all souls and demigods of a brahmaand enter a dormant state).
    4. Atyaantik-pralay is the destruction of infinite brahmaands (worlds), when all souls and demigods under maya enter a dormant stage.

    Mrutyu-lok (the level where humans reside) is comprised of 7 concentric dvips or islands surrounded by oceans. The central dvip, Jambu-dvip, is comprised of 9 khands or lands. Of them, the southernmost khand, Bharat-khand, consists of several deshs or regions. 13 regions are anaarya or common and 12.5 are aarya or auspicious. Humans in these deshs of Bharat-khand of Jambu-dvip of Mrutyu-lok are most fortunate because they have the opportunity to attain liberation due to the constant presence of saints and incarnations of God.

    14 loks

    There are 14 loks or planes of existence or levels where the souls and demigods of a brahmaand may exist. Lower levels have less merit, less worldly pleasures, etc.

    Lok Entities residing in lok
    14. Satya Brahma
    13. Tapa Rushis (sages)
    12. Jana Rushis (sages)
    11. Mahar Pitri-devas (ancestral demigods)
    10. Svarg Indradev (king of demigods) and devata (demigods)
    9. Bhuvar Malin-devas (impure demigods)
    8. Mrutyu (or Bhurlok) Humans
    7. Atal Daityas (demons)
    6. Vital Daityas (demons)
    5. Sutal Daityas (demons)
    4. Talaatal Nishaachars (nocturnal beings)
    3. Mahaatal Nishaachars (nocturnal beings)
    2. Rasaatal Nishaachars (nocturnal beings)
    1. Paataal Serpents


    7 dvips of Mrutyu-lok

    There are 7 concentric dvips of varying sizes and surrounded by various types of oceans.

    A yojan is the size of 4 gaau, and 1 gaau is about 1 mile (thus 1 yojan is about 4 miles):

    Dvip Size in yojan of dvip* Ocean constituent
    1. Jambu-dvip (the central dvip) 100,000 Salt-water
    2. Plaksh-dvip 200,000 Like ikshu or sugarcane juice
    3. Shaalmali-dvip 400,000 Like suraa or alcohol
    4. Kush-dvip 800,000 Like ghrut or ghee (melted butter)
    5. Kraunch-dvip 1,600,000 Like kshir or milk
    6. Shaak-dvip 3,200,000 Like dadhi-mandod or yogurt
    7. Pushkar-dvip 6,400,000 Water sweet as sudhaa or amrut (nectar)
    * Surrounded by equal yojan in size of ocean

    9 khands of Jambu-dvip

    Each khand is located relative to the golden Mount Meru in the center, and each khand has a worship and principal devotee.

    Khand Location Upaasanaa (worship) Principal devotee
    1. Ilavart-khand Surrounding the base of Meru Sankarshan Shiva
    2. Ketumal-khand (also called subhag) West of Meru Pradyumna Lakshmi
    3. Ramyak-khand North of Meru Matsya Saavarni Manu
    4. Hiranyamay-khand North of Ramyak-khand Kurma Aryama
    5. Kuru-khand North of Hiranyamay-khand Varah Pruthvi
    6. Bhadrashva-khand East of Meru Hayagriv Bhadrashrava
    7. Harivarsh-khand South of Meru Nrusinh Prahlad
    8. Kimpurush-khand South of Harivarsh-khand Lakshmi-Rama Hanuman
    9. Bharat-khand South of Kimpurush-khand Nara-Narayan Narad

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