Yuga

Abstract: A'ryab'hatta, who flourished in the beginning of the thirty-seventh century of the Cali Yuga, of which four thousand nine hundred and twenty years have passed, has in his work, the Aryab'hatiyam, in which he mentions the period of his birth, exhibited the proportion of the diameter to the circumference of the circle as 20000 to 62832, in the following verse:Chaturadhicam ṣatamashṭaguṇandwashashṭistatha sahasraṇam Ayutadwaya vishcambhasyasanno vritta pariṇahah.

Abstract: In all the Indian legends, whether it is the Ramayana or Mahabharata, one can find embedded elements of geological processes. Perhaps due to the lack of a sound scientific basis for recognizing geological processes in ancient Indian civilization, such processes were believed to be the acts of ‘Gods’ (Suras) and ‘Demons’ (Asuras) and hence they formed an integral part of these legends. Even in the present age where science is able to explain several geological processes, the Hindu faith is such that these myths and legends continue to be passed on to succeeding generations. The fact that these geological processes are contained in these epics helps to sustain truth (dharma) and maintain harmony. Ancient Indian civilization adopted this doctrine and its continuance will remain a fresh and vital part of future generations in India. Hindu mythology centres around gods, demigods, their supremacies and related stories. Basically the philosophy in all these legends is to teach humans the values of Dharma (justice) and how God prevails in sustaining ‘dharma’ in the world (Sinha 1954; Rajendranath Seal 1958). Initially, all these were Smrirtis (sacred teachings) and subsequently were documented in the form of books (Vedas) by great saints (Rishis). All these ancient books were originally written on palm leaves and preserved for centuries, some of which are still preserved, even today. During the creation of these legends several geological phenomena and events became embedded within them either knowingly or unknowingly. Whether it is Ramayana, Mahabharata or Puranas, these doctrines are presented in the form of folklore, or mythological stories. Hinduism always preaches dharma in order to maintain world peace and to curb evil by any living being (Rajendranath Seal 1958). This paper discusses how geological events and processes became entangled in these epics. All these stories refer to events that happened on Earth (or occasionally in the heavens) and hence geological processes became an integral part of them. Though examples of several such close relationships between geology and mythology exist in Hindu texts, only a few are elaborated in this paper. A similar relationship between myths and thermal springs over the world was compiled by the Geothermal Resources Council in their volume Stories from a Heated Earth (Cataldi et al. 1999). Hindu eras in relationship to stratigraphy and the origin of Earth According to Hindu Vedic cosmology, the age of the entire universe is divided into four yugas (eras): Satyuga, Trethayuga, Dwaparayuga and Kaliyuga. The time span of each yuga varies in a manner similar to geological eras. According to the Hindu mythology the Satyuga lasted for 1.728 Ma; Trethayuga lasted for 1.296 Ma; Dwaparayuga lasted for 0.864 Ma; and the Kaliyuga, the present era has so far completed 0.432 Ma (Somayaji 1971). The Trethayuga and the Dwaparayuga are the most important eras since they encompass the most important epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, respectively. This four fold stratigraphic division of time-scale is similar to that used in geology (cf. Precambrian, Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic). Some authors consider each yuga as ‘Maha Yuga’, meaning that each should be multiplied by 1000 years. In which case the sum of all these yugas amounts to the age of the Earth (c. 4.3 billion years) which constitutes a day for Lord Brahma (Brahma day), the creator of the universe (Somayaji 1971; Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 1986). The destruction of the universe is called ‘pralaya’ or catastrophe—synonym to the present day floods, earthquakes and tsunamis. In each era, Lord Vishnu, the saviour, emerges into this world in the form of ‘avatar’ (incarnation). According to the Hindu mythology, these ‘avatars’ are in the form of animals or semi-animal demigods (part is human and part is animal: Fig. 1). In each avatar, he destroys the evil and restores ‘satya’ (justice) in the world. The ten avatars are Matsya (fish), Koorma (tortoise), Varaaha (boar), Narasimha (the man lion), Vaamana (the dwarf), Parasurama (the angry man), Rama (the perfect human; avatar in Trethayuga), and Krishna (the divine statesman; avatar in Dwaparayuga). The tenth avatar which is yet to appear is Kalki (Pandey 1979). Lord Vishnu is always seen with his conch and Chakra (Vishnu Chakra; the wheel) in his hands. From: PICCARDI, L. & MASSE, W. B. (eds) Myth and Geology. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 273, 29–37. 0305-8719/07/$15.00 # The Geological Society of London 2007. He is reborn (as a new avatar) after a major catastrophe (pralaya) when the entire species on Earth becomes extinct. After every Brahma day, Lord Brahma creates new life on Earth. In Hindu mythology it is said that after one such catastrophe, Brahma was busy creating new life on Earth and did not pay attention to the Demon Hiranyaksha who had pushed the mother Earth into (Patal lok) the Ocean (i.e. trying to destroy the Earth). Brahma, realizing that his new creation of life has to live on Earth, pleaded with Vishnu to save the Earth. Vishnu took the form of Varaha (Fig. 1: Subramnya Sastri 1989; Pandey 1979) and lifted the Earth with his tusks from the ocean bottom and reinstated it in its proper orbit. One may interpret this geologically as the birth of the planet Earth or an analogy of seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges where new material is created. Rahu, Ketu and the eclipses Lunar and solar eclipses are natural phenomena of the solar system and for that matter an eclipse is common to all the planetary bodies. However, in Indian mythology it is a chase between Rahu and the Moon and Ketu and the Sun (Dave 1991a). Indra, one of the celestial gods or ‘Suras’, was cursed by Durvasa for insulting him by throwing away the flowers offered by him. By nature, Durvasa is short-tempered and cursed Indra and all the gods that they would lose their vigour and strength. So the gods started losing power while the ‘Asuras’ (demons) started gaining power. The gods pleaded with Vishnu to help them to regain their power so that the demons would not overtake their kingdom. Vishnu advised the gods to churn the milky sea using serpent ‘Vasuki’ mount Mandara as a stirrer to obtain celestial nectar (elixir) that would restore their power (Fig. 2). Thus both the gods and the demons churned the ocean and the nectar emerged from the ocean. Vishnu deceived the demons by taking the form of a beautiful lady (Mohini) and diverted their attention while the gods consumed the elixir. However, two ‘Asuras’ (Rahu and Ketu), aware of Mohini’s trickery, took the guise of gods and also consumed some of the celestial nectar and became immortal. The Moon and the Sun reported this incident to Vishnu who became furious and chopped off their heads with his Chakra (see Fig. 3). Since Rahu and Ketu consumed the nectar, they remained in the universe and started chasing the Moon and the Sun as an act of revenge. Thus in Hindu mythology Rahu and Ketu are regarded as celestial bodies that swallow the Moon and the Sun thus causing lunar and solar eclipses respectively. Indian astronomers as early as AD 300 discounted this myth and presented the orbital paths of the planets and their moons thus accounting for lunar and solar eclipses (Somayaji 1971; Dave 1991a). Mahakal crustal extension zone and

Abstract: Shikhandi and Other Tales They Don't Tell You. By Devdutt Pattanaik. New Delhi: Zubaan, 2014. 179 pp.Devdutt Pattanaik's collection of Hindu tales is an enjoyable and absorbing exploration of queer themes in Indian written and oral mythology, and it is an addition to the Zubaan-Penguin joint list of gender-focused publications. Queerness is understood by the author to question notions of maleness and femaleness, in terms of both gender and sexuality. Included in the book are stories of men who become women and vice versa, the creation of children without both a father and a mother, men who wear women's clothes, and people who are neither male nor female or a little of both.The book begins with a series of statements reflecting a variety of sexual and gender identities and some short introductory paragraphs that attempt to highlight the cultural filters of which scholars must be aware before understanding queerness in Hinduism. Pattanaik touches on the importance of yuga (eras) in Hindu mythology, suggesting that the literal approach taken by many Western scholars leads to the conclusion that Brahmanic hegemony is endorsed by Hindu mythology. The author gives us only a brief survey in these pages of Hinduism, its roots in the Vedic tradition, and its transformation as Puranic traditions later gained prominence. There is brief reference to the origins of the term Hinduism by British colonizers as a matter of administrative convenience, but in these few pages Pattanaik does not give us a sense of the academic debate surrounding this term when it comes to categorizing Hinduism as a unified religion. For this reason, readers new to the study of Hinduism may miss out on some of the cultural implications of this collection, especially with regard to the diversity of Hindu traditions.Part I of the book also raises interesting questions regarding the "discovery" or "invention" of queerness. Pattanaik says that Hindu mythology reveals that patriarchy was invented, whereas feminism was discovered through the difference between the genderless soul and the flesh in Hindu thought. Pattanaik further claims that it was the invention of monastic orders that deemed women to be distractions from the divine. Hindu mythology, we are told, repeatedly refers to queerness. Pattanaik goes on to give a brief survey of stories with elements of queerness found in other regions of the world. Once again, this section is perhaps too brief to support the kind of general claims that the author seems to want to make, but readers will find this stimulating as an introduction to queerness in mythology. In particular, the issue of queer invisibility in Indian society is raised, along with attempts to "explain away" queerness in folklore and religious texts in metaphysical terms. Pattanaik's use of the clap of the hijra (defined by the author as India's third gender) as a metaphor for this invisibility, and queer resistance to it, is particularly effective.Part II of the book is a collection of thirty stories that deal with aspects of queerness in Hindu written and oral tradition. Among others, we learn of Shikhandi, raised as a man and married to a woman, who became a man to satisfy her wife; Kali, who became a man to dance with milkmaids; Bhangashvana, who was a mother and a man; Ratnavali, who became the companion of her female friend; and Bahuchara, whose husband was an incomplete man. …

Abstract: This article examines the structures of the epico-Purāṇic divisions of time (yugas/sandhyās/kalpas) and asks what is joined by the Purāṇic ages known as yugas or joinings. It concludes that these structures reflect a combining of three systems of number—Greek acrophonic, Babylonian sexagesimal and Hindu decimal— represented as divisions of time. Since most interpretations of these structures, particularly yugas, focus on questions of dharma and its decline over the various ages rather than on number, it asks in conclusion if there is any necessary relationship between number and dharma.