HINDUISM - Karma-Samsara / Kala - Time

[Anne Terri]

''God's Living Bible - The Third Testament - Research Library - Hinduism - Karma-Samsara / kala

AMEN''

KALA: Time

For the Hindus, time is a very important concept, for it is closely related to one's self, and eternity, Atman. Time moves on and because in Hinduism their belief is that the Spirit is Eternal, the Spirit strives to understand time. This would mean that the Spirit would have existed not only in the present, but in the past, and would therefore exist in the future.

Hindus do not believe in the end, but that the Spirit moves on to a new existence, even if a place where a Spirit resided during their life no longer exists. In other words, there will always be a place for the Spirit to exist.

We live in a world made of matter, with part of ourselves also made from matter. The earth existence. If earth ceased to be, the Spirit would still remain. Matter forms and reforms. This is also part of the Hindu belief, the Cycles of creation.


The Hindu belief of time goes into depth, based on their concept of time being eternal.

This has been separated into the Yugas, which are for separate ages. Each age extends for a period of years, to be followed by the next age. According to their calculations the age of Kali has just begun. If you look at this concept, we should should be beginning the final age on their list, which encompasses a total of 4,320,000 years, known as mahayuga. Each age stands for a different meaning.

To avoid confusion, when the Kali yuga is complete, time moves forward and because it moves in a cycle, the Satya yuga will begin again.

To figure this in complexity they used the Earth's rotation. They begin with the day, following by the weeks which are seven days. The planets Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn figure into this.

This is interesting, for the Sun is a planet in this concept, even though in science, the Sun is classified as a star. And as with other beliefs, their calendar is according to the moon.They transcend the West, and the Christian ways of the calendar. Continuing onward, each year is the Earth's movement of cycles around the Sun.

Let us break down the yugas into further understanding. Also, it is important to understand that in the Vedas there are lessons to help the Hindu with these concepts.

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SATYA YUGA (Kriti)-Age of Truth – 1,728,000 Years

This is when man is being guided by gods. Note this is more than one god. During this age, man is at his best, allowing for the power of the gods to rule him. A Spirit may go through several lifespans within the Satya Yuga - Age of Truth. For the Spirit, they teach that a lifespan can average 100,000 years.

There are many stories which accompany the Satya yuga age. This is the more important of the ages. Spirits progress during satya yuga. It is said that a human living during this time would be able to live a longer life in the world of matter. Let us remember that during satya yuga, people are only about doing good, for human desires of the world would have no meaning.

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TRETA YUGA - A Quest For Knowledge -
1, 296,000 Years

This is number two of the four ages of the Yugas. In Satya Yuga, the Age of Truth, perfection is the way of life and about doing good, but in Treta Yuga, something begins to change. The word treta means three. In Hinduism, this age begins the decline, and when you look at the number of years – 1,296,000- you see it is down by one fourth of the Satya Yuga years. Now instead of seeking perfection and doing good, knowledge becomes more important. Even though the abundance still exists from the Satya Yuga age, people become more greedy. Before, everyone was able to share the abundance. In Treta Yuga the people want more for themselves, seeking to own what was once for everyone.

Dharma, which is not only the law, is also considered as a Deity, now Dharma begins to walk on less legs. Dharma, during Treta Yuga walks on three feet. For everyone it is apparent that things are changing. The abundance is less, the sources of quality food have disappeared, and the ones replacing these sources are less tasty. The life is harder, requiring more work to survive. You could call this the age where sin becomes apparent, without people caring about others. The strong take from the weak.


This study guide is only the basics of the Yugas. This goes into great depth for one who studies Hinduism.

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Dvapara Yuga : Sacrifice – 864,000 Years

Dvapara Yuga is the third age in each Maha Yuga.

As the name Dva suggests -Dva means two – and the eternal Dharma who is also thought of as an entity in charge of Dharma, now has to balance on two of its four feet. For the Hindus this means balancing good an evil with half of what is necessary, and therefore Dharma would be off balance.Virtue and moral perfection still exist, but they are also at one half of what they were in the Krita Yuga time. Note that the time span of this age is half that of the Krita Yuga (864,000 years).

Sacrifice is the highest virtue at this time. The god Vishnu for the followers of Hindu, is known as the preserver of life, and is the god they claim is in charge during Dvapara Yuga. Because the people believe sacrifice is necessary, to preserve life, they place this as most important, devoting themselves to this practice.

In the Dvapara Yuga, disease, misfortune, suffering, and death are part of everyone's existence. People have become more passionate and greedy, and war is commonplace. Religious doctrines are developed in an attempt to guide the people in the direction of Dharma, but good acts and thinking are on the decline, causing positive moral values to become less important.

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Kali Yuga – Charity – 432,000 Years

In the Age of Kali Yuga everything good has nearly disappeared. It is hard to understand why they would name this age Charity, but it is the only moral virtue still existing amongst the people.

According to the Hinduism time lines, we are currently in this age, of Kali Yuga.

The name of Kali means that the people are always fighting and arguing, and there is war. This is the age of darkness, and the entity of Dharma now stands on one foot. If you divide into fourths, the time span of the first yuga -Satya Yuga, also known as Kriti Yuga- you note the time now is also one fourth the length. (432,000 years)

It is said the god Vishnu is still in charge, but is in the form of Shiva-Rudra, who is now one who destroys life.

When your existence on earth is during the time of Kali Yuga, you find the people are filled with greed, and are living in a world where money and property are the most important. There is no form of togetherness between man and woman except for lust, and morality has gone out the window. Achievement is bases on lies and cheating.The people are afraid, for there is the constant fear of not being able to feed ones self, and of succumbing to illnesses and ultimately dying.

It seems during this era, only the poor are virtuous and honest.

Charity is existing, for many of the people are in need to to the greed of the others. It is also written that at this time the weather is severe.