INDIAN COSMOLOGY

Dr. UDAY DOKRAS

B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics), LL.B., Nagpur University, India
Certificat' en Droit, Queens University, Canada,
MBA CALSTATE, USA,
Ph.D. Stockholm University, Sweden,
Management and Efficacy Consultant, India

जुग सहस्त्र जोजन पर भानु ,

लील्यो ताहि मधरु फल जान|ू |18||   
Juga sahastra jojan par bhaanu |
Leelyo taahi madhur phal jaanu ||18||

Hanuman thought the sun (bhaanu) to be a sweet fruit (madhur phal) which is at a distance of
'juga sahastra jojan'. 96 million miles

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 Humans are curious beings and the question on how this world came into being and what is it’s
future has always been on our minds. All the cultures have come up with their cosmology to deal
with such questions. In the modern times we believe in a universe, which is more than 93 billion
light years in diameter and contains billions of galaxies with each galaxy containing billions of
stars and the sun is one of them. We have the big bang theory to describe the origin of the universe,
where we estimate that the universe come into existence 13.77 billion years ago after a big bang
event. We believe this theory because it is consistent with our observations of the expanding
universe, which when run back in time will lead us to a infinitesimally small point containing
everything that is now present in the universe. Modern science tells that universe began around
some 13 billion years ago, expanding in directions where there was nothing before big bang. It
bloomed out from absolute zero and gave birth to the concept of time. But apparently the Hindu
Cosmology knew about the endless loop of life way before than science did.Hindu’s Cosmology
says that there is repetitive cycle of Big Bang, followed by Big Crunch which is particularly for
one universe. While you are reading this there are universes experiencing their own Big Bangs
and Big Crunches somewhere in Hyperspace. So our universe is one of those universes which
had had a Big Bang and will terminate by a Big Crunch, with repeated endless cycles… It is
extremely fascinating and somewhat comforting to know that all this knowledge about the
universe, or should we say multiverse, has already been inked in the brittle parchments of one of
the most vivid religions in the world – Hinduism.In India science and religion are not opposed
fundamentally, as they often seem to be in the West, but are seen as parts of the same great
search for truth and enlightenment that inspired the sages of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Thus, in the Hindu scientific approach, understanding of external reality depends on also
understanding the godhead. In all Hindu traditions the Universe is said to precede not only
humanity but also the gods. Fundamental to Hindu concepts of time and space is the notion that
the external world is a product of the creative play of maya (illusion).  Accordingly the world as
we know it is not solid and real but illusionary. The universe is in constant flux with many levels
of reality; the task of the saint is find release (moksha) from the bonds of time and space. 

"After a cycle of universal dissolution, the Supreme Being decides to recreate the cosmos so that
we souls can experience worlds of shape and solidity. Very subtle atoms begin to combine,
eventually generating a cosmic wind that blows heavier and heavier atoms together. Souls

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depending on their karma earned in previous world systems, spontaneously draw to themselves
atoms that coalesce into an appropriate body." - The Prashasta Pada.

As in modern physics, Hindu cosmology envisaged the universe as having a cyclical nature. The
end of each kalpa brought about by Shiva's dance is also the beginning of the next. Rebirth
follows destruction.

Unlike the West, which lives in a historical world, India is rooted in a timeless universe of
eternal return: everything which happens has already done so many times before, though in
different guises.  Hinduism arose from the discoveries of people who felt that they had gained an
insight into the nature of reality through deep meditation and ascetic practices. Science uses a
heuristic method that requires objective proof of mathematical theories. Yet both have proposed
similar scenarios for the creation of the universe. Here is a look at Creation, Maya, Churning of
Milky Ocean, Shiva's Cosmic Dance, Serpent of Infinity and a few articles on Hindu
Cosmology. 

Introduction-Grandiose time scales

Hinduism’s understanding of time is as grandiose as time itself. While most cultures base their
cosmologies on familiar units such as few hundreds or thousands of years, the Hindu concept of
time embraces billions and trillions of years. The Puranas describe time units from
the infinitesimal truti, lasting 1/1,000,0000 of a second to a mahamantavara of 311 trillion
years. Hindu sages describe time as cyclic, an endless procession of creation, preservation and
dissolution. Scientists such as Carl Sagan have expressed amazement at the accuracy of space
and time descriptions given by the ancient rishis and saints, who fathomed the secrets of the
universe through their mystically awakened senses.

Long before it became a scientific aspiration to estimate the age of the earth, many elaborate
systems of the world chronology had been devised by the sages of antiquity. The most
remarkable of these occult time-scales is that of the ancient Hindus, whose astonishing concept
of the Earth's duration has been traced back to Manusmriti, a sacred book.

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When the Hindu calculation of the present age of the earth and the expanding universe could
make Professor Holmes so astonished, the precision with which the Hindu calculation regarding
the age of the entire Universe was made would make any man spellbound.To the philosophers of
India, however, Relativity is no new discovery, just as the concept of light years is no matter for
astonishment to people used to thinking of time in millions of kalpas, ( A kalpa is about
4,320,000 years). The fact that the wise men of India have not been concerned with technological
applications of this knowledge arises from the circumstance that technology is but one of
innumerable ways of applying it. It is, indeed, a remarkable circumstance that when Western
civilization discovers Relativity it applies it to the manufacture of atom-bombs, whereas Oriental
civilization applies it to the development of new states of consciousness.

 Indian cosmologists, the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They
came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India
developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was
influenced by India, via the Persian civilization.The cycle of creation and destruction continues
forever, manifested in the Hindu deity Shiva, Lord of the Dance, who holds the drum that sounds
the universe’s creation in his right hand and the flame that, billions of years later, will destroy the
universe in his left. Meanwhile Brahma is but one of untold numbers of other gods dreaming
their own universes. The 8.64 billion years that mark a full day-and-night cycle in Brahma’s life
is about half the modern estimate for the age of the universe. The ancient Hindus believed that
each Brahma day and each Brahma night lasted a kalpa, 4.32 billion years, with 72,000 kalpas
equaling a Brahma century, 311,040 billion years in all. That the Hindus could conceive of the
universe in terms of billions.

The similarities between Indian and modern cosmology do not seem accidental. Perhaps ideas of
creation from nothing, or alternating cycles of creation and destruction are hardwired in the
human psyche. Certainly Shiva’s percussive drumbeat suggests the sudden energetic impulse that
could have propelled the big bang. And if, as some theorists have proposed, the big bang is
merely the prelude to the big crunch and the universe is caught in an infinite cycle of expansion
and contraction, then ancient Indian cosmology is clearly cutting edge compared to the one-
directional vision of the big bang. The infinite number of Hindu universes is currently called the
many world hypothesis, which is no less undocumentable nor unthinkable. 

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Lord Vishnu is said to rest in the coils of Ananta, the great serpent of Infinity, while he waits for
the universe to recreate itself.       

"he falls back upon the earliest and greatest of Revelations, those of the Sacred Books of India
with a Cosmogony which no European conception has ever surpassed." 

"While the West was still thinking, perhaps, of 6,000 years old universe – India was already
envisioning ages and eons and galaxies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The Universe
so vast that modern astronomy slips into its folds without a ripple.”    

Despite the dawn of Enlightenment and advent of modern science, the Semitic religions have still
not matured enough to respect, tolerate and understand a simple notion that “All   paths lead to
the same summit (God).”

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 (image source: A Tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and Wisdom spanning continents and time
about India and her culture - By Sushama Londhe).

Hindu cosmography, for example born in hoary antiquity, strikes one in certain ways as
surprisingly modern. India has never limited its conception of time to a few crowded
millennia. Thousands of years ago India's sages computed the earth's age at a little over two
billion years, our present era being what is called the seventh Manuvantra. This is a staggering
claim. Consider how much scientific evidence has been needed in the West before men could
even imagine so enormous a time scale. Philosophers tell us that the Indians were the first ones
to conceive of a true infinite from which nothing is excluded. The West shied away from this
notion. The West likes form, boundaries that distinguish and demarcate. The trouble is that
boundaries also imprison – they restrict and confine.

India saw this clearly and turned her face to that which has no boundary or whatever.” “India
anchored her soul in the infinite seeing the things of the world as masks of the infinite assumes –
there can be no end to these masks, of course. If they express a true infinity.” And It is here that
India’s mind boggling variety links up to her infinite soul. “India includes so much because her
soul being infinite excludes nothing.” It goes without saying that the universe that India saw
emerging from the infinite was stupendous.” 

While the West was still thinking, perhaps, of 6,000 years old universe – India was already
envisioning ages and eons and galaxies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The Universe so
vast that modern astronomy slips into its folds without a ripple.” 

Many hundreds of years before those great European pioneers, Galileo and Copernicus, had to
pay heavy prices in ridicule and excommunication for their daring theories, a section of
the Vedas known as the Brahmanas contained this astounding statement: 

The sun never sets or rises. When people think the sun is setting, he only changes about after
reaching the end of the day and makes night below and day to what is on the other side. Then,
when people think he rises in the morning, he only shifts himself about after reaching the end of
the day night, and makes day below and night to what is on the other side. In truth, he does not
see at all.

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The Hindu theory of time, is not linear like European – that is, not proceeding consecutively
from past to present to future – have always been able to accept, seemingly without anxiety, the
notion of an alternately expanding and contracting universe, an idea recently advanced by certain
Western scientists. In Hindu cosmology, immutable Brahman, at fixed intervals, draws back into
his beginningless, endless Being the whole substance of the living world. There then takes place
the long “sleep” of Brahaman from which, in course of countless aeons, there is an awakening,
and another universe or “dream” emerges. "

This notion of the sleeping and waking, or contracting and expanding, of the Life Force, so long
a part of Hindu cosmology, has recently been expressed in relevant terms in an article written for
a British scientific journal by Professor Fred Hoyle, Britain’s foremost astronomer. 

Lord Vishnu is said to rest in the coils of Ananta, the Cosmic couch, the great serpent of Infinity,
while he waits for the universe to recreate itself.      

Plainly, contemporary Western science’s description of an astronomical universe of such vast

magnitude that distances must be measured in terms as abstract as light-years is not new to

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Hinduism whose wise men, millennia ago, came up with the term kalpa to signify the
inconceivable duration of the period elapsing between the beginning and end of a world
system. It is clear that Indian religious cosmology is sharply at variance with that inherited by
Western peoples from the Semites. On the highest level, when stripped of mythological
embroidery, Hinduism’s conceptions of space, time and multiple universes approximate in range
and abstraction the most advanced scientific thought.  Our Universe is cyclic and
eternal.Temporal notions in Europe were overturned by an India rooted in eternity. The Bible
had been the yardstick for measuring time, but the infinitely vast time cycles of India suggested
that the world was much older than anything the Bible spoke of. It seem as if the Indian mind
was better prepared for the chronological mutations of Darwinian evolution and astrophysics." 

Indian history, for example, contains a vast body of incredibly sophisticated scientific/academic
literature on god, concepts of god, consciousness at it relates to god, the human body and human
thoughts and emotions in relation to god… and, in the case of Kashmiri Shaivism for this is also
the culture that gave us zero, the numerals that we use – so-called Arabic have their roots in
India – as do trigonometry and calculus, astronomical calculation and a view that says the
universe is not only billions, but trillions of years in age and that we are eternal beings who are
simply visiting the material world to have the experience of being here.

So, the point is, India holds a massive cosmological view of us – and that humans have existed
for trillions of years, in varying stages of existence. And further, over time humans will continue
to populate the many universes again and again.

There is a lot of evidence that ancient Indian civilization was global and as I mentioned many
were seafaring and using extremely accurate astronomical, heliocentric calculations for both
Earth and celestial motions, indicating an understanding that the Sun is at the center of the solar
system and that the Earth is round. Elliptical orbits were also calculated for all moving celestial
bodies. The findings are remarkable. What India calculated thousands of years ago, for example
the wobble of the Earth's axis, which creates the movement called precession of the equinoxes –
the slowly changing motion that completes one cycle every 25,920 years – has only recently
been validated by modern science.

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The cosmology of India describes our universe as having fourteen parallel realities on multiple
levels, all existing and intersecting within the material realm in which we are currently
living.Was this knowledge given to them by divine beings as they claim? Was there inter-
galactic travel? Did the people in India have contact with beings or knowledge from other
planets? We don't know, but what is certain is that they had mathematical/astronomical
understanding that is extremely precise and agrees with many of the results of astronomy today.
There is no other way to explain why India and these ancient cultures would have such precise

Our understanding of the true age of the ancient Vedic civilization has undergone a well-
documented revolution. Feuerstein, Frawley, and Kak have shown conclusively that the long-
accepted age of the Vedic culture—erroneously dated by scholars parading a series of
assumptions and unscientific arguments to roughly 1500 BC—is much too recent. Evidence
comes from geological, archaeological, and literary sources as well as the astronomical
references within Vedic literature. The corrected dating to eras far prior to 1500 BC was made
possible by recognizing that precessional eras are encoded in Vedic mythology, and were
recorded by ancient Vedic astronomers. As a result, the Indus Valley civilization appears to be a
possible cradle of civilization, dated conservatively to  7000 BC. Western India may thus be a
true source of the civilizing impulse that fed Anatolia in Turkey, with its complex Goddess-
worshipping city-states of Çatal Hüyük and Hacilar. However, there are layers upon layers of
even older astronomical references, and legends persist that the true “cradle” might be found
further to the north, in Tibet or nearby Central Asia.  

The work of these three writers shows that biases and assumptions within scholarly discourse can
prevent an accurate modeling of history and an underestimation of the accomplishments of
ancient cultures. The analogous situation in modern Egyptology and Mesoamerican studies also
requires that well-documented new theories — often exhaustively argued, interdisciplinary, and
oriented toward a progressive synthesis of new data — should be appraised fairly and without
bias. 

Next to the Australian aborigines, the Vedic civilization is perhaps the oldest continuous living
tradition in the world. Its extremely ancient doctrines and insights into human spirituality are
unsurpassed. We might expect that its cosmology and science of time has been as misunderstood

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as its true antiquity. In looking closely at Vedic doctrines of time, spiritual growth, calendars,
and astronomy, we will see that a central core idea is that of our periodic alignment to the
Galactic Center. And, according to these ancient Vedic beliefs, the galactic alignment we are
currently experiencing heralds our shift from a millennia-long descent of deepening spiritual
darkness to a new era of light and ascending consciousness. "

Lord Vishnu is the infinite ocean from which the world emerges - Lord is shown lying down on a
thousand-headed snake (named Shesha or Ananta Nag - Timeless or Ageless snake).

According to ancient Vedic beliefs, the galactic alignment we are currently experiencing heralds
our shift from a millennia-long descent of deepening spiritual darkness to a new era of light and
ascding consciousness.

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One of the oldest writings in Vedic literature comes from a pseudo-historical god-man called
Manu. René Guénon pointed out that Manu belongs to a family of related archetypal figures,
which include Melchezidek, Metatron, St Michael, Gabriel, and Enoch. As an angelic inspiration
for the rebirth of humanity at the dawn of a new era, or Manvantara, Manu is the primal law-
giver, and his laws were recorded in the extremely ancient Vedic text called the Laws of
Manu. Much of its contents describe moral and ethical codes of right behavior, but there is a
section that deals with the ancient Vedic doctrine of World Ages - the Yugas. Manu indicates
that a period of 24,000 years — clearly a reference to precession — consists of a series of four
yugas or ages, each shorter and spiritually darker than the last.  In one story this process of
increasing limitation is envisioned as a cosmic cow standing with each leg in one quarter of the
world; with each age that passes a leg is lost, resulting in the absurd and unstable world we live
.   1
in today—a cow balancing on one leg

According to the information in the Laws of Manu, the morning and twilight periods between the
dawn of each new era equals one-tenth of its associated yuga, as shown in the following table: 

Dawn  Era   Dusk   Total          Name 

400 + 4000 + 400 = 4800 years. Satya Yuga (Golden Age)

300 + 3000 + 300 = 3600 years. Treta Yuga (Silver Age)
200 + 2000 + 200 = 2400 years. Dwapara Yuga (Bronze Age)
100 + 1000 + 100 = 1200 years. Kali Yuga (Iron Age) 
                            12,000 years 

In Vedic mythology, a fabled dawn time existed in the distant past, when human beings had
direct contact with the divine intelligence emanating from Brahma—the seat of creative power
and intelligence in the cosmos. This archaic Golden Age (the Satya Yuga) lasted some 4800
years. After the Golden Age ended, humanity entered a denser era, that of the Silver Age, lasting
only 3600 years. In this age, humanity’s connection with the source was dimmed, and sacrifices
and spiritual practices became necessary to preserve it.  The Bronze Age followed, and humanity

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forgot its divine nature. Empty dogmas arose, along with indulgence in materialism. Next we
entered the Kali Yuga—in which we remain today—where the human spirit suffers under gross
materialism, ignorance, warfare, stupidity, arrogance, and everything contrary to our divine
spiritual potential.  

As the teachings tell, Kali, the creator-destroyer Goddess, will appear at the end of Kali Yuga to
sweep away the wasted detritus of a spirit-dead humanity, making way for a new cycle of light
and peace. Notice that the Manu text takes us from a pinnacle of light to the ultimate end-point
of the process—the darkness of Kali Yuga. And notice that the four ages, when the overlap
period is added, amounts to only half of the 24,000-year period of the Vedic Yuga cycle.

(source: Galactic Alignment - By John Major Jenkins).

The Indian astronomers went even further, giving a physical reason for how the dual star or
binary motion might allow the rise and fall of human consciousness to occur. They said that the
Sun (with the Earth and other planets) traveled along its set orbital path with its companion
start, it would cyclically move close to, then away from, a point in space referred to
as Vishnunabhi, a supposed magnetic center or "grand center". 

The Indian astronomers went even further, giving a physical reason for how the dual star or
binary motion might allow the rise and fall of human consciousness to occur. They said that the
Sun (with the Earth and other planets) traveled along its set orbital path with its companion start,
it would cyclically move close to, then away from, a point in space referred to as Vishnunabhi, a
supposed magnetic center or "grand center". They implied that being close to this region caused
subtle changes in human consciousness that brought about the Golden Age, and conversely, our
separation from it resulted in an age of great darkness, the Kali Yuga or Dark Age. "When the
Sun in its revolution around its dual comes to the place nearest to this grand center, ... (an event
which takes place when the autumnal equinox comes to the first point of Aries), dharma, the
mental virtue, becomes so much developed that man can easily comprehend all, even the
mysteries of the Spirit." 

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Cosmology
The Puranas present an elaborate mythical cosmography. The old tripartite universe persists, but
it is modified. There are three levels—heaven, earth, and the netherworld—but the first and last
are further subdivided into vertical layers. Earth consists of seven circular continents, the central
one surrounded by the salty ocean and each of the other concentric continents by oceans of other
liquids. In the centre of the central mainland stands the cosmic mountain Meru; the southernmost
portion of this mainland is Bharatavarsa, the old name for India. Above earth there are seven
layers in heaven, at the summit of which is the world of brahman (brahma-loka); there are also
seven layers below earth, the location of hells inhabited by serpents and demons.

Myths of time and eternity

The oldest texts speak little of time and eternity. It is taken for granted that the gods, though
born, are immortal; they are called “Sons of Immortality.” In the Atharvaveda, Time appears
personified as creator and ruler of everything. In the Brahmanas and later Vedic texts there are
repeated esoteric speculations concerning the year, which is the unit of creation and is thus
identified with the creative and regenerative sacrifice and with Prajapati (“Lord of Creatures”),
the god of the sacrifice. Time is an endless repetition of the year and thus of creation; this is the
starting point of later notions of repeated creations.

Puranic myths developed around the notion of yuga (world age), of which there are four. These
four yugas, Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali—they are named after the four throws, from best to
worst, in a dice game—constitute a mahayuga (large yuga) and, like the comparable ages of the
world depicted by the Greek poet Hesiod, are periods of increasing deterioration. Time itself also
deteriorates, for the ages are successively shorter. Each yuga is preceded by an intermediate
“dawn” and “dusk.” The Krita Yuga lasts 4,000 years, with a dawn and dusk of 400 years each,
for a total of 4,800 years; Treta a total of 3,600 years; Dvapara 2,400 years; and Kali (the current
one), 1,200 years. A mahayuga thus lasts 12,000 years and observes the usual coefficient of 12,
derived from the 12-month year, the unit of creation. These years are “years of the gods,” each
lasting 360 human years, 360 being the days in a year. One thousand mahayugas form
one kalpa (eon), which is itself but one day in the life of Brahma, whose life lasts 100 years; the
present is the midpoint of his life. Each kalpa is followed by an equally long period

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of abeyance (pralaya), in which the universe is asleep. Seemingly, the universe will come to an
end at the end of Brahma’s life, but Brahmas too are innumerable, and a new universe is reborn
with each new Brahma.

Another myth emphasizes the destructive aspect of time. Everything dies in time: “Time ripens
the creatures, Time rots them” (Mahabharata 1.1.188). “Time” (kala) is thus another name
for Yama, the god of death. The name is associated with Shiva in his destructive aspect
as Mahakala and is extended to his consort, the goddess Kali, or Mahakali. The speculations on
time reflect the doctrine of the eternal return in the philosophy of transmigration. The universe
returns, just as a soul returns after death to be born again. In the oldest description of the process
(Chandogya Upanishad 5.3.1.–5.3.10), the account is still mythic but displays naturalistic
tendencies. The soul on departing may go either of two ways: the “Way of the Gods,” which
brings it through days, bright fortnights, the half-year of the northern course of the sun, to the full
year and eventually to brahman; or the “Way of the Ancestors,” through nights, dark fortnights,
the half-year of the southern course of the sun, and, failing to reach the full year, eventually back
to earth clinging to raindrops. If the soul happens to light on a plant that is subsequently eaten by
a man, the man may impregnate a woman and thus the soul may be reborn. Once more the
significance of the year as a symbol of complete time is clear.

Stories of the gods

According to the epic Mahabharata (1.1.39), there are 33,333 Hindu deities. In other sources
that number is multiplied a thousandfold. Usually, however, the gods are referred to as “the
Thirty-Three.”

The tendency toward pantheism increased in Puranic Hinduism and led to a kind of theism that

exalted several supreme gods who were not prominently represented in the Vedic corpus, while
many of the Vedic gods disappeared or were greatly diminished in stature. New patterns became
apparent: the notion of rita, the basis of the conception of cosmic order, was reshaped into that
of dharma, or the religious-social tasks and obligations of humans in society that maintain order
in the universe. There also was a broader vision of the universe and the place of divinity.

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Important myths about the gods are tied to the two principal moments in the life of the cosmos:
creation and destruction. Traditionally, Brahma is the creator, from whom the universe and the
four Vedas emerge. The conception of time as almost endlessly repeating itself in kalpas
detracts, however, from the uniqueness of the first creation, and Brahma becomes little more
than a demiurge.

Far more attention is given to the destruction of the universe. Shiva, partly established as the
agent of destruction, is in some respects a remote god; from the viewpoint of his devotees,
however, he is very accessible. He represents untamed wildness; he is the lone hunter and
dancer, the yogi (the accomplished practitioner of Yoga) withdrawn from society, and the ash-
covered ascetic. The distinction represented by the gods is not that between good and evil but
rather that between the two ways in which the divine manifests itself in this world—as
both benevolent and fearful, both harmonious and disharmonious, and both transcendent and
immanent.

South Indian devotionalism produced many works in Sanskrit that contributed greatly to
Hindu myth, among them are several Puranas that have exerted influence on Hinduism and are in
turn reflections of trends in Hinduism. The Bhagavata-purana (“The Purana of the Devotees of
the Lord [Vishnu]”) was written in south India, probably in the first few centuries of the
Common Era. It differs from the other Puranas in that it was planned as a unit and far greater
care was taken with both metre and style. Its nearly 18,000 stanzas are divided into 12 books.
The most popular part of the Bhagavata-purana is the description of the life of Krishna. Much
emphasis is placed on the youth of Krishna: the threats against his life by the tyrant Kamsa, his
flight and life among the cowherds at Gokula, and especially his adventures and pranks with the
cowherd girls. The popularity of the text has led to the survival of many manuscripts, some
beautifully illustrated. Much of medieval Indian painting and vernacular literature draws upon
the Bhagavata-purana for its themes.

The Bhagavata-purana contains a doctrine of the avatars of Vishnu and teaches a Vaishnava

theology: God is transcendent and beyond human understanding; through his incomprehensible
creative ability (maya) or specific power (atmashakti) he expands himself into the universe,
which he pervades and which is his outward appearance (his immanence). The Lord creates the

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world merely because he wills to do so. Creation, or rather the process of differentiation
and integration, is his sport (lila).

The Bhagavata-purana glorifies an intensely personal and passionate bhakti that in some later

schools gradually developed into a decidedly erotic mysticism. According to this text, there are
nine characteristics of bhakti: listening to the sacred histories, praising God’s name,
remembering and meditating on his nature and salutary endeavour (resulting in a spiritual fusion
of devotee and God), serving his image, adoring him, respectful salutation, servitude, friendship,
and self-surrender. Meritorious works are also an element of bhakti.

According to the Bhagavata-purana, the true Vaishnava should worship Vishnu or one of his

avatars, construct temples, bathe in holy rivers, study religious texts, serve superiors, and honour
cows. In social intercourse with the adherents of other religions, he should be passively
intolerant, avoiding direct contact, without injuring them or prejudicing their rights. He should
not neglect other gods but must avoid following the rituals of their followers. The concept of
class divisions is accepted, but the idea that possession of the characteristics of a particular class
is the inevitable result of birth is decidedly rejected. Because sin is antithetical to bhakti,
a Brahman who is not free from falsehood, hypocrisy, envy, aggression, and pride cannot be the
highest of men, and many persons of low social status may have some advantage over him
in moral attitude and behaviour. The most desirable behaviour is compatible with bhakti but
independent of class.

In establishing bhakti religion against any form of opposition and defending the devout

irrespective of birth, the Bhagavata religion did not actively propagate social reform; but the
attempts to make religion an efficient vehicle of new spiritual and social ideas contributed, to a
certain extent, to the emancipation of lowborn followers of Vishnu. Vaishnavism and Shaivism:
is the worship and acceptance of Vishnu (Sanskrit: “The Pervader” or “The Immanent”) or one
of his various incarnations (avatars) as the supreme manifestation of the divine. During a long
and complex development, many Vaishnava groups emerged with differing beliefs and aims.
Some of the major Vaishnava groups include the Shrivaishnavas (also known
as Vishishtadvaitins) and Madhvas (also known as Dvaitins) of South India; the followers of the
teachings of Vallabha in western India; and several Vaishnava groups in Bengal in eastern India,

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who follow teachings derived from those of the saint Chaitanya. Most Vaishnava believers,
however, draw from various traditions and blend worship of Vishnu with local practices.

Vishnu with his 10 avatars (incarnations): Fish,

Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion, Dwarf, Rama-with-the-Ax, King Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalkin.
Painting from Jaipur, India, 19th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.Courtesy
of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

In the Vedas and Brahmanas, Vishnu is the god of far-extending motion and pervasiveness who, for
humans in distress, penetrates and traverses the entire cosmos to make their existence possible. All beings
are said to dwell in his three strides or footsteps (trivikrama): his highest step, or abode, is beyond
mortal ken in the realm of heaven. Vishnu is also the god of the pillar of the universe and is
identified with the sacrifice. He imparts his all-pervading power to the sacrificer who imitates his

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strides and identifies himself with the god, thus conquering the universe and attaining “the goal,
the safe foundation, the highest light” (Shatapatha Brahmana).

In the centuries before the Common Era, Vishnu became the Ishvara (supreme deity) of his
worshipers, fusing with the Purusha-Prajapati figure; with Narayana, worship of whom discloses
a prominent influence of ascetics; with Krishna, whom the Bhagavadgita identified with Vishnu
in many forms; and with Vasudeva, who was worshipped by a group known as the Pancharatras.

The extensive mythology attached to Vishnu is largely that of his avatars. Although this notion is
found elsewhere in Hinduism, it is basic to Vaishnavism. Each of his incarnations, especially
Krishna and Rama, has a particular mythology and is the object of devotion (bhakti). The
classical number of these incarnations is 10—the dashavatara (“ten avatars”)—ascending from
theriomorphic (animal form) to fully anthropomorphic manifestations. They are Fish (Matsya),
Tortoise (Kurma), Boar (Varaha), Man-Lion (Narasimha), Dwarf (Vamana), Rama-with-the-Ax
(Parashurama), King Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and the future incarnation, Kalkin. This list varies,
however, according to the text within which it appears and the devotional community that
maintains it. For example, some dashavatara lists include Balarama, the brother of Krishna,
instead of the Buddha. Moreover, the number of incarnations is not fixed across all texts or
traditions; some texts list 24 incarnations of Vishnu. In addition, a particular dashavatara list
popularized by the 13th-century poet Jayadeva in his song Gita Govinda names Krishna, not
Vishnu, as the supreme deity who incarnates himself 10 times. In Jayadeva’s list the first seven
incarnations are the same as those found in other Vaishnava lists. Jayadeva then lists Balarama
and Buddha as the eighth and ninth incarnations. One common element in all these lists is
Kalkin, who is always the final incarnation.

Like most other Hindu gods, Vishnu has his especial entourage: his wife is Lakshmi, or Shri, the
lotus goddess—granter of success, wealth, and liberation—who came forth from the ocean when
gods and demons churned it in order to recover from its depths the ambrosia or elixir of
immortality, amrita. At the beginning of the commercial year, special worship is paid to her for
success in personal affairs. Vishnu’s mount is the bird Garuda, archenemy of snakes, and in his
four hands are his emblems: the lotus, conch shell, and his two weapons, the club and the discus.

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Devotees hold that, in addition to having many avatars, Vishnu also manifests himself in many
temples. He may manifest himself within an iconic form (archa avatara) for worship. In many
South Indian temples, the regional manifestations of Vishnu have distinct identities and are
known by local names (e.g., as Venkateswara in Tirumala-Tirupati and in the Hindu diaspora).
Each of these distinct forms has specific attributes and weapons, which are depicted in particular
locations or poses. Elaborate treatises on iconography as well as on local custom and practice
govern the carving and interpretation of these icons. In many temples in South India
and Southeast Asia, Vishnu is depicted as standing, sitting, striding the universe, or reclining. He
sometimes reclines on the serpent Ananta (“Without End,” suggesting the deity’s mastery
over infinite time). He is frequently displayed in temple carvings and in calendar art with four
arms (though occasional depictions provide him with as many as eight), three of which hold his
conch shell, discus, and club. Although a few Vaishnava philosophical schools may consider the
image in the temple to be a symbol pointing to the supreme being, most devotees perceive it as
an actual manifestation of the deity, a form that he takes to make himself accessible to human
beings.

Whatever justification the different Vaishnava groups (such as the Shrivaishnavas of South India
or the worshipers of Vishnu Vithoba in Maharashtra) offer for their philosophical position, all of
them believe in God as a person with distinctive qualities and worship him through his
manifestations and representations. Many schools teach that it is through divine grace that the
votary is lifted from transmigration to release. Much of Vaishnava faith is monotheistic, whether
the object of adoration be Vishnu Narayana or one of his avatars. Preference for any one of these
manifestations is largely a matter of tradition. Thus, most South Indian Shrivaishnavas worship
Vishnu in one of his many local manifestations; the North Indian groups prefer Krishna.

Shaivism
The character and position of the Vedic god Rudra—called Shiva, “the Auspicious One,” when
this aspect of his ambivalent nature is emphasized—remain clearly evident in some of the
important features of the great god Shiva, who together with Vishnu came to dominate
Hinduism. Major groups such as the Lingayats of southern India and the Kashmiri

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Shaivas contributed the theological principles of Shaivism, and Shaiva worship became a
complex amalgam of pan-Indian Shaiva philosophy and local or folk worship.

If we would take a moment to do some critical thinking, we would realize there aren't a lot of
differences between Hindu cosmology and the science of modern cosmology. Hindu cosmology
is concerned with three major phases of the universe or the Trinity: 1) Brahma - the creation. 2)
Vishnu - the preservation. 3) Shiva - the destruction. Likewise, modern cosmology is also
concerned with three major phases of the universe: 1) the Big Bang - creation. 2) the formation -
the gathering of atoms, stars, and galaxies. 3) the Big Crunch - end. But, what is most interesting
about the two, is just how little their time scales differ, as noted by Carl Sagan.

We must remember there is a very close connection between the science of astronomy and
religion. In fact, if it weren't for the star catalogues that were past down to us by our religious
ancestors, modern cosmology might still be in the 'Dark Ages'. So, fundamentally there really
isn't much difference between Hindu and modern cosmology. It's just a matter of language.

Hindu Creation Myth

Traditionally the cosmological events were presented in the form of a mythical story and Hindus
were no exception. However, there is a specialty with the Hindus, there is no one defined mythical
story describing the creation of this universe in Hinduism indicating that Hindus have always
been open to change their theory based on new ideas and empirical observations. This is the
reason why we have absolutely no issue with the theory of evolution while other religions have
not been so receptive of it.

In the modern times being so confident in our present theory of creation we disregard these
mythical stories as superstition. This is a mistake and mostly happens because we take the story
literally. Taken literally these stories do not make any sense, however if you go a level deeper
than you can make sense of the philosophy behind it. Let us look at the most popular creation
myth of the Hindus, which mentions that initially there was nothing and everything was beneath
the ocean and Vishnu, was sleeping on the Ananta Shesh Naga. Vishnu then dreamt of creating

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this universe and a lotus sprouted out of his navel. When it blossomed out came from it Brahma,
who then created this universe.

Comparing Hindu Creation Myth with Big Bang

If you are thinking that there is a real Vishnu in human form sleeping on a serpent and a Brahma
with four heads then you have missed the point. In this story Vishnu signifies the consciousness of
this universe, while the ocean signifies the un-manifested universe, Shesh Nag represent that
which will be left when there is no space, time and matter in which the universal consciousness
can rest, and Brahma is the process through which the universe came into existence from its un-
manifested form. If we look at this story that way, then the whole story becomes logical and
scientific.

Before the big bang there was no space, time or matter. There was just singularity where the entire
un-manifested universe existed. This is very similar to the Hindus creation myth saying in the
beginning nothing existed and the world was beneath the ocean in an un-manifested form. Instead
of singularity we have an ocean here. Big bang theory then says something happened and the
singularity manifested into this universe. Hindu myth describes this something as the universal
consciousness desiring to manifest the world, again not much difference from the big bang. Out
springs the Brahma from the lotus sprouting from Vishnu’s navel and creates the world, which is
similar to the laws of this universe coming into existence in the big bang theory and this world is
created. Just a side note: Lotus signifies birth in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions and therefore
it is mentioned in the story as a metaphor for birth of the universe.

As you can see the bare bones of the story we hear today about creation of the universe and what
was told by the ancients remain the same, it is just that in the modern times since we have better
understanding of the laws of nature, we have more details on the process itself. The underlying
philosophy remains the same. Considering the openness of Hinduism to include new information
into its tradition, we can easily include the big bang theory into Hindu tradition, it blends very
well. However, there is just one problem with the big bang theory. It does not tell us about what
was there before the big bang and what will happen to the expanding universe.

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This brings us into the world of speculation and logic and there is no reason for us to discard the
traditional Hindu view of the cyclical universe where it is repeatedly created and destroyed. In
fact if we follow this path then we have an explanation for what was there before the Big Bang, it
was a different manifested universe. Going by this then the universe, which is right now
expanding will then go back to singularity and a new universe will then be created.

Predicting the Past and Future using Logic Alone

What will happen to the universe in future, we don’t know as we do not have much information,
similarly we have no way of knowing what was there before the big bang. So here we have
mostly use logic. Now let me introduce to you three logical concepts to arrive at the cyclical
universe theory of the Hindus
1. Whatever has a beginning has an end
2. Any material thing cannot stay in its one form forever; it can only change from one form to the
other.
3. For a thing to exist forever it has to go through a cyclical of changes.
If you agree with me on these three assumptions then let us consider how it applies to the
universe. We believe that the universe has a beginning at Big Bang, therefore it must have an end
also. The universe is changing all the time it is right now expanding, however this expansion
cannot go on forever as this expansion also had a beginning. The process of the creation of the
universe is part of another process which must be eternal because if it was not eternal then there
must have been something before that process started, in other words it had a beginning and
therefore it must have an end also. But if that process has a beginning and an end then there must
be some other process which must be going on before that, because something cannot come out of
nothing. So logically thinking there must exist a process which does not have a beginning or an
end, in other words it must be an eternal process. And that process can be eternal only if it is
cyclical. Therefore the creation and destruction of this universe must be cyclical.
As you can see the Hindu theory of cyclical universe is quite logical. Therefore if it is only left to
speculation I will go with the Hindu conception of the cyclical universe. Of course if the scientific
evidence indicates otherwise then I will change opinion.

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https://medium.com/@rahulyadavca/comparing-hindu-cosmology-with-the-big-bang-theory-cbd2cab7dc1a

REFERENCES
1. source: Lost Star of Myth and Time - By Walter Cruttenden). Also refer to Hamlet's
Mill - By Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend. See also SURYAS
TAPESTRY, http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Hindu_Cosmology.htm

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