The Geography of the Puranas c13.s5: Cosmic Cycles of the Purāṇas

The Geography of the Purāṇas c13.s5

Language: English

Cosmic Cycles of the Purāṇas

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The Purāṇas deal with the concept of the cosmic cycles at great length since it is the cornerstone of their cosmographical and cosmological theories. In fact, their whole philosophy revolves round the three main principles of existence, i.e., creation, preservation and dissolution.

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At the end of this day (of Brahmā) a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth and the regions of space, are consumed by fire... when the three worlds are but one mighty ocean¹ Brahmā, who is one with Nārāyaṇa, satiate with the demolition of the universe; Sleeps... for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew. Of such days and nights is a year of Brahmā composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life. One Parārddha, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Mahā-Kalpa called Padma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahmā) termed Varāha is the first of the second period of Brahmā's existence (Viṣṇu P., III, Wilson's tr., p. 25).

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The Purāṇas mention three kinds of dissolution: (1) incidental (2) elemental and (3) absolute. The incidental is that which relates to Brahmā and occurs at the end of each Kalpa. A Kalpa calculated according to the Purāṇic texts is equal to 4,320 million years. The elemental is that which takes place after two Parārddha. A Parārddha is represented by 10¹⁸ years (Viṣṇu P.) or 10¹⁵ years (Vāyu P.). The absolute is final liberation A similar account of the first aggregation of the elements in the form of an egg is given in all the Purāṇas with the usual epithet Haima or Hiraṇya (golden). The symbolic representation of the nucleus from which the Universe was created and which undoubtedly has its origin in the Vedas was adopted by many nations. Traces of it occur amongst the Syrians, the Persians, the Egyptians and the Greeks. The idea of the Orphic Egg amongst the Greeks and that described by Aristophanes as well as the consecration of an egg as a part of the ceremony in the Dionysiaca and other mystics show how far the concept of a nucleus from which the Universe grew was embedded in the philosophy of ancient nations. If we interpret the epithet Haima or Hiraṇya (golden) as 'bright and reddish yellow' and the word 'water' as 'water-vapour', i.e., in its gaseous state we can see in the description of the Golden Egg the origin of the idea of a 'hot, incandescent nebula' which is the starting point of modern cosmological theories.

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The earliest cosmogony or theory of the Universe in which the laws of gravitation found a place was that of Kant, the Prussian philosopher (1755). He assumed that the collision of the hard particles of the primordial matter (conceived as supernaturally created) generated heat and rotation as they fell in upon one another under their mutual gravitational attraction. Thus, the original cold motionless cloud of matter became in due course a vast hot nebula, spinning so rapidly that rings of matter were successively thrown off its equator by centrifugal action, while the residual central mass remained as the Sun. Each ring was supposed to have condensed as a planet, which by a small-scale repetition of the same process threw off satellites; ultimately in this way the complete solar system came into being. Kant's hypothesis is dynamically unsound but our interest in the theory lies in the fact that on the one hand it follows the pattern of Purāṇic cosmogony, i.e., the creation of the Egg or nucleus or Brahmā (or according to Kant, the existence of the original cold and motionless cloud and its transformation into a hot rotating nebula), during the process of universal creation, while on the other it is the forerunner of the very similar and justly famous nebular hypothesis of Laplace (1796) on which modern speculations on cosmogony are based.

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Similarly, the idea of cosmic cycles, i.e., the incidental dissolution of the world at the end of definite periods (Kalpas of the Purāṇas) and its recreation thereafter was firmly established among the Chaldeans, the Ionians, the Greeks and the Pythagoreans from which Plato adopted it. Although the principle was accepted in essence many and various opinions prevailed about the period covered by each cycle, and about the violence and character of the changes produced by the Sun. The Stoics adopted it in its most extreme form involving successive liquefactions of the Universe. The Chaldeans thought that whenever all the planets come into conjunction on one straight line in the sign of the zodiac Cancer, the entire universe is destroyed by fire, but destroyed to be born again; similarly the world is destroyed by water when the same phenomenon occurs in Capricorn. The theory of a complete and universal birth and rebirth (paliogenesis) was held by some of the Greek philosophers. Plato and Aristotle, however, seem to have restricted the destructive effects of the celestial influence to the sub-lunar sphere and maintained that the realm above the Moon (i.e., Mahāloka of the Purāṇas or the worlds of gods who live in the upper two spheres) were eternal. On the whole, the belief in periodically recurrent destructions of the earth by water (one of which is mentioned in the old Testament and in the Al-Koran) was more widespread and was given greater definition than belief in corresponding destruction by fire. The main reason for this may be attributed to rudimentary geological observations (notably of the presence of shells on high ground) which showed that portions of the earth's surface had at one time lain beneath the waters.

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At the end of this day (of Brahmā) a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth and the regions of space, are consumed by fire... when the three worlds are but one mighty ocean¹⁴ Brahmā, who is one with Nārāyaṇa, satiate with the demolition of the universe; Sleeps... for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew. Of such days and nights is a year of Brahmā composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life. One Parārddha, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Mahā-Kalpa called Padma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahmā) termed Varāha is the first of the second period of Brahmā's existence (Viṣṇu, P., III, Wilson's tr., p. 25).

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The details regarding the processes involved in incidental dissolution, as will be seen later, are precise and instructive.

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At the end of a thousand periods of four ages (i.e., a day of Brahmā) the earth is for the most part exhausted. A total death then ensues which lasts a hundred years and in consequence of the failure of food, all beings become languid and exanimate and at last entirely perish. The external Viṣṇu... enters into the seven rays of the Sun, drinks up all the waters of the globe, and causes all moisture whatever, in living bodies or in the soil, to evaporate; thus drying up the whole earth... (Viṣṇu P., 6, III; Wilson, tr., p. 632).

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The intensity of the sun's rays then increases three times and the three worlds including Pātāla are set on fire. The flames then reach the higher regions, i.e. the atmosphere and those above it. When all is consumed, heavy and massy clouds appear. These deliver torrents of water and quench the dreadful fires which involve the three worlds. The rains continue uninterruptedly for a hundred years and deluge the whole world.

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Thus the sequence of events during the period of incidental dissolution are (a) desiccation (b) destruction (by fire) and (c) deluge. After which the process of creation is repeated and marks the beginning of the next Kalpa.

Linked texts (2)

Vāyupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit