The Geography of the Puranas c13.s7.6

c13.s7.6

It would appear from the above that there is a fair degree of similarity between the Purāṇic concept of cosmic cycles and the geological revolutions. If we identify a Kalpa or Brahmā's Day with the inter-revolutionary period and the 'revolution' with the 'incidental dissolution' of the Purāṇas and the transgression of seas with the 'Great Floods' or immersion of the earth in an envelope of water as conceived by the Purāṇics, the two accounts tally fairly accurately except in point of time. The Brahmā's Day or Kalpa is given as 4,320,000,000 years while the later inter-revolutionary periods do not extend beyond 100-150 million years and are not of equal duration. It is evident that the Purāṇic ideas were based on insight, logical deductions, superficial observation or even speculation and not on a scientific study of the geological processes. But one must say that the Purāṇic ideas represent a fairly accurate speculation, or logical deduction.