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Vedic Time -
Cyclic versus Linear
 Professor Arthur
Holmes (1895-1965)
geologist, professor at the University of Durham. He
writes regarding the age of the earth in his great book, The
Age of Earth (1913) as follows:
"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."
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.
(source: Hinduism
and Scientific Quest - By T. R. R. Iyengar
p.
20-21).
Unlike time in both the Judeo-Christian religious tradition
and the current view of modern science Vedic time is cyclic.
What goes around come around. What goes up must come down. The
Vedic universe passes through repetitive cycles of creation and
destruction. During the annihilation of the universe, energy is
conserved, to manifest again in the next creation.
Our contemporary knowledge embraces a version of change and
progress that is linear. The saga of the universe proceeds in a
straight line, beginning at unique point A and ending at unique
point B.
The
Vedic universe passes through repetitive cycles of creation and
destruction. During the annihilation of the universe, energy is
conserved, to manifest again in the next creation.
According
to the Hindu scriptures, each half cycle is said to last for
4.32 billion years. The Sun, too, revolves around the center of
our galaxy once in 325.5 million years. Modern science pegs this
in the range of 225 to 270 million years. The point of departure
between ancient Hindu cosmology and modern cosmology is that
unlike modern cosmology, ancient Hindu cosmology relates the
rotational speed of our own galaxy to the period of oscillation
of the endless cycles of creation, growth and eventual decay.
Our known galaxy is known as Parameshti
Mandala, and it is said to rotate
around Svayambhu Mandala,
the center of all galaxies with a time period of 4.32 billion
years, also. Interestingly, the 18th century German philosopher
Immanuel Kant suggested that the universe might actually consist
of rotating systems rotating around larger rotating systems.
(For
more refer to chapter on Greater
India: Suvarnabhumi and
Sacred Angkor).
***
The ascendancy of Christianity brought the first major shift
to historiography as handed down by the Greeks.
 Rejecting the
cyclic understanding of existence, Augustine (AD 343-430) saw
history as moving in a linear path, purposely from point A to
point B. Furthermore, each succeeding civilization was an
improvement over its predecessors. Augustine’s notions have
now influenced the West for more than fifteen hundred years.
Christians encouraged a new concept of time that similarly
had no connection to nature’s cycles. Up until the Reformation,
most people understood time to be cyclical. Reformational Christians, however, adopted St. Augstine’s idea of linear time.
Augustine described the Pagan theory of
cycles, circuitus temporum as:
"…those
argumentations whereby the infidel seeks to undermine our simple
faith, dragging us from the straight road and compelling us to
walk with him on the wheel.. "
Like the theory of
reincarnation,
the idea of cyclical time denied the uniqueness and finality of
Jesus Christ. If time spirals around, providing repeated
opportunities to grow and change, then the spirit of Jesus’s
life and resurrection could theoretically be experienced by anyone
at anytime, regardless of apostolic succession or hierarchical
rank. Moreover, if time is cyclical, life might not
consist of just one frightening chance to repent or else to be
forever damned, but rather of unlimited opportunities to develop a
closer relationship with God. Controlling people is more difficult
when they believe that there are many means and opportunities to
return to God other than simply the one that the Church
offers.
Even the atheistic Karl Marx
took shelter in history as a straight
line with purpose – a worker’s paradise, not Christian
redemption.
 Oswald
Arnold Gottfried Spengler (1880- 1936) German
historian and philosopher (one of the most controversial
historians of this century) refused to grant Western culture a superior position over other
cultures. His most famous work, The Decline of the
West presents an inevitable disintegration of civilization as
Westerners know it.
He considered that each civilization
“passes through the age phases of the individual man. It has a
childhood, youth, and old age.” We can note that once again,
even in modern times, the ancient outlook of history moving in
cycles still demonstrates its attractiveness.
(source: Searching for Vedic India -
By Swami Devamitra p. 335 and 47 and The
Dark Side of Christian History - By Helen Ellerbe
p.
157 - 158). Also
refer to The
concept of Age.
For
more refer to chapter on Hindu
Cosmology and Advanced
Concetps.
 Dr.
Carl Sagan said: "Hindu
cosmology gives a time-scale for the earth and the universe which
is consonant with that of modern scientific cosmology", as
opposed to the limited Biblical-Quranic cosmology, which was
protected against more far-sighted alternatives by a vigilant
religious orthodoxy."
Dr.
Koenraad Elst has
observed: "Like in other ancient civilizations, in Hindu
India priests and scientists were often the same persons; the
conflict between religion and reason is not the primitive
condition but a contingent historical development in
post-classical Europe, paralleled to an extent by the stagnation
of Muslim culture from the twelfth century onwards."
(source:
Decolonising
The Hindu Mind - Ideological Development of Hindu Revivalism -
By Koenraad Elst Rupa & Co. January 2001
ISBN 8171675190 p.30).
Dr.
Heinrich Zimmer (1890-1943),
the great German Indologist, a man of penetrating intellect, the
keenest esthetic sensibility observed:
 “In
one of the Puranic accounts
of the deeds of Vishnu in his Boar
Incarnation or Avatar, occurs a casual
reference to the cyclic recurrence of the great
moments of myth. The Boar, carrying on his arm the goddess Earth
whom he is in the act of rescuing from the depths of the sea,
passingly remarks to her:
“Every time I carry you this
way….”
For the Western mind, which believes
in single, epoch-making, historical events (such as, for
instance, the coming of Christ) this casual comment of the
ageless god has a gently minimizing, annihilating effect. It
is easy for us to forget that our strictly linear, evolutionary
idea of time is something peculiar to modern man.
Even the Greeks of the day of Plato' and Aristotle , who were
much nearer than the Hindus to our ways of thought and feeling
did not share it. Indeed, St. Augustine seems to have been the
first to conceive of this modern idea of time.
(source:
The
Myth and Symbols in India Art and Civilization
– By Heinrich Zimmer p. 18 and 152
- 155
). Refer
to chapters on Advanced
Concepts and Hindu
Cosmology.
Refer
to A
conflict between science and God - By Martin Kettle -
Crusade against science in Modern America - Three-quarters
of Americans, in other words, still do not accept what Darwin
established 150 years ago. Just under half of all Americans
believe the natural world was created in its present form by God
in six days as described in Genesis. They believe, incredibly,
that the earth is only a few thousand years old.
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Urdu
is derived from Sanskrit - says Oxford Scholar Isabelle Onianf
 Isabelle
Onianf is visiting Pakistan for the first time, in search of
roots of a language she teaches at Oxford. Having studied Greek
and Latin at London University, she says she was motivated to
pursue Sanskrit. “It’s a language spoken only by a very
select group of people, and is as diverse and vast as any other.
“While a few Indian universities offer Sanskrit
studies, it is taught nowhere in Pakistan,” she criticises.
“A sad fact,” she says, “since
most of Urdu is derived from Sanskrit.”
Ms Onianf went on to explain the roots of “acha”, one of the
most frequently uttered words in Urdu.
“Its origins lie in Sanskrit, where it’s used to describe
the purity of water, and literally means pure and clear. In the
evolved language, it is used completely out of context.”
(source:
Oxford
scholar searching Pakistan for Sanskrit, beer -
dailytimes.com).
Urdu, being
nothing but a variation of Hindi, is also a daughter (or perhaps
great-granddaughter) of Sanskrit.
Modern Urdu evolved from the popularly spoken khadi boli of
Delhi region. Practically all the Farsi/Arabic words in Urdu are
loan words. You can replace any of them with Sanskrit or English
words, an Urdu text will still make sense.
Tu: derived
from Sanskrit (tvam)
hai: derived from Sanskrit (root as)
badi: derived from Sanskrit (brahat)
jovan: derived from Sanskrit (yovan)
nahin: derived from Sanskrit (na hi)
koi: derived from Sanskrit (kah)
dosh: Sanskrit
nam: Sanskrit
bahen: derived from Sanskrit (bahu)
mor: derived from Sanskrit (mayur)
chit: derived from Sanskrit (chitta)
chor: Sanskrit
ghan: Sanskrit
ghata: Sanskrit
ankhon: derived from Sanskrit (aksha)
etc.
The great thing about Hindi/Urdu is that it has been enriched by
many languages, although its basis is Sanskrit. That give it the
kind of flexibility unmatched by any other language.
(source:
IndianCivilization
yahoo group).
Urdu
Sanskrit/Hindi
1. Id
Id: Pooja, to pray
2. Id(gaah)
Id (as above; Griha: ghar or home
3. Id-az-juha
Id; Ajah: goat
4. Macca-Madina
Makh-Maidini: Place for fire worship
5. Stan (eg Pakistan)
Sthan: Place
6. Namaz
Namoh+yaj
7. Hftah
Saptah (Sa replaced by Ha) Week
8. Shab-e-barat
Shiv-ratri
9. Chand
Sans -Chandra; Hindi: Chand; Moon
10. Aamin
Appears to have a phonetic relationship with "OM"; the
other word derived from OM is Omni (present/potent)
11. Iran/Iraq
Ir dhatu meaning dry sandy place.
12. Arab/Arabia
Arv;Ashava; horse
(source:
Contributed by Dr
Mayank Rawat, Bharat/India).
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