Time is mysterious, Time is cyclic, and Time can be dilated. Hinduism is the oldest religion of the world and hence called the Sanatan Dharma, which has neither the beginning nor the end. It measures time in billions and trillions of years and profound the theory of multiverses (a collection of universes). It clearly shows the mark of a very advanced civilization, which was not only well acquainted with such huge numbers but also brilliant scientific thought process. According to the Padma Purana, the day of Brahma is divided into 14 manvantars. Brahma is the creator deity present in each universe, also called as Brahmand. He lives for 100 years, divided into days and nights which are further divided into manvantars. The days of Brahma are 14 manvantars long. Each manvantar is a cycle of approximately 306.72 million years. At the end of each day of Brahma, the creation is destroyed and the night follows. This night is as long as the day and is devoid of creation. At the beginning of each day the Brahma starts a new process of creation. We are currently living around the noon of 1st day of the 51st year of the current Brahma. This day has been named the Shwetavaraha Kalpa (The Day of the White Boar). The scripture further states that life began on earth 6 manvantars ago and we are currently in 7th manvantar. Since almost half of this manvantar has passed, this suggests that life began on earth around 2 billion years ago. This number amazingly coincides with the theory of modern geologists.
One complete manvantar cycle is 306,720,000 Earth years in duration. The last supercontinent, Pangaea, formed approximately 300 million years ago. There’s yet another rough similarity between manvantar cycles and supercontinent cycles. The previous supercontinent, Pannotia/Greater Gondwanaland, formed approximately 600 million years ago. However, most geologists also state that beyond the original formation of the supercontinent Pannotia, the time span between supercontinents becomes more irregular. For example, the supercontinent before Pannotia, Rodinia, existed 1.1 billion to 750 million years ago - a mere 150 million years before Pannotia. The supercontinent before this was Columbia: 1.8 to 1.5 billion years ago. And before this was Kenorland: 2.7 to 2.1 billion years ago. Ur existed 3 billion years ago and Vaalbara 3.6 to 2.8 billion years ago. One complete supercontinent cycle is said to take 300 to 500 million years to occur. There are a few discrepancies here and there, but these discrepancies are relatively minor. But nevertheless, it’s not known for certain how long a supercontinent cycle is.
These minor discrepancies can be however explained through The Einstein Theory of Relativity. Concepts introduced by the theories of relativity include: Measurements of various quantities are relative to the velocities of observers. In particular, space and time can dilate; Spacetime: space and time should be considered together and in relation to each other; and the speed of light is nonetheless invariant, the same for all observers. Some of the consequences of general relativity are: Clocks run more slowly in deeper gravitational wells. This is called gravitational time dilation; Orbits precess in a way unexpected in Newton's theory of gravity. (This has been observed in the orbit of Mercury and in binary pulsars); Rays of light bend in the presence of a gravitational field; Rotating masses "drag along" the spacetime around them; a phenomenon termed "frame-dragging"; The universe is expanding, and the far parts of it are moving away from us faster than the speed of light. This brings to the conclusion that it’s certain to determine that an event has occurred but to assign a time period to it depends on the position of the observer in space. To get this point even simpler I must sight the example of the stars. We see only the image of what some stars were a million years ago; as those stars are a million light years away from us.
Thus, whatever may be the time period of the super-continents or the intervals of manvantars, it’s certain that, what ancient scriptures are saying might be true. Hindu scriptures go a step ahead and describe all the continents as dwipas (islands), viz. Jambu Dwipa, Plaksha Dwipa, Shalmali Dwipa, Kusha Dwipa, Krauncha Dwipa, Shaka Dwipa, and Pushkara Dwipa. These Dwipas are either supercontinents or the supercontinent cycles related to them. The global flooding of the continental regions after the break-up of a supercontinent is the ocean between each of the Dwipas. Sedimentary layers of each supercontinent cycle forms above the previous one. At the commencement of each manvantar, there could be only one giant landmass on Earth (i.e. a supercontinent) and as each manvantar moves forward in time, this supercontinent breaks itself into smaller continents scattered over our planet. This process of supercontinents splitting themselves to form smaller continents is known as continental rifting. Also, geological studies have shown that continental rifting causes substantial inundations by water. Notice that there are names for 7 distinct supercontinents and manvantars till date. We are currently living during the 7th manvantar. It’s fascinating that modern paleontology tells us that there have been 6 major extinction events since the beginning of life on Earth approximately 2 billion years ago. The Vedic texts also state that life began on Earth approximately 2 billion years ago as well (during this particular cycle). The major difference between what modern paleontology is saying and what the ancient Vedic texts are telling us is that in the ancient Vedic texts, humans (and, by extension, human civilisations) have existed in each of the 6 previous manvantars before each of the 6 major extinction events occurred. I will leave that for my next post, and end this post with a hymn from the Rig Veda.
Who verily knows and who can here declare it,
Whence it was born and whence comes this creation?
The Gods are later than this world's production.
Who knows then whence it first came into being?
He, the first origin of this creation,
Whether He formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven,
He verily knows it, or perhaps He knows not.
— Rig Veda 10.129.6-7
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