The Cycle of the Four Ages (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

What is the Cycle of the Four Ages?

The Four Ages

• Hindus believe that time is separated into four long periods (ages) of time called yugas, totalling 4,320,000 years

• There are four yugas in one cycle:

  • Satya Yuga

  • Treta Yuga

  • Dwapara Yuga

  • Kali Yuga

• Each age gets shorter and is believed to be more corrupt

• Currently, it is accepted by many Hindus that we are living the Kali Yuga

• Each of these yugas represents a stage of evolution

  • This is not just physical evolution; it is also mental and spiritual evolution

  • Humankind becomes better or worse physically, mentally and spiritually, depending on the actions of each generation

• Hindus believe that at the end of this age, Vishnu will appear as Kalki (the 10th avatar) riding a white horse

• He will kill the remaining evil and start a new birth of a golden age, and the cycle will start again

Meaning of the Four Ages

• Some Hindus believe that the ages may symbolise the four phases in which humans gradually lost awareness of their inner self and body

• Another theory interprets these time periods to represent the degree of loss of righteousness in the world

  • This theory suggests that during Satya Yuga, only truth prevailed

  • During the Treta Yuga, the universe lost one-fourth of the truth

  • Dwapar lost one-half of the truth

  • Now the Kali Yuga is left with only one-fourth of the truth

• Evil and dishonesty have therefore gradually replaced truth in the last three ages

The Universe

The Creation of the Universe

• For Hindus the universe was created by Brahma, the creator who made the universe out of himself

• After Brahma created the world, it was the power of Vishnu which preserved the world and human beings

• As part of the cycle of birth, life and death, it is Shiva who will ultimately destroy the universe

  • Brahma will then start the process of creation all over again

• Brahma is the creator god who works with Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva to maintain an unending cycle of universes

  • All three are aspects of Brahman

• Time is not a straight line but instead there are eternal cycles with universes being created, existing and dying, followed by recreation, existence and death

  • There is no beginning and no end

  • This is reflected in the Hindu belief in reincarnation

• Hindus believe that the universe is clusters of bubbles floating in space created from Vishnu’s breath

• In each universe, there is an upper realm of heavenly planets, an earthly realm, and a lower world full of less pleasant beings

• Every form of creation has a place within these universes and in each cycle of life, humans may move into a different realm

Hindu Creation Stories

• There are many different stories within Hinduism relation to the creation of the universe

  • A popular story states that a lotus flower grew from Lord Vishnu’s navel with Brahma sitting on it

    • Brahma separated the flower into three parts, the heavens, the Earth and the sky

    • Out of loneliness, Brahma split himself into two to create a male and a female and from this, all beings were created

  • Another story makes reference to life coming from the cracking of an enormous egg, which is the life from which the universe was born

  • The Hymn of Creation from the Rig Veda concludes that nobody knows how the universe came into being and even questions whether Brahman knows

  • Some Hindu texts offer a more scientific explanation based on the evolution of primary elements from a single source

• These accounts, and others, were written many centuries ago in or around what we now know as India

• They were not necessarily intended to be taken as literal scientific truth, but are indicators of the complexity and infinite nature of the universe

Many Worlds

The Hindu Multiverse

• Many Hindus believe that there are 14 lokas, or worlds, that make up a multiverse

• They believe that there are inhabitants in each of these planetary systems

• The lokas are divided into the seven upper worlds, known as vyarthis, and the seven lower worlds, known as patalas

• The seven vyarthis (upper worlds)

  • Satya-loka: This is the place of Brahma, where each person’s atman is released from the inevitability of rebirth

  • Tapa-loka: Ayohnija devadasis live here

  • Jana-loka: The sons of the god Brahma live here

  • Mahar-loka: Enlightened beings such as Markandeya live here

  • Svar-loka: This is the area between the Sun and the Polar Star, the Heaven of the god Indra

    • It is a Heaven and Paradise, where all the 330 million Hindu gods live

  • Bhuvar-loka (or Pitri-loka) – It is the space between Earth and the Sun

    • Semi-divine beings live here.

  • Bhur-loka – This is the Earth

    • Hindus teach that it is one of billions of inhabited worlds in the universe

• The seven patalas (lower worlds)

  • Atala-loka: Atala is ruled by Bala, who is a son of Maya

    • Maya possesses mystical powers

  • Vitala-loka: Vitala is ruled by the god Hara-Bhava, who is a form of Shiva

  • Sutala-loka: Sutala is the kingdom of the demon king Bali

  • Talatala-loka: Talatala is the realm of Maya

    • Shiva is also in this realm, under the protection of Maya

  • Mahatala-loka: Mahatala is where many nagas (serpents) live

  • Rasatala-loka: Rasatala is the home of the demons Danavas and Daityas

  • Patala-loka (or Naga-loka): This is the lowest realm

    • It is the region of the nagas, ruled by Vasuki a King serpent