Kala - Eternal Time

According to the Vedic version, Lord Brahma, the four-headed cosmic engineer of
this universe, lives in a body that is subtle, because it is made primarily of i
ntellegence, and he lives for the duration of this universe, the equivalent of 3
11 trillion of our years, which seem to him to be only one hundred of his years.
From our viewpoint, 311 trillion years is an eternity, but from the point of vi
ew of Lord Visnu, the original cause of the material creation, that's the time i
t takes Him to exhale one breath. When Visnu exhales, all the universes come out
of the pores of His skin in seedlike forms, then they develop, and when He inha
les, all the universes merge within Him.
The purpose of the cosmic creation is to accommodate those souls wishing to assu
me Krsna's position as the supreme enjoyer and proprietor. Since the constitutio
nal position of everyone is subordination to God, it is impossible to compete wi
th Him. So Krsna makes the impossible a possibility, by creating a temporary ill
usion called the material world, where we may forget Him and enjoy being illusor
y controllers for some time.
"Time I am," the Lord declares in Bhagavad-gita (11.32), "the great destroyer of
the worlds." Under the influence of eternal time the cosmic manifestation is cr
eated, maintained and annihilated at regular intervals.
Time passes differently according to one's situation in the cosmos. Lord Brahma
lives for one hundred years, but his twelve hours consist of one thousand cycles
of four ages (yugas): Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. A single cycle of Kali, t
he shortest, yuga, corresponds to 4,320,000 solar years.
The duration of life is one hundred years in the present Kali age; one thousand
years in Dvapara-yuga; ten thousand in Treta-yuga; and one hundred thousand year
s in Satya-yuga. Time is relative to the kind of body one occupies. While Brahma
's one hundred years equal 311 trillion of our years, an insect's one hundred ye
ars might come to no more than one of our days or less. And on the heavenly plan
ets ruled by Lord Indra, one day equals six of our months.
Time controls and subdues all embodied beings. Anyone can easily see and experie
nce that material bodies undergo six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, reprod
uction, decay and death. Whether we like it or not, every rising and setting of
the sun brings us closer to inevitable death. The rise and fall of civilizations
follow the same pattern, and their Taj Mahals, Parthenons, Chateaus de Versaill
es and pyramids stand as pathetic reminders that time and tide wait for no man.
The four ages are fully under the corrupting influence of time. Whereas Satya-yu
ga is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion, these qualities deteriorate
with the passing of time, and when Kali-yuga rolls around, we experience mostly
strife, vice, ignorance and irreligion, true virtue being practically nonexisten
t.
To correct for the imbalance created by the degrading influence of time, the Lor
d advents Himself "millenium after millenium." He first spoke Bhagavad-gita to V
ivasvan, the sungod, millions of years ago. "I instructed this imperishable scie
nce of yoga to the sungod, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the fat
her of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku" (Bg. 4.1). This is co
nfirmed in the Mahabharata: "In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-y
uga this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan
to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku,
the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lor
d Ramacandra appeared." Bhagavad-gita has therefore existed in human society fro
m the time of Maharaja Iksvaku.
Speaking to Arjuna, Lord Krsna further said, "This supreme science was thus rece
ived through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood
it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore
the science as it is appears to be lost" (Bg. 4.2). The Lord then explained that
same science again to Arjuna five thousand years ago, and it has been brought t
o us through an unbroken chain of self-realized spiritual masters, culminating i
n His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder-acarya of the Internat
ional Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Arjuna raised a doubt concerning the point that Krsna had spoken millions of yea
rs ago to Vivasvan. How could Krsna have instructed him? Lord Krsna replied: "Ma
ny, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you
cannot" (Bg. 4.5). Krsna remembered acts He had performed millions of years befo
re, but Arjuna could not remember anything, despite the fact that both Krsna and
Arjuna are eternal in nature. This is due to the fact that whenever the Lord ap
pears, He appears in His original transcendental form, which never deteriorates.
An ordinary person, however, transmigrates from one body to another. And from o
ne life to the next, he forgets his former identity. But Krsna, the very princip
le of subduing time, is never under the control of time, and thus He remembers e
verything at all times. "O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know
everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present,
and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no
one knows" (Bg. 7.26).
The Srimad-Bhagavatam compares time to the deadly sharp blade of a razor. Becaus
e time imperceptibly devours the duration of life of everyone, one must carefull
y use one's life properly. Since time represents Krsna, using time to search for
the Absolute Truth is the best practical use of time. The Narada Pancaratra adv
ises: "By concentrating one's attention on the transcendental form of Krsna, who
is all-pervading and beyond time and space, one becomes absorbed in thinking of
Krsna and then attains the happy state of transcendental association with Him."