While Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were talking, Brahmā returned after a moment's interval (according to the duration of his life). We have information of Lord Brahmā’s duration of life from the Bhagavad-gītā: 1,000 times the duration of the four ages, or 1,000 x 4,320,000 years, constitute Brahmā’s twelve hours. Similarly, one moment of Brahmā’s time is equal to one year of our solar calculation. After one moment of Brahmā’s calculation, Brahmā came back to see the fun caused by his stealing the boys and calves. But he was also afraid that he was playing with fire. Kṛṣṇa was his master, and he had played mischief for fun by taking away His calves and boys. He was really anxious, so he did not stay away very long; he came back after a moment (of his calculation). He saw that all the boys and calves were playing with Kṛṣṇa in the same way as when he had come upon them, although he was confident that he had taken them and made them lie down asleep under the spell of his mystic power. Brahmā began to think, "All the boys and calves were taken away by me, and I know they are still sleeping. How is it that a similar batch of boys and calves is playing with Kṛṣṇa? Is it that they are not influenced by my mystic power? Have they been playing continually for one year with Kṛṣṇa?"
Four million three hundred twenty thousand
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
Maitreya said: O Vidura, the four millenniums are called the Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali yugas. The aggregate number of years of all of these combined is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.
The years of the demigods are equal to 360 years of humankind. As will be clarified in the subsequent verses, 12,000 of the demigods' years, including the transitional periods which are called yuga-sandhyās, comprise the total of the aforementioned four millenniums. Thus the aggregate of the above-mentioned four millenniums is 4,320,000 years.
The appearance of the Lord as the first boar incarnation occurred during the time of Svāyambhuva Manu, whereas the present age is in the period of Vaivasvata Manu. Each Manu's period lasts seventy-two times the cycle of four ages, and one cycle of ages equals 4,320,000 solar years. Thus 4,320,000 x 72 solar years is the reign of one Manu. In each Manu's period there are many changes in many ways, and there are fourteen Manus within one day of Brahmā. It is understood here that Manu creates scriptural regulations for the salvation of the conditioned souls, who come to the material world for material enjoyment. The Lord is so kind that any soul who wants to enjoy in this material world is given full facility for enjoyment, and at the same time he is shown the path of salvation. Śaunaka Ṛṣi, therefore, inquired from Sūta Gosvāmī: "What did Svāyambhuva Manu do after the reinstatement of the earth in its orbital situation?"
It is stated that his life was very long, seventy-one yugas. One yuga is completed in 4,320,000 years, seventy-one of such yugas is the duration of the life of a Manu, and fourteen such Manus come and go in one day of Brahma. For the entire duration of his life - 4,320,000 x 71 years—Manu engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by chanting, hearing, talking about and meditating upon Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, his life was not wasted, nor did it become stale.
He passed his time, which lasted seventy-one cycles of the four ages (71 x 4,320,000 years), always thinking of Vāsudeva and always engaged in matters regarding Vāsudeva. Thus he transcended the three destinations.
SB Canto 4
An advanced devotee, or a perfect human being who is actually wise and learned, cannot give up his service at the lotus feet of the Lord. Although Lord Brahmā has a long life-span (4,320,000,000 years constitute twelve hours in a day of Brahmā), Brahmā is afraid of death and consequently engages in the devotional service of the Lord. Similarly, all the Manus who appear and disappear during the day of Brahmā are also engaged in the Lord's devotional service. In Brahmā's one day, fourteen Manus appear and disappear. The first Manu is Svāyambhuva Manu. Each Manu lives for seventy-one yugas, each consisting of some 4,320,000 years. Although the Manus have such a long life-span, they still prepare for the next life by engaging in the devotional service of the Lord. In this age human beings only live for sixty or eighty years, and even this small life-span is gradually decreasing. Therefore it is even more imperative for human beings to take to the worship of the lotus feet of the Lord by constantly chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as recommended by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahmā. A manvantara, the life-span of one Manu, is given as 71 multiplied by 4,320,000 years. After one such Manu passes on, another Manu begins his life-span. In this way the life cycle of the universe is going on. As one Manu follows another, the cult of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is being imparted, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.1):
- śrī-bhagavān uvāca
- imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ
- proktavān aham avyayam
- vivasvān manave prāha
- manur ikṣvākave 'bravīt
"The Blessed Lord said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku." Vivasvān, the sun-god, imparted Bhagavad-gītā to one Manu, and this Manu imparted it to his son, who imparted it to yet another Manu. In this way the propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is never stopped. No one should think that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a new movement. As confirmed by Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is a very, very old movement, for it has been passing down from one Manu to another.
The word jagad-aṇḍa-nātha means Lord Brahmā. There are innumerable jagad-aṇḍa-nātha Brahmās, and thus we can calculate the many Manus. The present age is under the control of Vaivasvata Manu. Each Manu lives 4,320,000 years multiplied by 71. The present Manu has already lived for 4,320,000 years multiplied by 28. All these long life-spans are ultimately ended by the laws of material nature. The controversy of the Dakṣa-yajña took place in the Svāyambhuva manvantara period. As a result, Dakṣa was punished by Lord Śiva, but by virtue of his prayers to Lord Śiva he became eligible to regain his former opulence. According to Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Dakṣa underwent severe penances up to the fifth manvantara. Thus at the beginning of the sixth manvantara, known as the Cākṣuṣa manvantara, Dakṣa regained his former opulence by the blessings of Lord Śiva.
As far as the duration of life of the demigods, concerning Lord Brahmā it is said:
- sahasra-yuga-paryantam
- ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
- rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ
- te 'ho-rātra-vido janāḥ
- (BG 8.17)
The duration of one day of Brahmā is one thousand times greater than the four yugas, aggregating 4,320,000 years. Similarly, Brahmā's one night. Brahmā lives for one hundred years of such days and nights. The word vibudhāyuṣā indicates that even if one gets a long life-span, his life-span is useless if he is not a devotee. A living entity is the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord, and unless he comes to the platform of devotional service, his life-span, good birth, glorious activities and everything else are null and void.
SB Canto 5
In every day of Brahmā there are fourteen manvantaras. The duration of one manvantara, the lifespan of one Manu, is seventy-one yugas, and each yuga is 4,320,000 years. Almost all the Manus selected to rule the manvantaras came from the family of Mahārāja Priyavrata. Three of them are particularly mentioned herein, namely Uttama, Tāmasa and Raivata.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
The present Manu, who is the seventh, is called Vaivasvata (the son of Vivasvān). Twenty-seven divya-yugas (27 x 4,320,000 solar years) of his age have now passed.
The Lord Viṣṇu who lies in the ocean of milk incarnates Himself in various forms to maintain the laws of the cosmos and annihilate the causes of disturbance. Such incarnations are visible in every manv-antara (i.e., in the course of the reign of each Manu, who lives for 71 x 4,320,000 years). Fourteen such Manus take their birth and die, to yield a place for the next, during one day of Brahmā.
CC Antya-lila
“Anyone who does not float in this inundation is most condemned. Such a person cannot be delivered for millions of kalpas."
The kalpa is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17): sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ. One day of Brahmā is called a kalpa. A yuga, or mahā-yuga, consists of 4,320,000 years, and one thousand such mahā-yugas constitute one kalpa. The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that if one does not take advantage of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he cannot be delivered for millions of such kalpas.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Renunciation Through Wisdom
Now, if one consults the accounts ledger of India's serfdom and freedom, and views the contents from a spiritual perspective, the conclusion will be as follows: The four yugas, or ages, namely Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali, add up to 4,320,000 years. Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years, began from the time of Mahārāja Parīkṣit's rule, some five thousand years ago. For approximately one thousand of these five thousand years—i.e., since the invasion of Mohammad Ghori in A.D. 1050—India has been experiencing foreign rule. In other words, when we calculate according to scripture, India has exercised absolute sovereignty over the entire planet Earth for a period of 3,772,000 years, till Mahārāja Parīkṣit's rule. Hence the meagre thousand years of foreign subjugation are not such a lamentable thing. Neither in the past nor at present has India's political serfdom or freedom been the prime concern of India's greatest thinkers and philosophers, who well knew the actual value of such things. The kings of India up to Mahārāja Parīkṣit were able to rule the entire world, and not for a mere couple of centuries but for hundreds of thousands of years. The reason for their rule was not a political one.
People become awestruck when they learn that the life span on Brahmaloka is many millions of years. One has to undergo severe austerities and renunciation, accepting the sannyāsa order of life, in order to reach Brahmaloka. However, we must consider one essential fact: even Lord Brahmā, the presiding deity of that planet, is not immortal. Those who have researched the Vedic scriptures in depth can calculate the lifetime of Brahmā. Human beings count 365 days in their year, and the cycle of four yugas comprises approximately 4,320,000 such years. A thousand cycles of four yugas make up one day-time (twelve hours) of Lord Brahmā's life. In this way his month and year can be calculated, and Brahmā lives for a hundred years of his time. But despite this vast life span—311 trillion 40 billion human years—Lord Brahmā is a mortal being, and this universe created by him is also perishable. Thus it is not strange that human beings, who are also his creation, should perish. As human beings seem immortal to a tiny insect, so Lord Brahmā and the demigods seem immortal to us. In fact, however, no material body of any form is ever eternal.
| Page Title: | Four million three hundred twenty thousand |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 06 of Nov, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=9, CC=3, OB=3, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 15 |