End of Kali Yuga as Explained in the Vedas

The study of cosmology that aims to understand the origins and the nature of the cosmos all around us is a very fascinating branch of science. Even more fascinating is Vedic cosmology. How our ancients understood the nature of the universe even more insightfully than where science is just about reaching today. Don't forget that until a few hundred years ago, the western world believed that the earth is flat. While in our heritage, the name for geography is Bhugol. Gol, that earth which is round, its study is geography. So before we go into its further depths, here's a story to relish from the Puranas. We have heard of Indra, the king of the celestial abodes. It is said that once Indra commissioned Vishvakarma for the making of a mansion like had never existed. Vishvakarma engaged in the work and was getting exhausted. In desperation, he prayed to the lord for deliverance. Shri Krishna appeared before Indra and said, Devaraj, such a huge house is getting made. How many Vishvakarmas have you engaged in it? Indra was astonished. Maharaj, I thought there is only one Vishvakarma like there is only one Indra. The lord smiled. By virtue of his yoga maya, he began bringing ants to Svarglok and that further astonished Indra. He said, Maharaj, what are these ants? Where are they coming from? Lord Krishna said, Indra, those souls who have once been Devaraj like you but now are in the ant species, I've called them over to meet you. Indra's pride was squashed. Having been the king of the celestials, I can become an ant in the future. Giving that message, the lord disappeared and an elevated sage reached. The sage was carrying a straw mattress on his head and he had a circle of hair on his chest with a few of them fallen off. Indra welcomed the elevated sage and said, Maharaj, what is the secret of your peculiar appearance and why do you carry this mattress? The sage's name was Lomash Rishi, a famous sage from our Puranas. He said, Indra, I have the boon of long life. Every time one Indra's lifetime is over, one hair from the circle falls off. That explains the gaps. My disciples, they propose to build a house for me but I tell them life is temporary. So I carry the straw mattress on rainy days. It keeps me dry and when I wish to sleep at night, I lay down and lie over it. Indra thought, my god, somebody who has such a long life is saying that it is temporary and I am busy making such a big house for myself. His ego was squashed. But let us now come to the topic of Vedic cosmology. See, the western world until a few hundred years ago subscribed to the geocentric theory according to which the earth is the center of all creation and even the sun rotates around the earth. When Copernicus proposed the heliocentric theory and Bruno, an Italian monk, he supported Copernicus. Bruno was burned to the stake for sacrilege. How dare you say that the earth is not the center? However, Galileo, he invented his telescope which is today called the Galilean telescope where instead of two convex lenses, he had one convex and one concave lens and he proved with scientific data that Copernicus is right. The theory did get accepted but the belief was that the planets are rotating in perfect circles around the sun and then it took Kepler to point out that the orbits are not circular but elliptical. Further progress in science brought about the understanding that the sun is also rotating around the center of a galaxy which was named the Milky Way and subsequently other galaxies apart from this began getting discovered. Now look in contrast what the Vedas have been telling us for thousands of years. As per the Vedas, there are seven Lokas, five Mandals, three Trilokis. The first is the Chandra Mandal with its Lok, Chandralok on the moon. The Vedas say that this Chandra Mandal is not stationary. It is rotating around a Mandal whose name is Bhumandal and whose Loka is Bhulok, the earth. But the Vedas say the Bhumandal is also not stationary. It is rotating around another Mandal which is Surya Mandal and whose Loka is Swarlok, the sun. And the Antariksha between the two is called Bhuv. So Bhuv Bhuv Swa forms the first Triloki. The Vedas go on to elaborate that this Surya Mandal is also not stationary. It is orbiting around the Parameshthi Mandal whose Loka is Janalok. And between Swa and Jana is the Antariksha called Maha. It further goes on to say that the Parameshthi Mandal is in orbit around Swayambhu Mandal whose Loka is Brahmalok, the abode of Brahma. And the Antariksha between the two is Tapa. So a Jana Tapa Satya forms the third Triloki. Thereby there are these three Trilokis, five Mandals and seven Lokas. It is just touched upon by the other theologies which talk about Sattva Asman and the seventh heaven. The detail you will find in the Vedic literature. The Vedas further go on to talk about the Neethar regions as well. And they say that below Bhulok are the hellish abodes. So seven below and above as well. How did the Vedas know all of this? When the rest of the believed that the earth is flat in the center of the universe? Think about it. The Puranas relate the story of when Chaturmukhi Brahma, the four-headed Brahma, went to meet Lord Krishna when he was residing in Dwarka. Brahmaji told the gatekeeper, please tell Dwarkadheesh that Brahmaji wishes to meet him. The Dwarpal went and told Lord Krishna. Shri Krishna said, ask him, which Brahma is he? When the gatekeeper came and asked, Brahmaji was puzzled. I thought I was the only Brahma. Is there any apart from me as well? Nevertheless, he told the Dwarpal, go and tell him, the father of Sanakadik Paramahamsa, Chaturmukhi, the four-headed Brahma, is here. When the Dwarpal conveyed the message, Shri Krishna smiled and said, call him in. In Lord Krishna's presence, Brahmaji offered his respects and the first question he asked was this, Bhagwan, what did you mean by saying which Brahma? Is there any apart from me? Lord Krishna smiled. By the power of his yoga maya, he called all the Brahmas from innumerable universes. They all were coming and offering their obeisance to Lord Krishna. Our Brahmaji saw there is one Brahma with a hundred heads. He thought, my, my, I have four heads, he has 100, how big will his universe be? And then there were Brahmas coming who had a thousand heads. How big would be their universe? And there were also Brahmas coming who had 10,000 heads. And there were such Brahmas arriving who had one lakh heads. How big would be their universe? But also Brahmas appeared on the scene who had 10 lakh heads. And there were Brahmas who had But Brahmaji also saw there such Brahmas arriving who had 10 crore heads. And then there was also a Brahma who reached with one Arab, one billion heads. How big would be his universe? Seeing that mind-boggling spectacle, our four-headed Brahma fell at the feet of Lord Krishna in the spirit of surrender and said, Pahimam, Pahimam, my lord, forgive me, protect me. I was unaware of your infinite glory. So, as per the Vedas and as confirmed by the modern scientific multiverse theory, there are innumerable universes. Each universe has got three governors, one Shankar, one Brahma and one Vishnu. Science informs us, like the sun, there are 100 billion stars in this galaxy. And like this galaxy, the modern estimates say that there are 100 billion galaxies. Multiply 10 to the power 11 by 10 to the power 11, you get 10 to the power 22 are the estimated number of stars that are there in this one universe. And the Vedas inform us that like this universe, there are innumerable universes. So, for this universe of the four-headed Brahma, the Bhagavad Gita says, let's take a look. I'm reading the translation of the 17th verse of the 8th chapter from my commentary, Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God. It states, One day of Brahma, a Kalp, lasts a thousand cycles of the four ages, Mahayugas, and his night also extends for the same span of time. The wise who know this understand the reality about day and night. So amazing! As per the Vedic cosmology, this present age, Kalyug, the age of Kali, is going to be for a duration of 4,32,000 years. Prior to this was Dwapar Yug, which was 8,64,000 years. And before that was Satyug, which was 12,96,000 years. And before that was Satyug, 17,28,000 years. You combine all four of them, you get a Mahayug, which is being referred in this verse, which is 43,20,000 years. And 71 such Mahayugs, they combine together to form one Manvantar, the age of one Manu. And 14 Manvantars pass in one day of Brahma. So that one day of Brahma contains a thousand cycles of Chatur Yugas. That one day of Brahma, which is referred to as a Kalp, is 4,32,000,000 years. 4,320,000,000 years. This is the biggest unit of time in the world. 4,320,000,000 years. So at the end of Brahma's day, there is partial pralaya, where the earth, the lower abodes and some of the higher abodes, they dissolve. And at the end of Brahma's entire lifespan, there will be Mahapralaya. So what is Brahmaji's entire lifespan? A hundred years, with each day of that year equal to one Kalp. So that is 311,040,000,000,000 years. So this is talking about this universe of one Brahma. Like this, in the realm of God, there are so many material universes and all of them put together form one-fourth of God's creation. Three-fourths is beyond the realm of Maya. That is his divine abode. From that one-fourth, within that one universe, within that one galaxy, within that one solar system and within that one earth planet, in that one country, one state, one district, one city, one colony, one house, and one tiny soul. How insignificant we are in front of the splendorous glory of God. Thinking that, let's cultivate the super-excellent virtue of humbleness, of humility.