2019-09-15 15:33

印度教令人脑洞大开的四大时代︱Hinduism's Staggering 4 Yugas Time Scale

根据印度教经文和神话，当前的宇宙注定要经历四大时代，每个时代都是宇宙创造和毁灭的完整循环。印度神话中的数字跨度令人脑洞大开，无法想象！

印度教徒相信创造的过程是循环往复的，每个循环都有四大时代（ yugas），因为创造的过程是循环的、永无止境的，它“由始至终，由终而始”。

一劫（Kalpa）据说由1000个四大时代周期（每个时代跨度不同）组成。据估计，一个时代周期是432万年，一劫周期是43.2亿年。

一劫＝1000个四大时代周期＝43.2亿年

一个四大时代周期＝432万年

关于四大时代

印度教的四大时代是：萨提亚时代（Satya Yuga）、特雷塔时代（Treta Yuga）、德瓦帕尔时代（Dwapar Yuga）、卡利时代（Kali Yuga）。萨提亚时代或真理时代据说能持续4,000神圣年；特雷塔时代能持续3,000神圣年；德瓦帕拉时代能持续2,000神圣年；卡利时代能持续1,000神圣年；1神圣年相当于43.2万地球年。

1神圣年＝43.2万地球年

萨提亚时代＝4,000神圣年＝17.28亿地球年

特雷塔时代＝3,000神圣年＝12.96亿地球年

德瓦帕尔时代＝2,000神圣年＝8.64亿地球年

卡利时代＝1,000神圣年＝4.32亿地球年

四个时代总和＝43.2亿年

印度传统认为，当前宇宙的三个伟大时代已经过去，我们现在生活在第四个时代——卡利时代。难以想象印度教时间轴所表达的如此巨大跨度的时间的意义，关于这些时间测量的象征意义，有不同的解说。

象征的解说

隐喻说，四大时代可能象征着人类逐渐失去对内在自我和精微身意识的四个阶段。印度教认为，人类有五种身体，分别是：安纳马亚科萨（annamayakosa）、普拉纳马亚科萨（pranamayakosa）、马诺马亚科萨（manomayakosa）、维纳纳马亚科萨（vignanamayakosa）和安纳马亚科萨（anandamayakosa），分别代表“粗糙身”、“ 呼吸身”、“ 精神身”、“智能身”、“喜乐身”。

另一种理论解说这些时代代表了世间正法的丧失程度。这一解说表明，在萨提亚时代（Satya Yuga），只有真理盛行(梵文萨提亚＝真理)；在特雷塔时代（Treta Yuga），宇宙丧失了四分之一的真理；德瓦帕尔时代（Dwapar Yuga）丧失了一半真理；现在卡利时代（Kali Yuga）只剩下四分之一真理。因此，在过去的三个时代里，邪恶和不诚实逐渐取代了真理。

十个化身（Dasavatara）

在这四大时代，主毗湿奴据说以十个不同化身降生，这个原则被称为十个化身（Dasavatara，梵文dasa = 10）。在萨提亚年代——真理时代，人类在灵性上是最先进的，拥有强大的精神力量。

在特雷塔时代，人们仍然保持正义、坚持道德的生活方式。史诗《罗摩衍那》中的主罗摩生于特雷塔时代。

在德瓦帕尔时代，人类失去了一切关于智能体和喜乐体的知识，主克里希那生于这个时代。

现在卡利时代是四大时代中最堕落的。

居于卡利时代

据说我们现在正居于卡利时代——一个充满不净和罪恶的世界，拥有高尚品德的人日益减少，洪水和饥荒、战争和犯罪、欺骗和口是心非是这个时代的特征。但是，经文上说，只有在这个困难重重的时代，最终的解脱才有可能。

卡利时代有两个阶段：在第一个阶段，人类正失去两个更高自我的知识，除了身体自我之外，还拥有“呼吸身体”知识；然而在第二阶段，甚至这种知识也抛弃了人类，只留下我们对肉体的意识。这就解释了为何人类现在更专注于身体自我，而不是其他方面的存在。

由于我们对我们的身体和较低的自我的关注，我们强调追求粗糙唯物论，这个时代被称为黑暗时代——一个我们与内在自我失去联系的时代，一个极度无知的时代。

经文怎么说

两大史诗——《罗摩衍那》和《摩诃婆罗多》都谈到了卡利时代。在《图拉西罗摩衍那》中，我们发现了圣人卡库珊迪（Kakbhushundi）的预言。

“在卡利时代，罪恶的温床，男人和女人都浸淫在不义之中，行为与吠陀相反。一切美德都被卡利时代的罪恶所吞噬；一切好书都不见了，骗子们散布许多信条，这些信条是他们凭自己的才智编造出来的；所有人都成了妄想的牺牲品，所有虔诚的行为都被贪婪吞噬。”

在《摩诃婆罗多》中，英雄尤迪斯提尔说：“《吠陀经》的法则在每个连续时代逐渐消失，卡利时代的职责完全是另一种，因此，似乎根据人类在各自时代的力量，为各自的时代规定了职责。”

圣人毗耶娑后来澄清道：“在卡利时代，各个秩序的职责消失了，人们受到不公平的折磨。”

接下来会发生什么

根据印度教宇宙学，据预测，在卡利时代结束时，湿婆神将毁灭宇宙，身体将经历巨大的转变。在毁灭之后，主梵天将重建宇宙，人类将再次成为奉行真理的生命。

By Subhamoy Das

According to Hindu scriptures and mythology, the current universe is destined to pass through four great epochs, each of which is acomplete cycle of cosmic creation and destruction. Hindu mythology deals with numbers large enough to be nearly impossible to imagine.

Hindus believe the process of creation moves in cycles and that each cycle has four great yugas, or epochs, of time. And because the process of creation is cyclical and never-ending, it "begins to end and ends to begin."

A Kalpa, or eon, is said to be comprised of a thousand cycles of four yugas—each of a different quality. By one estimate, a single yuga cycle is said to be 4.32 million years, and a Kalpa is said to consist of 4.32 billion years

About the Four Yugas

The four great epochs in Hinduism are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga, and Kali Yuga. Satya Yug or the Age of Truth is said to last for 4,000 divine years, Treta Yuga for 3,000, Dwapara Yug for 2,000 and Kali Yuga will last for 1,000 divine years—a divine year equalling 432,000 earthly years.

Hindu tradition holds that three of these great ages of this current universe have already passed away, and we are now living in the fourth one—the Kali Yuga. It is quite hard to contemplate the meaning of the vast quantities of time expressed by the Hindu time scheme, so vast are the numbers. There are different theories about the symbolic meaning of these measurements of time.

Symbolic Interpretations

Metaphorically, the four Yuga ages may symbolize the four phases of involution during which the human gradually lost the awareness of his or her inner selves and subtle bodies. Hinduism believes that human beings have five kinds of bodies, known as annamayakosa, pranamayakosa, manomayakosa, vignanamayakosa, and anandamayakosa, which respectively mean the"gross body," the "breath body," the "psychicbody," the "intelligence body," and the "bliss body."

Another theory interprets these epochs of time to representthe degree of loss of righteousness in the world. This theory suggests that during Satya Yuga, only truth prevailed (Sanskrit Satya =truth). During the Treta Yuga, the universe lost one-fourth of the truth, Dwapar lost one-half of the truth, and 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.

Dasavatara: The 10 Avatars

Through out these four yugas, Lord Vishnu is said to have been incarnated ten times in ten different avatars. This principleis known as Dasavatara (Sanskrit dasa = ten). During the Satya Yuga, the Age of Truth, human beings were spiritually most advanced and had great psychic powers.

In the Treta Yuga people still remained righteousand adhered to moral ways of life. Lord Rama of the epic poem the Ramayana lived in Treta Yuga.

In the Dwapara Yuga, men had lost all knowledge of the intelligence and bliss bodies. Lord Krishna was born in this age.

Living in the Kali Yuga

We are said to presently be living in the Kali Yuga—in a world infested with impurities and vices. The numbers of people possessing noble virtues are diminishing day by day. Floods and famine, war and crime,deceit, and duplicity characterize this age. But, say the scriptures, it is only in this age of critical troubles that final emancipation is possible.

Kali Yuga has two phases: In the first phase,humans—having lost the knowledge of the two higher selves—possessed knowledge of the "breath body" apart from the physical self. Now during the second phase, however, even this knowledge has deserted humanity, leaving us only with the awareness of the gross physical body. This explains why human kind is now more preoccupied with the physical self than any other aspect of existence.

Due to our preoccupation with our physical bodies and our lower selves, and because of our emphasis on the pursuit of gross materialism,this age has been termed the Age of Darkness—an age when we have lost touch with our inner selves, an age of profound ignorance.

What the Scriptures Say

Both the two greatepics—the Ramayana and Mahabharata—have spoken about the Kali Yuga. In the Tulasi Ramayana, we find the sage Kakbhushundi foretelling:

In the Kali Yuga, the hot bed of sin, men and women are all steeped in unrighteousness and act contrary to the Vedas. Every virtue had been engulfed by the sins of Kali Yuga; all good books had disappeared;impostors had promulgated a number of creeds, which they had invented out of their own wit. The people had all fallen prey to delusion and all pious acts had been swallowed by greed.

In the Mahabharata (Santi Parva), the hero Yudhishthir says:“The ordinances of the Vedas disappear gradually in every successive age, the duties in the Kali age are entirely of another kind. It seems, therefore, that duties have been laid down for there spective age according to the powers of human beings in the respective ages. ”

The sage Vyasa, later on, clarifies: In the Kali Yuga, the duties of the respective order disappear and men become afflicted by inequity.

What Happens Next?

According to Hindu cosmology, it is predicted that at the end of the Kali Yuga, Lord Shiva will destroy the universe and the physical body will undergo a great transformation. After the dissolution, Lord Brahma will recreate the universe, and human kind will become the Beings of Truth once again.