To understand the chronology of the Srimad Bhagavatam, it’s important to understand how time is described in the Vedas since the whole history of the Srimad Bhagavatam fits inside this chronology. The modern understanding of time is substantially different from the Vedas, and it’s practically impossible to understand the events described in the Srimad Bhagavatam and other Puranas as long as we are under these concepts.
The modern conception of history is that humanity is evolving, coming from the caveman to the industrial revolution. However, our understanding of the past is limited. The oldest artifacts that can be accepted as recorded history date from about 5000 years ago. Most of the theories about what happened before are based on indirect evidence, like fossils and artifacts. Paleontologists use whatever they find to try to create a coherent view of the human past, but it’s very difficult to find the truth without direct information from people who lived there.
Different from modern theories that conclude that modern human beings are the result of a long evolutive process that ultimately happened by chance, the Vedas explain that modern humans are actually the fruit of a devolutive process. The idea given in the Vedas is that our planet goes through a cyclic sequence of four cycles: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dwapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. Our planet is populated by advanced beings in a state close to perfection at the beginning of Satya-yuga and slowly degrades up to a point of complete barbarism by the end of Kali-yuga.
Satya-yuga lasts for 4,800 celestial years. Each celestial year corresponds to 360 years of our time, and therefore Satya-yuga lasts for a total of 1,728,000 years. During this period there is a gradual decline in the level of consciousness, which in time leads humanity to the second age in the cycle: Treta-Yuga, or the Silver Age.
During this period, people become interested in economic development. Agriculture becomes very prominent and society is divided into different classes, with pious kings watching over the well-being of the general population. Most people in this age are still quite pious, and their level of consciousness is sufficient to award them bodies capable of living up to 10,000 years. The preferred method of self-realization in this age is the performance of elaborate ceremonies with the perfect chanting of Vedic mantras.
Treta-yuga lasts for 3,600 celestial years, or 1,296,000 years of our time. Again, there is a gradual deterioration of collective consciousness, and slowly bad habits and lower qualities become more prominent, leading humanity to the third age: Dwapara-yuga, or the Bronze Age. In this age, about half of humanity is dominated by lust, greed, and other bad qualities. At the start of Dwapara-yuga people live for 1,000 years, but life expectancy diminishes gradually and by the end of the period it’s close to 100 years.
The battle of Kurukshetra happened in the final years of Dwapara-yuga, events that are described in detail in the Mahabharata. We can see how at those times there was a strong polarization around the virtuous Pandavas and the impious Kauravas, and that the group that supported the Kauravas was bigger. The Pandavas managed to assemble seven divisions of soldiers in their army, while the Kauravas amassed eleven divisions.
Dwapara-yuga lasts for 2,400 celestial years, or 864,000 years of our time. It’s followed by Kali-yuga, the last era of the cycle, the era we are currently living in. According to astronomical calculations, this age started in 3012 BCE, exactly at the time Krsna left this world. In the Surya Siddhanta is described a particular alignment of planets (very inauspicious according to Vedic astrology) that happens at the start of this era, a piece of information confirmed by modern calculations.
During Kali-yuga, humanity slowly degrades, as beings from the lower realms get the opportunity of taking birth on our planet to accumulate a new set of Karma. This is also the shortest of the four eras, lasting for just 1,200 celestial years, or 432,000 years of our time.
It’s narrated that by the end of this period, the Avatara Kalki comes. Aniquilating the oppressive kings and soldiers who by that time will be no more than plunderers of the poor citizens, he creates the conditions for the beginning of a new Golden Age. Under the guidance of superior beings, humanity is restored to its original state, and a new Satya-yuga starts, marking the beginning of a new cycle.
The cycles of Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dwapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga go on cyclically like the seasons of the year. Each complete cycle of four eras is called Chatur-yuga, or Divya-yuga, and it lasts for a total of 12,000 celestial years or 4.32 million years. It may seem like a very long period, but it’s just a moment in the cosmic scale of time. It’s described that the inhabitants of Swaga-loka live for 10,000 celestial years (3.6 million years). From there, we can see that not only the living standard but also the perception of time on different planets of the cosmos differ. What’s almost a complete universal cycle for us, is just a lifetime for such higher beings.
The cycle that affects the inhabitants of the higher planetary systems more directly is the Manvantara. To understand this next cycle we need to understand how our universe is managed.
Although the modern understanding is that everything works by just the combination of physical laws, the Vedas explain that the different forces that control the universe are under the supervision of the Devas, like Indra, Surya, Vayu, etc. Although the term “Deva” is usually translated as “demigod”, the Devas are also mortal beings. It’s just that because of their high qualification they receive positions of trust where they become responsible for controlling the forces of nature. Their positions can be compared with those of ministers, who although regular human beings receive the power and responsibility of looking over certain aspects of the state. The names attributed to them are actually posts that are occupied at different times by different personalities. The current Indra, for example, is called Purandara, and the next will be Bali.
A Manvantara is composed of 71 Chatur-yugas and lasts for a total of 852,000 celestial years or 306,720,000 earthly years. The events at the end of a Manvantara are much more dramatic than the events at the end of Kali-yuga, resonating all over the cosmos.
All the Devas, led by Manu, live for the period of a single Manvantara. When the period is concluded, they pass away and a new generation of Devas has to take their places. During this time there are many disturbances in the universe and it takes some time until things get back on track. During this period, life on most planets ceases almost completely, and everything starts again with the advent of a new Manu, who receives the mission of repopulating the universe with all the different species of life. This period of transition is called Sandhya, and it lasts for 1.728 million years.
The next cosmic cycle is called a Kalpa, and it lasts for a total of 4.32 billion years, corresponding to a day of Brahma. At the end of this period, there is a larger cycle of destruction, that as previously mentioned, affects all the lower, intermediate, and lower-high planetary systems, up to Mahar-loka. After the end of the cycle, there is a long period of darkness that persists for another 4.32 billion years, corresponding to the night of Brahma.
Although very powerful, Brahma is a mortal being, just like us. His life is extremely long, corresponding to 100 years of such long days and nights (311.04 trillion years!) but eventually, he dies, just like all other living beings inside the universe. When his life comes to an end, the universe is completely destroyed, and all the souls who took part in it enter into a state of deep sleep inside the body of Maha Vishnu. Just like we have to sleep at the end of a busy day, everyone has to sleep during this period, it’s just that this slumber lasts much longer.
Eventually, a new universal cycle starts, and new universes, led by a new Lord Brahmas, are created. This large cycle corresponds to the breathing of Lord Maha-Vishnu: when he exhales innumerable universes are created, and when He inhales the same universes are completely destroyed. In the meantime, a whole life of Brahma goes on, and 311.04 trillion years of our time pass.
Every time, Brahma has to re-create all the planets, as well as repopulate the Universe, starting from the most elevated beings. One personality who has a pivotal role in this is Manu, who is in charge of creating the first representatives of each species on each planet, as well as supervising the universal affairs. Just like in the case of the Devas, “Manu” is not a name, but a post that is occupied by different personalities at different times. As mentioned, Manu works in cooperation with the demigods to maintain the order of the cosmos. Each team of a Manu and different demigods lives for a Manvantara, and there is a succession of 14 different teams during a Kalpa (day of Brahma).
If you try to do the calculation, the numbers at first will not add up. Each Manvantara corresponds to 71 Chatur-yugas, and thus 14 Manvantaras correspond to just 994 Chatur-yugas instead of 1000. This difference corresponds to the duration of the initial creation, as well as the sandhyas at the end of each Manvantara. We can say that each Manvantara includes 71 complete cycles of Chatur-yugas and there are a few other fragments left over, corresponding to the sandhyas. Including these fragments, the number adds up to exactly 4.32 billion years.
According to the Vedas, we are in the 28th Kali-yuga of the 7th manvantara of the current day of Brahma. In other words, we are close to the middle of his day. We can thus calculate that the Universe already went through about 2.281 billion years of this particular cycle of creation. It may sound like a very long time, but this is nothing compared to the total age of the universe.
According to the Vedas, we are on the first day of the 51st year of the life of Brahma. This means that our Brahma already lived half of his life, which equals 18,000 cycles of creation and destruction. In total, our universe is more than 155 trillion years old.
During the 311.04 trillion years of the life of Brahma, the universe goes through 36,000 cycles of creation and destruction, corresponding to the passage of his days and nights. After this period, Brahma finally reaches the end of his life. With his death, the universe is completely destroyed.
Here we come to another difference. We measure time by solar years, which have 365 days, but the Vedas inform us that years in all the high planetary systems have 360 days. This includes the realms of Bhuvar-Loka, Swarga-Loka, Mahar-Loka, Jana-Loka, Tapa-Loka and Brahma-Loka. We also have years with 360 days on our planet when the lunar calendar is used, which was done in many ancient cultures, originating with the Vedic culture.
In any case, even the mind-boggling 311.04 trillion years of the life of Brahma are not the end. After an equally long period, the universe is created again by Maha-Visnu. There is a new Brahma and a new cycle of 311.04 trillion years starts. Again, all the different cycles repeat.
That’s the secret behind these detailed descriptions of the future offered in the Vedas. Time in our plane works in a circular way, with the same general events repeating cyclically, just like a theatrical performance that is staged again and again, with the same script but different actors. The higher beings that transmitted this knowledge can see the circular nature of time, and they share this knowledge with us in the form of the Vedas, so we can understand how the cycles work and make the best out of it. We tend to think that our everyday events are so important, but they are just an imperceptible blip in the vast scale of universal affairs.