Manvantara
Duration of the cycles
In general, Mme. Blavatsky used the chronology found in Hindu scriptures, which she claims "dovetail pretty nearly with those of the Secret works".[1] They are described in the The Secret Doctrine as follows:[2]
One Day of Brahmâ, a Kalpa (1,000 Maha-Yugas): 4,320,000,000 years
One Year of Brahmâ (360 of such days and nights): 3,110,400,000,000 years
One Age of Brahmâ, a Mahâ-Kalpa (100 such years): 311,040,000,000,000 years
All the different cycles take place within the "Great Age" or universal manvantara:
There were several "Great Ages" mentioned by the ancients. In India it embraced the whole Maha-Manvantara, the "Age of Brahma," each "Day" of which represents the Life Cycle of a chain, i. e., it embraces a period of Seven Rounds (vide "Esoteric Buddhism," by A. P. Sinnett). Thus while a "Day" and a "Night" represent, as Manvantara and Pralaya, 8,640,000,000 years, an "age" lasts through a period of 311,040,000,000,000; after which the Pralaya or dissolution of the universe becomes universal. With the Egyptian and Greeks the "Great Age" referred only to the Tropical, or Sidereal year, the duration of which is 25,868 solar years. Of the complete age--that of the Gods--they said nothing, as it was a matter to be discussed and divulged only at the Mysteries, and during the Initiation Ceremonies. The "Great Age" of the Chaldees was the same in figures as that of the Hindus.[3]
When correlated with the Theosophical cycles we have:
The total period of the existence of our Planetary Chain (i.e., of the Seven Rounds) is 4,320,000,000.[4]
- Minor manvantara (of the fourth round) = 71 Maha-yugas[5] = 308,571,414 years[6] = The reign of one Manu.[7]
- Planetary manvantara = Seven Rounds = One Day of Brahmâ = Kalpa = 14 (minor) manvantaras + a Satya Yuga, = 1,000 Maha-Yugas = 4,320,000,000 years.
The mention of 14 minor manvantaras to finish a Planetary Chain is explained by Mme. Blavatsky by pointing out that there are two "Manus" in each round: the Root Manu at its beginning, and the Seed Manu at its end.[8]
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 70.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 69-70.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary (Los Angeles, CA: Theosophical Company, 1973), 129.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. XIII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1982), 301.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 307, fn.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. XIII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1982), 301.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary (Los Angeles, CA: Theosophy Company, 1973), 206.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. IV (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1991), 577.