Manvantara
Manvantara is a Sanskrit term that results from a combination of words manu and antara (manu-antara or manvantara), literally meaning the duration of a Manu, or his life span. H. P. Blavatsky defines it as "a period of manifestation, as opposed to Pralaya (dissolution or rest); the term is applied to various cycles, especially to a Day of Brahma--4,320,000,000 Solar years--and to the reign of one Manu--308,448,000--".[1]
In Theosophy
The concepts of manvantara and pralaya are based on a cyclic model of the universe of alternating phases of creation and dissolution:
As the sun arises every morning on our objective horizon out of its (to us) subjective and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of objectivity, issuing from that of subjectivity—the antipodes of the former. This is the "Cycle of Life." And as the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the Universe disappear at regular periods, when the "Universal night" sets in. The Hindoos call such alternations the "Days and Nights of Brahma," or the time of Manvantara and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal Days and Nights if they prefer.[2]
In the Theosophical literature there are different manvantaras according to the cycle of evolution in course, whether it is that of a solar system or of a Planetary Chain. The term maha-manvantara refers to the evolution the whole universe through the "Great Age", which lasts for a maha-kalpa. In one of the Mahatma Letters the Master K.H. wrote the following:
There are three kinds of pralayas and manwantara:
1. The universal or Maha pralaya and manwantara.
2. The solar pralaya and manwantara.
3. The minor pralaya and manwantara.
When the pralaya No. 1 is finished the universal manwantara begins. Then the whole universe must be re-evoluted de novo. When the pralaya of a solar system comes it affects that solar system only. A solar pralaya = 7 minor pralayas. The minor pralayas of No. 3 concern but our little string of globes, whether man-bearing or not. To such a string our Earth belongs.[3]
Duration of the cycles
Some of the main cycles within a maha-kalpa described in the The Secret Doctrine[4] are:
Krita Yuga: 1,728,000 years
Treta Yuga: 1,296,000 years
Dwapara Yuga: 864,000 years
Kali Yuga: 432,000 years
Maha-Yuga (the total of the said four Yugas): 4,320,000 years
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
These numbers are taken from the Hindu chronology which, according to H. P. Blavatsky "dovetail pretty nearly with those of the Secret works."[5]
In Hinduism
Each Manvantara is created and ruled by a specific Manu, who in turn is created by Brahmâ, the Creator himself. Manu creates the world, and all its species during that period of time, each Manvantara lasting the lifetime of a Manu, upon whose death, Brahma creates another Manu to continue the cycle of Creation.
Eventually it takes 14 Manus and their respective Manvantaras to create a Kalpa or a Day of Brahmâ (see above). Thereafter, at the end of each Kalpa, there is a period of dissolution or Pralaya wherein the world (earth and all life forms, but not the entire universe itself) is destroyed and lies in a state of rest.
Notes
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary (Los Angeles, CA: Theosophy Company, 1973), 206.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Key to Theosophy, (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1987), 84.
- ↑ Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in chronological sequence No. 67 (Quezon City: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 184.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 69-70.
- ↑ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Adyar, Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979), 70.
Further reading
- Manvantara at Theosopedia