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Dual suns, and Yuga durations: Please comment
*Note* this article has been posted to both alt.hindu and
soc.culture.indian, hoping for a wider audience.
I am curious to know, if there is mention of our sun having
a dual, in the Hindu scriptures. I believe that this could
lead to some kind of a "confirmation" to the alleged 12th
planet theory purported by one Zetcharia Sitchin. He has
written a few books on this topic and he ties in the 12th
planet theory to the Alien-UFO hypothesis.
All this is speculation, of course; but I am wondering if
there is any mention in the old Sanskrit scriptures.
I am also curious about the theoretical estimation of the
various yugas. I would be happy to hear differing views on
this short excerpt that I have reproduced without permission
from the book __The Holy Science__ by one Swami Sri
Yukteswar, who was the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda (author
of __Autobiography of a Yogi__). In this excerpt is a light
mention of the dual-sun hypothesis.
------------Begin----Excerpt------------------
We know from Oriental astronomy that moons revolve around
their planets, and planets turning on their axes revolve
with their moons round the sun; and the sun with its planets
and their moons, takes some star for its dual and revolves it
in about 24,000 years of our earth---a celestial phenomenon
which causes the backward movement of the equinoctial points
around the zodiac. The sun also has another grand center
call Vishnunabhi, which is the seat of the center of the
creative power, Brahma, the universal magnetism. Brahma
regulates dharma, the mental virtue of the internal world.
When the sun in its revolution round its dual comes to the
place nearest to this grand center, the seat of Brahma (an
event which takes place when the Autumnal Equinox comes to
the first point of Aries), dharma, the mental virtue,
becomes so much developed that man can easily comprehend
all, even the mysteries of the Spirit.
The Autumnal Equinox will be falling, at the beginning of
the twentieth century, among the fixed stars of the Virgo
constellation, and in the early part of the Ascending
Dwarpara Yuga.
After 12,000 years, when the sun goes to the place in its
orbit which is farthest from Brahma, the grand center (an
event which takes place when the Autumnal Equinox is on the
first point of Libra), dharma, the mental virtue, comes to
such a reduced state that man cannot grasp anything beyond
the gross material creation. Again, in the same manner,
when the sun in its course of revolutions begins to advance
toward the place nearest to the grand center, dharma, the
mental virtue, begins to develop; this growth is gradually
completed in another 12,000 years.
Each of these periods of 12,000 years brings a complete
change, both externally in the material world, and
internally, in the intellectual or electric world, and is
called one of the Daiva Yugas or Electric Couple. Thus, in
a period of 24,000 years, the sun completes the revolution
around its dual and finishes one electric cycle consisting of
12,000 years in an ascending arc and 12,000 years in a
descending arc.
Development of dharma, the mental virtue, is but gradual and
is divided into four different stages in a period of 12,000
years. The times of 1200 years during which the sun passes
through a 1/20th portion of its orbit is called Kali Yuga.
Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in its first stage and is
only a quarter developed; the human intellect cannot
comprehend anything beyond the gross material of this
ever-changing creation, the external world.
The period of 2400 years during which the sun passes through
the 2/20th portion of its orbit is called Dwapara Yuga.
Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in the second stage of
development and is but half complete; the human intellect
can then comprehend the fine matters or electricities and
their attributes which are the creating principles of the
external world.
The period of 3600 years during which the sun passes through
the 3/20th part of its orbit is called Treta Yuga. Dharma,
the mental virtue, is then in the third stage; the human
intellect becomes able to comprehend the divine magnetism,
the source of all electrical forces on which the creation
depends for existence.
The period of 4800 years during which the sun passes through
the remaining 4/20th portion of its orbit is called Satya
Yuga. Dharma, the mental virtue, is then in its fourth
stage and completes its full development; the human
intellect can comprehend all, even God the Spirit beyond this
visible world.
Manu, a great rishi of Satya Yuga, describes these Yugas
more clearly in the following passage from his Samhita:
[Sanskrit text not re-produced] Author's translation follows:
[four thousand of years, they say is the Kriya Yuga (Satya
Yuga or the "Golden Age" of the world). Its morning
twilight has just as many hundreds, and its period of
evening dusk is of the same length (i.e.,
400+4000+400=4800). In the other ages, with the morning and
evening twilights, the thousands and the hundreds decrease
by one (i.e., 300+3000+300=3600; etc). That four-fold cycle
comprising 12,000 years is called an Age of the Gods. The
sum of a thousand divine ages constitutes one day of Brahma;
and the same length is its night]
The period of the Satya Yuga is 4000 years in duration; 400
years before and after Satya Yuga proper are its sandhis
or periods of mutation with the preceding and the
succeeding Yugas respectively; hence 4800 years in all is
the proper age of the Satya Yuga. In the calculation of the
period of other Yugas and the Yugasandhis, it is laid down
that the numeral one should be deducted from the numbers of
both thousands and hundreds which indicate the periods of
the previous Yugas and sandhis. From this rule it appears
that 3000 years before and after are its sandhis, the
periods of mutation, which make a total of 3600 years.
So 2000 years is the age of Dwapara Yuga, with 200 years
before and after as its sandhis; a total of 2400 years.
Lastly, 1000 years is the length of Kali Yuga, with 100
years before and after as its sandhis; a total of 1200
years. Thus 12,000 years, the sum total of all periods of
these four Yugas, is the length of one of the Daiva Yugas or
Electric couple, two of which, that is, 24,000 years, make
the electric cycle complete.
[....]
The position of the world in the Dwapara Sandhi era at
present (A.D. 1894) is not correctly shown in the Hindu
almanacs. The astronomers and astrologers who calculate the
almanacs have been misguided by wrong annotations of certain
Sanskrit scholars (such as Kulluka Bhatta) of the dark age
of Kali Yuga, and now maintain that the length of the Kali
Yuga is 432,000 years, leaving 427,006 years still
remaining. A dark prospect! and fortunately one not true.
The mistake crept into almanacs for the first time during
the reign of Raja Parikshit, just after the completion of
the last Descending Dwapara Yuga. At the time Maharaja
Yudhisthira, noticing the appearance of the dark Kali Yuga,
made over his throne to his grandson, the said Raja
Parikshit. Maharaja Yudhisthira, together with all the wise
men of his court, retired to the Himalaya Mountains, the
paradise of the world. Thus there was none in the court of
Raja Parikshit who could understand the principle of
correctly calculating the ages of the several Yugas.
Hence, after the completion of the 2400 years of the then
current Dwapara Yuga, no one dared to make the introduction
of the dark Kali Yuga more manifest by beginning to
calculate from its first year and to put an end to the
number of Dwapara years.
According to this wrong method of calculation, therefore,
the first year of Kali Yuga was number 2401 along with the
age of Swapara Yuga. In A.D. 499, when 1200 years, the
length of the true Kali Yuga, was complete, and the sun had
reached its orbit farthest from the grand center (when the
Autumnal Equinox was the first point of Libra in the
heavens), the age of Kali in its darkest period was then
numbered by 3600 years instead of by 1200.
With the commencement of the Ascending Kali Yuga, after A.D.
499, the sun began to advance in its orbit nearer to the
grand center, and accordingly the intellectual power of man
started to develop. Therefore the mistake in the almanacs
began to be noticed by the wise men of the time, who found
that the calculations of the ancient rishis had fixed the
period of one Kali Yuga at 1200 years only. but as the
intellect of these wise men was not yet suitably developed,
they could make out only the mistake itself, and not the
reason for it. By way of reconciliation, they fancied that
1200 years, the real age of Kali, were not the ordinary
years of our earth, but were so many daiva years ("years of
the gods"), consisting of 12 daiva months of 30 daiva days
each, with each daiva day being equal to one ordinary solar
year of our earth. Hence according to these men 1200 years
of Kali Yuga must equal 432,000 years of our earth.
In coming to a right conclusion, however, we should take
into consideration the position of Vernal Equinox at spring
in the year 1894.
The astronomical reference books show the Vernal Equinox now
to be 20degrees54minutes36seconds distant from the first
point of Aries (the fixed star Revati), and by calculation
it will appear that 1394 years have passed since the time
when the Vernal Equinox began to recede from the first point
of Aries.
Deducting 1200 years (the length of the last Ascending Kali
Yuga) from 1394 years, we get 194 to indicate the present
year of the world's entrance into the Ascending Dwapara
Yuga. The mistake of the older almanacs will this be
clearly explained when we add 3600 years to this period of
1394 years and we get 4994 years---which is according to the
prevailing mistaken theory represents the present year (A.D.
1894) in the Hindu almanacs.
-----------------------End------Excerpt---------------------
