Śrīdhara’s factor of two: How the cosmic dates given in the Vedas match modern science
One question I always had about the dates given in the Purāṇas is that they are quite close to the dates given in modern science, but the numbers are always about half of modern studies.
« Making Sense of the Vedic Universe, a Higher-Dimensional Reality
Śrīdhara’s factor of two: How the cosmic dates given in the Vedas match modern science
One question I always had about the dates of the creation of our planet and other cosmic dates given in the Purāṇas is that they are quite close to the dates given in modern science, but the numbers are always about half of the results found by modern methods.
To put it in context, we should keep in mind that, except for the Vedas, all the dates for the creation of the cosmos from ancient civilizations are radically different from modern science. Or no specific dates are given (like in Greek mythology), or the creation of the universe is dated to just a few thousand years ago. Orthodox Christians historically believed that the world was created in 5508 BCE; the Hebrew calendar starts at 3761 BCE (the date they believe the world was created), while the Mayans believed the world was created in 3114 BCE. The Vedas are the only ancient branch of knowledge that offers dates for the creation of the solar system, as well as dates for mass extinction events, and other important cosmic dates that are on the same scale of time as modern calculations.
Nowadays, different scientific dating methods are used, such as radiometric dating with potassium-argon, rubidium-strontium, and uranium; sclerochronometry; cosmic background radiation; baryon acoustic oscillations; and so on. These different methods give slightly different dates for the creation of the solar system and other events, but the dates are all close together. They all put the date of the creation of the solar system at about 4.5 billion years ago. Similarly, different dating methods put the Permian–Triassic extinction at about 252 million years ago.
Although all scientific methods based on sense perception are fallible, when radically different methods lead to very similar results, the chance of all being fundamentally wrong simultaneously becomes small. Science should not be followed blindly, but it can’t be completely dismissed either.
The interesting point is that the Purāṇas mention both events. The creation of the solar system can be mapped to the creation at the beginning of the day of Brahmā, while the Permian–Triassic extinction matches the description of the extinction that happened at the end of the reign of the last Manu (which led to the pastime of Matsya Avatāra). However, the dates given by the Purāṇas to both are about half of the dates given by modern studies, at 2.281 billion years and 125.576 million years, respectively. We can see that the numbers diverge by a factor of two.
The key to solving this mystery came with the work of Mādhavendra Puri das and Siddhartha Chhabra, published in the book The Big Bang and The Sages. In their research, they discovered a commentary by Śrīdhara Swami (the original commentator of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam) on the Viṣnu Purāṇa (1.3.7), which leads to the conclusion that a day in Bhū-mandala equals two days of our time. This discovery was named Śrīdhara Swami’s factor of two.
All the dates given in the Purāṇas are given in accordance with the time in Bhū-mandala, but time in other parts of the cosmos flows at different rates. Historically, Purāṇic scholars tend to believe that time on our planet flows at the same rate as time in Bhū-mandala. The discovery that time flows differently has an important implication: since two years in our gross dimension equal one year in Bhū-mandala, we need to multiply all the cosmic dates given in the Purāṇas by two to get the dates for events as they are studied in modern science. With this adjustment, we come to the staggering realization that most dates given in the Purāṇas for important cosmic events match closely dates for events studied in modern science.
The date of the creation of the solar system given in the Purāṇas is thus 4.562 billion earthly years ago (2,281,000 x 2), and the date for the great mass extinction at the end of the reign of the last Manu began 251.15 million earthly years ago (107,575,000 x 2). These numbers match almost exactly the 4.567 billion years and 251.9 million years given by modern studies for the creation of our planet and for the Permian-Triassic extinction.
As the dating processes used by modern researchers are not 100% accurate (especially on such large scales of time) and the methods and techniques can still be refined, it’s quite possible that in the future they may come to numbers that will be even closer to the numbers given in the Purāṇas, proving that the knowledge of the Purāṇas is correct.
What is even more interesting is that when Śrīdhara Swami’s factor of two is taken into account, the Purāṇas give a date for the beginning of the universe that is very close to modern studies.
It’s mentioned that we are living on the first day of the second half of the life of Brahmā. In other words, Brahmā has already completed 50 years of his life, and we are precisely on the first day after that. As mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.11.34, as well as in other references, the life of Brahmā is divided into two parārdhas, each corresponding to 50 years of his life. What is more interesting, however, is that the Vāyu Purāṇa (2.38.240) mentions that all the constituents of the universe last for a single parārdha, and at the end of this period, they are completely dissolved.
Normally, at the end of each day of Brahmā, the universe is partially destroyed, but all the material elements, as well as the higher planets of the universe, remain. However, at the end of the first half of his life, a complete destruction takes place. All the planets, as well as the material elements, are thus fully disintegrated, and the universe is created anew.
This is confirmed in the commentary of Śrila Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura on SB 3.11.37, where he mentions that all the high planetary systems, including Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, and Satyaloka, were dissolved at the end of the first half of Brahmā’s life, and all the sages living in these planetary systems entered the body of Mahā-Viṣnu and had to wait until the next creation at the beginning of the current day of Brahmā. Still, according to Śrila Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura, the current kalpa is called Padma-kalpa, which indicates that in this kalpa all the planetary systems are created anew from the material elements deposited in the stem of Brahmā’s lotus flower.
By this description, we can understand that such complete devastation happened at the end of the previous day of Brahmā. After this event, there were 8.64 billion years (4.32 billion x 2) of the night of Brahmā. After this, there were 616.896 million years of the Pratisamdhi and the manvantara-sandhya (308.448 million x 2), plus 4.562 billion years (2.281 x 2) since the creation of our solar system. This brings the total since the total annihilation to 13.819 billion years of geological time in our planet.
It happens that the most widespread estimation of the date of the beginning of the universe in scientific circles is 13.801 billion years ago. Again, we can see that the modern date almost perfectly matches the date given in the Purāṇas. If it were just once, one could argue it could be a coincidence, but we already have three dates closely matching just in this brief study.
It’s also important to keep in mind that modern theories, as well as the calculations for cosmic events given by modern studies, are constantly being refined. In 1929, for example, Hubble calculated the age of the universe at about 2 billion years. Later, in 1958, Sandage calculated that the universe is much older, calculating that the correct age should be somewhere between 4 and 18 billion years. In 2003, a study conducted by Spergel put it at around 13.7 billion years. The number was raised to 13.75 in 2011 in a study by Komatsu, 13.772 in 2013 (Bennet et al.), and 13.799 in 2015 (Lawrence), and finally 13.801 in 2018 (Aghanim et al.). The difference to the Vedas in the last study is already less than 0.15%.
You may have become confused about the 616.896 million years corresponding to the Pratisamdhi and the manvantara-sandhya added to the time of the night of Brahmā. A manvantara-sandhya lasts for just 3.456 million years (1.728 x 2), and this number is already included in the calculation of the time of the current day of Brahmā (as part of the manvantaras we already went through), so what is this number? A Pratisamdhi is a period of 85,200 years of the devas between two consecutive kalpas (days of Brahmā). It has the same duration as a manvantara. Just like a manvantara, it also has its manvantara-sandhyā (that, just like a normal manvantara-sandhyā, lasts for 1.728 x 2 million years). The total duration of the Pratisamdhi, combined with its manvantara-sandhyā, is thus calculated as 616.896 million of our current years (613.44 million x 2 + 1.728 million x 2). This is explained in detail in the Vāyu Purāṇa (1.7.4-9). To calculate the total age of the universe, according to the Vedas, we should thus add three numbers: the time of the night of Brahmā (4.32 billion x 2), the Pratisamdhi plus its manvantara sandhyā (308.448 million x 2), and the time we have already gone through in the current day of Brahmā (2.281 billion x 2). This brings the total to the 13.819 billion years previously mentioned.
Isn’t Brahmā supposed to create the material universe from scratch? How can we thus accept that the process of creation started at the end of his previous day and continued for more than nine billion years before he awakened at the beginning of the current day?
If we study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam attentively, we will see that it is described that the process of creation of the material elements was performed before the appearance of Brahmā. The Lord created the five material elements and then entered into them as Paramātma. Only after that, Brahmā appeared from the lotus flower. It is described that there was a strong cosmic wind and other disturbances when he woke up, which he had to stop before starting his process of creation. It is also described that he used the material elements contained in the lotus flower from where he was born, a cosmic lotus that spread all over the universe. In other words, he created our solar system and other universal structures from material elements that were already available.
The predominant scientific theory is that the elements that constitute our sun and planets were created through a long process that happened inside ancient stars that spread throughout the galaxy. According to these theories, our sun was created 4.567 billion years ago from existing material elements that existed in a cosmic cloud, followed (after 100 million years or so) by the earth and the other planets. The Vedas give the account that Brahmā started his work of creation 4.562 billion years ago, and Priyavrata divided Bhū-mandala into seven islands a little later in the first manvantara. Again, the dates offered in the two descriptions are close.
There is one more point if you are still thinking it is a coincidence.
Modern studies believe that the sun will become a red giant in about 3.5 to 5 billion years from now, drastically expanding in size and destroying the planets of our solar system. Even before this dramatic process, they believe, the sun will increase in luminosity, making the earth uninhabitable. At that point, they foresee that our planet will become just a scorched rock, almost completely devoid of life. From the point of view of someone observing the process from earth, there would be a great drought, followed by the expansion of the sun, which will destroy whatever life is left and the planet itself.
This resembles another description from the Vāyu Purāṇa (book 2, chapter 38), which describes a great drought, followed by the sun growing in size, becoming red, and destroying our planet. Here are the relevant verses:
“Again and again, at the end of the day of Brahmā, there is a devastation. At that time, Brahmā feels the desire to sleep, and all living entities are destroyed.” (2.38.135)
This is the same description offered in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. At the scheduled time, Brahmā becomes tired and falls asleep, triggering the whole process of destruction. This is the same process of cosmic destruction described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as being caused by Lord Śiva, the Rudras, and the fire coming from Ananta-Śeṣa. The two Purāṇas simply describe the same event from two different perspectives, one in our gross dimension and the other in the high-dimensional Bhū-mandala. Here are the specific details added by the Vāyu Purāṇa:
“A hundred-year drought occurs. After that, whatever small living entities are still surviving on the surface of the earth become very weak and die, merging back into the earth. After that, the sun increases seven times in size.” (2.38.135-138).
“Then, the rays produced by the sun in its seven-fold expanded size, completely incinerate four lokas. This expanded sun produces blazing fires of destruction. Its rays propagate through space in all directions. Such is the fire at the universal destruction.” (2.38.144-145).
Apart from the earth, this process destroys four of the planetary systems of the universe (the lower planets, Bhū-mandala, Bhuvarloka, and Svargaloka). Even the great sages in Maharloka are forced to move upwards, migrating to Janaloka in order to survive the devastation (as described in SB 3.11.30). The inhabitants of Janaloka and upwards, however, who are engaged in advanced devotional practices, are not affected by this partial devastation at the end of Brahmā’s day. They are free to continue their activities until the end of the universe.
“The earth, devoid of trees and even grass, resembles the shell of a tortoise. All mobile and immobile beings are destroyed. The entire earth, devastated, shines like a heated frying pan. Illuminated by the rays of the sun, the entire sky is set ablaze. At this point, even those living entities who had taken shelter in the ocean and underground reservoirs of water are destroyed.” (2.38.151-153)
“The lokas gradually heat up and become hot all over. The sun resembles a red-hot ball of iron shining in the sky. Then, in the sky, terrible clouds of devastation arise, adorned with lightning and shaped like herds of elephants. Some are as dark as blue lotuses, some like white kumuda lilies; some resemble vaiḍūrya, others indranīla. Some are like conch shells and kunda flowers, others like black collyrium; some are smoke-colored, some yellow. Some look grey like a donkey, some like red lac, others resemble realgar, and some are dove-colored. Some are like indragopa. In the sky, these clouds arise in many forms, like cities, elephant herds, mountains, huge basins, and great masses of fish. Terrible in appearance and variegated in shape, all these clouds then rapidly disperse, filling the entire sky. These terrible clouds, appearing from the sun, extinguish the fire of the sevenfold expanded sun.” (2.38.161-169)
This description of the process of destruction has many similarities with what is believed will happen during the process of the sun transforming into a red giant, dramatically growing in size and destroying our planet, and at the end ejecting vast clouds (nebulae) of hot plasma all around. After that, it’s believed the sun will become a white dwarf, emitting only very modest amounts of light. This matches the descriptions of the fire of the expanded sun being extinguished by the cosmic clouds, leading to the darkness of Brahmā’s night, which is described in SB 3.11.29.
The main difference is that in the scientific model, the sun grows gradually in luminosity, slowly destroying life on earth over a course of about one billion years, while according to the Vedas, this process is much shorter and more dramatic. Both agree, however, that after this period, the sun becomes red and increases in size. After this process, in the scientific model, the sun ejects a great mass of nebulae into space and becomes a white dwarf, which is also mentioned in the Vāyu Purāṇa.
Another difference is that in the scientific model, the white dwarf phase of the sun is permanent, lasting for a few trillion years before the sun completely exhausts its fuel. In the Vedic model, there is darkness for just 4.32 billion years, during the night of Brahmā. After this period, he awakens and recreates the sun and the other structures that were destroyed. The rest of the visible universe, including most of the stars and galaxies, however, continues to exist until the end of his life.
In modern science, it’s believed the sun will become a red giant at around 3.5 to 5 billion years from now, with different studies giving different numbers. The Vedas, however, give a precise figure: this process of destruction will start 4.078 billion years from now, at the end of the current day of Brahmā.
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