Hindu cosmology
cosmologyCosmology is the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. refers to ideas about the nature of the universe and how it works. Hindus believe that the material world is not ‘all that is’. They believe there is a spiritual reality that is bigger or perhaps ‘more real’ than what can be seen, heard and touched.
Gunas
Hindu ideas about the universe are developed from ancient texts. The SanskritAn ancient language that is the root of most Indian languages. word ‘prakriti’, which means ‘nature’, refers to everything that exists in the physical universe. Prakriti has three qualities or stages, called the three gunaIn Hinduism, a quality or attribute of nature.. These are ‘created’, ‘remaining’ and ‘destroyed’. Everything is first created, then remains for a time and then is destroyed. Hindus believe that all of nature goes through these three stages.
The three gunas are linked to the gods of the trimurtiThe three main deities of Hinduism. Refers to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. as Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver and Shiva is the destroyer. Hindu understandings of time are cyclical (not in a straight line), so this era is seen as one of many. The timescales referred to in the scriptures are extremely long.
| Source of wisdom and authority | What does it mean? |
| “The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of the years of the demigods. The duration of the Dvāpara millennium equals 2,400 years and that of the Kali millennium is 1,200 years of the demigods. (Bhagavata Purana 3.11.19)” | Time passes in immensely long cycles called ‘yugas’. The scripture describes four different yugas, which last for different amounts of time. At the end of each yuga, it is destroyed and then a new yuga starts. The current yuga will last millions of years. |
| “One day of Brahma lasts a thousand cycles of the four ages and his night also extends for the same span of time. The wise who know this understand the reality about day and night. (Bhagavad Gita 8.17)” | The key point here is that human days and nights are tiny and insignificant compared to the vast stretches of time called here the ‘days of Brahma’. |
| “When the king of bees hums in a high pitch, singing the glories of the Lord, there is a temporary lull in the noise of the pigeon, the cuckoo, the crane … the swan, the parrot, the partridge and the peacock. Such transcendental birds stop their own singing simply to hear the glories of the Lord. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3)” | This quote describes other universes. Hindu scripture draws attention to the idea that our universe is not the centre of everything, and our lives are not the only ones that matter. Instead, there are many, many universes where (for example) birdsong and the glory of the gods and goddesses are also celebrated. |
| Source of wisdom and authority | “The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of the years of the demigods. The duration of the Dvāpara millennium equals 2,400 years and that of the Kali millennium is 1,200 years of the demigods. (Bhagavata Purana 3.11.19)” |
|---|---|
| What does it mean? | Time passes in immensely long cycles called ‘yugas’. The scripture describes four different yugas, which last for different amounts of time. At the end of each yuga, it is destroyed and then a new yuga starts. The current yuga will last millions of years. |
| Source of wisdom and authority | “One day of Brahma lasts a thousand cycles of the four ages and his night also extends for the same span of time. The wise who know this understand the reality about day and night. (Bhagavad Gita 8.17)” |
|---|---|
| What does it mean? | The key point here is that human days and nights are tiny and insignificant compared to the vast stretches of time called here the ‘days of Brahma’. |
| Source of wisdom and authority | “When the king of bees hums in a high pitch, singing the glories of the Lord, there is a temporary lull in the noise of the pigeon, the cuckoo, the crane … the swan, the parrot, the partridge and the peacock. Such transcendental birds stop their own singing simply to hear the glories of the Lord. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3)” |
|---|---|
| What does it mean? | This quote describes other universes. Hindu scripture draws attention to the idea that our universe is not the centre of everything, and our lives are not the only ones that matter. Instead, there are many, many universes where (for example) birdsong and the glory of the gods and goddesses are also celebrated. |
Question
How are the three gunas related to the trimurti?
The three gods of the Hindu trimurti reflect that everything in nature is created, remains for a time and is then destroyed.
