The Cosmic Wheel

On our planet Earth (called Bharat Kshetra in Jainism) life has existed from -∞ to + ∞ (aka forever). We have had infinite time cycles here, each cycle being divided into 6 parts. Each part or sub-division is called Ara. Every Ara has unique characteristics, in terms of duration, age of people, height of people, their happiness, resources, habits, food, religion, lifestyle etc

We are currently in the 5th Ara of the descending part of current time cycle. The 4th Ara ended approximately 3 years and 8 months after Lord Mahavira's Nirvana. Other than Lord Adinatha, all other Tirthankars lived in the 4th Ara (Lord Rishabhdev was born towards the end of 3rd Ara). 

Am depicting a chart below to comprehend the same. Time cycle runs from 1st Ara to 6th Ara (currently we are in 5th Ara of Avasaripini Kaal or the descending cycle) and then from 6th back to 1st Ara in reverse order. 


The six parts of time cycle are depicted above. We are roughly 2,543 years into the 5th Ara of Avasarpini Kaal, which spans over 21,000 years. In the Avasaripini Kaal or descending time cycle, things keep deteriorating - age, height, happiness, progress - everything is on a down cycle. Reverse holds true for Utsarpini Kaal which is the progressing part of time cycle, things go from worst to best.

Whats the approximate time duration of each Ara?
6th Ara - 21,000 years
5th Ara - 21,000 years
4th Ara - 1 Crore of Crore Sagaropama (1 Crore = 10 million)
3rd Ara - 2 Crore of Crore Sagaropama
2nd Ara - 3 Crore of Crore Sagaropama
1st Ara - 4 Crore of Crore Sagaropama
* We have already covered Sagaropama in earlier blogs but in appendix am mentioning some details here too.  

So approximately after 18,450 years will begin the 6th Ara. And the next Tirthankar will be born on this planet roughly 81,450 years from now!

There are instances of Jain monks meeting Buddhist monks given Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha were contemporaries, but I found no direct reference of the two super human beings ever meeting face to face. Similarly, while there is no mention in Jain texts of Shri Rama interacting with Lord Muni Suvvrat Swami, but as per Jainism they were contemporaries. Rama eventually became a Jain monk and attained Moksha. Lord Munisuvrat swami's age was 30,000 years. Lord Adinath's age was 84 lakh Poorva years. Imagine all of this happened in the 4th Ara!!

What happens in 6th Ara?
Maximum lifespan of humans would be 20 years. They will reside in holes like rats do. Social structure would be completely demolished. There would be no religion (Jainism will be extinct too amongst living beings during that period), no values. Most people would be non-vegetarian. The days would be extremely hot and life would be very miserable.

What happens in 5th Ara?
This is that part of time cycle where we are living presently. Nobody can attain Moksha directly from here anymore. Deceit, hate, jealousy will increase as we progress further. It would be tough to be on the right, religious path but not impossible. Those who can follow principles of ahimsa (from action, speech and thought) would progress significantly on their "path" to attain Moksha and reduce "bad" karmas!

What happens in 4th Ara?
This holds special importance as 23 Tirthankars are born during this time period. They achieved Supreme Knowledge and Moksha - all of this happened during just the 4th Ara. There is some misery and sorrow. Even Tirthankar Lords have to go through very difficult times and face hardship from the hands of various people. 

What happens in 3rd Ara?
Humans as we know today were different back then. Humans used to live as Yugals (or male and female bodies attached to each other). After giving birth to another Yugal, the pair would die. Lord Rishabhdev (our 1st Tirthankar of this cycle) took birth in this period. He realized the receding powers of Kalpavrikshas and taught agriculture and various other life forms to humans so that they can survive. Howsoever we may thank and praise, our words can never be enough to depict a fraction of what he did for humanity and all of us! For example, just imagine what kind of "karmas" would humans be binding if they weren't taught agriculture?

What happens in 1st/2nd Ara?
Time of absolute happiness - heavenly feeling living on this planet. Humans are very tall, and live as  Yugals. Kalpavrikshas provide everything people need - clothes, food, flowers, jewellery, light at night etc. There is utter bliss, no crime, no hard feelings - only love and happiness abound.

Mahavideh Kshetra (please refer to The Human Abode - Jain Cosmology Part 2) does not have time cycles. Its always like the 4th Ara here on Earth. Tirthankars exists all the time. More details you can kindly refer to above blog. Only Bharat Kshetras and Airavat Kshetras (these 10 planets) have time-cycles as depicted above.

I will leave it short but with a few questions for you to think and research upon?
1) If humans used to live as Yugals then how did it change? The story behind it?
2) Could humans achieve Moksha in the 1st Ara?
3) Who was the first Siddha or say first three Siddhas of our current time cycle? Pls Note: Lord Adinath wasn't the 1st one to attain Moksha in this timecycle, so leaving it un-answered to raise curiosity and compel folks to do some research/study.

Appendix:
Whats Sagaropama, Palyopama?





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