10

I have seen topics which mention time dilation in Hinduism but I am specifically looking for travelling back in time.

Say No To Censorship
  • 30,811
  • 17
  • 131
  • 257
Wikash_
  • 731
  • 6
  • 21
  • 3
    kala chakra eka dik - time only revolves forward. no such thing as time travel. time-vision, yes, we can see past and future. changing present to affect future, yes. changing past, nope. changing future, nope. – ram Jun 20 '18 at 05:23
  • @ram do you have a scriptual reference for this? – Wikash_ Jun 20 '18 at 09:51
  • @ram "no such thing as time travel" Actually there is, Mata Sati did time travel and went in future to take test (priksha) of Shree Raama. – Vishvam Jun 20 '18 at 11:41
  • @Rishabh see: https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/27693/is-sati-meeting-with-rama-a-form-of-time-travel – Wikash_ Jun 20 '18 at 12:28
  • 1
    In Yoga Vasista there's a story of King Padma and leela and his wife Leela travelled back in time with help of Goddess Saraswati. – The Destroyer Jun 21 '18 at 04:58
  • 1
    @TheDestroyer, it seems that the story you are referring is about "seeing past birth" and not about "physically travelling to the past". Many Yogi-s have admitted about witnessing their past birth. But they just remembered those past birth events, like how we remember some of our present birth events. BTW, it also appears to be a story and should be taken as it is in this context. – iammilind Jun 21 '18 at 06:28
  • @iammilind It's not seeing but travelling with Sukshma Sareeras. Sukshma Leela sees her past birth "leela" along with Goddess saraswati. Literally they travel back in time. – The Destroyer Jun 21 '18 at 08:00
  • @TheDestroyer can you give me the chapter and verse numbers of the Yoga Vasista which describe what you are talking about? – Wikash_ Jun 21 '18 at 19:41
  • Awareness of the past is equivalent to backwards time travel.Many spiritually realized souls had this faculty well developed. They are referred to as "Thri -kalagnyas". Shirdi Saibaba for example narrated many past stories about his devotees accurately as a matter of fact, and was later on confirmed by all followers. Because there is evidence with accuracy about the then living , extrapolation about past knowledge claims and narration of past events appears reasonable. However no one can change the past retrospectively after re-visiting a past event with any spiritual power. – Narasimham Jun 23 '18 at 00:29
  • Kakbhusundi has gone to a lot of timelines, supposedly both past and future to witness Ramayana 11 times and Mahabharata 16 times. –  Jun 28 '18 at 06:35
  • @ArkaprabhaMajumdar I thought that Kakbhusundi went to Mahayuga's in the future only and not in the past. Can you confirm this? – Wikash_ Jun 28 '18 at 09:24
  • I have read somewhere that he did travel to the past out of utmost bhakti. But honestly I cannot confirm. –  Jun 28 '18 at 14:43
  • @Wikash_hindu If you want answer from Yoga Vasista, i can post answer. Since your question has word "Scriptures", some may contend that Yoga Vasishta is not Scripture. – The Destroyer Aug 12 '18 at 07:08
  • @TheDestroyer Though I have some doubts about Yoga Vasista I am curious towards your answer. Can you post it here? – Wikash_ Sep 03 '18 at 00:21
  • @Wikash_hindu Yoga Vasista is not considered as Sastra (scripture). It is like auxiliary book and mostly followed by Advaitins. If you can edit your question, i can answer from Yoga Vasistha. – The Destroyer Sep 05 '18 at 16:19

1 Answers1

1

No, there cannot be such reference in reliable scripture/sources of backward time travel.

Because, it's not possible to change past even in theory. Refer Grandfather paradox, which is a rational source to understand "why backward time travelling is not possible".

Clarification: As per the wordings of the question, it infers about asking "physical body's time travelling in past". My answer reiterates that the reliable scriptural sources usually may not have references to impossible things (e.g. 1 + 1 = 3)

Now, there is a certain yogic knowledge of memorizing events of earlier [or upcoming] births as well. Many people call such special kind of "remembering" as "subtle body travelling in past". Such yogic ability has been reportedly gained by many people throughout the world in ancient & modern times.

iammilind
  • 19,793
  • 7
  • 62
  • 145
  • 8
    How can you say time travel is not possible? It's possible if it follows Novikov self-consistency principle. Moreover, there is story in Yoga Vasista which mentions time travel. – The Destroyer Jun 21 '18 at 05:01
  • @TheDestroyer, I am saying it because, the causation of the present moment cannot be changed. If changed then the present moment will not exist. Regarding "Novikov" article, it's just a theory and is not widely accepted. Refer the last section "Scientific acceptance". Even the theory itself states that, the time travel cannot be done in those parts of past, which may create any time paradoxes. Now those paradoxes are "apparent paradoxes" (such as "grandfather" or "billiards ball"). Now even without such apparent pradoxes, this theory doesn't stand because the traveller enters different past. – iammilind Jun 21 '18 at 06:24
  • Yes , I think that it's possible that Backward Time Travel is described (at least at conceptual level ) somewhere. Rishis and Yogis can travel in past or present to know about the events happened or going happen. Besides Shiva and Vishnu are said to be the ruler of time so they certainly can travel backward. – SwiftPushkar Jun 21 '18 at 14:26
  • 3
    "there is no such references in any scripture" - Have you studied all the scriptures?..IMHO, we even don't know all scripture names as they might not be popular..and proving yes is easy but it's nearly impossible to prove something negative from scriptures... – YDS Jun 21 '18 at 15:52
  • No, there is no such references in any scripture of backward time travel. - Sorry but i agree with others saying that it's virtually an impossible statement to make. Also possibly there are such references. @iammilind – Rickross Jun 22 '18 at 05:38
  • 2
    "No, there is no such reference... because, It's not possible to change past even in theory." - Hindu scripture contains some stuff which is physically impossible like levitation, Shankaracharya's soul entering a dead king's body, etc. So I think the answers should be limited to simple 'yes, present in so & so scriptures' or 'no, went thru 200+ scriptures and haven't found a single reference'. – Say No To Censorship Jun 22 '18 at 14:48
  • 2
    @TheDestroyer, that fancy-scientific-principle is just a way of saying you cannot 'change' the past. it is very obvious, even scientifically, that looking back into the past, or looking into the future are possible. just cannot change either of them, hence, no concept of 'travel' – ram Jun 25 '18 at 03:46
  • 1
    @ ram Levitation should also be scientifically impossible yet the Shiva Samhita speaks of it. – Wikash_ Jun 26 '18 at 21:48
  • @Wikash_hindu, "levitation" is possible and many people have demonstrated in past. See the people like this or like this. With such direct proofs, the science's opinions won't matter. You may see countless other videos where soul coming out of or entering body. The recent famous one is this Thailand cctv footage. Of course, science will want such issue to be reproduce consistently, which is not easy. --- Even with such logic, "travel to past" is not possible even in theory. – iammilind Jun 27 '18 at 07:30
  • 1
    Obviously the cctv footage is fake: it clearly looks animated. How do you know that the theory of multiple timelines is not or is valid in hinduism? – Wikash_ Jun 28 '18 at 09:29
  • @Wikash the CCTV example is one of many recorded in past at different times & places. Do you think all are fake? May be they are or may be not. However in any case, travel to past is not possible. It's like a math equation which is deterministic. Hypothetically if multiple timeline is true, even in such case the person is traveling in a different past & not his own. Which is as good as normal travel. No authentic scripture of any religion will claim something which is impossible at 1st hand. – iammilind Jun 29 '18 at 02:17
  • 1
    @Wikash_hindu There are innumerable accounts of yogis speaking on levitation and how it's possible, where did you get the idea that levitation is not possible? All advanced yogis can do levitation but they rarely do it let alone in public. Simply read "Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master" by Sri M or "Purana Purusha" based on Lahiri Mahasaya's life. – Pinakin Aug 16 '18 at 13:26
  • @ChinmaySarupria you misunderstood me. Scientifically it is impossible but from the scriptures we can see that it is described. I was merely making a point (towards Iammilind) that scientifically impossible does NOT imply impossible in hinduism. – Wikash_ Sep 03 '18 at 00:17
  • @Wikash_hindu, out of the ashta-shiddhis (8 super-powers), lahima (or being light) is one, which is same as levitation. – ram Sep 16 '18 at 06:53
  • @ram yes I understand that part. – Wikash_ Oct 03 '18 at 22:12