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Hindu timeline says that the universe is created and destroyed in a cyclic way (for 84 times) and each cycle consists of 4 phases, namely, Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dwapara-yuga and Kali-yuga. It is said that each phase has a different span running over millions of years whereas Science says that humans evolved from African region only about 500,000 years back. Following questions arise:

  1. How does one explain this mismatch?
  2. Or, is it that there were no humans before Kaliyuga?
  3. Why 84 times?
  4. What was there before the first cycle of the universe?
  5. What will happen after the 84th cycle?

Even if we ignore the mismatch between Hindu timeline and the theory of evolution, I am very curious to know what the Hindu saints had to say about "what was there or what will be there apart from the 84 cycles of creation and destruction". Is there any mention of this aspect anywhere in Hindu scriptures?

Say No To Censorship
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Ved Gupta
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  • This falls under "scientific speculation" and that's off-topic here. – Rickross Jul 30 '20 at 16:36
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    Irreconcilable, basically – iruvar Jul 30 '20 at 17:08
  • Even if we ignore the mismatch between hindu timeline and the theory of evolution, I am very curious to know what the Hindu saints had to say about "what was there or what will be there apart from the 84 cycles of creation and destruction". Is there any mention of this aspect anywhere in Hindu scriptures? – Ved Gupta Jul 31 '20 at 06:12
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    Scientifically Hinduism has no consistency regarding historic events. For this reason one should adopt this as mythology. – Wikash_ Jul 31 '20 at 16:47
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    @Wikash_, science has no consistency regarding anything longer than the past, say 5,000 years. For this reason one should adopt science as guess work. – ram Aug 02 '20 at 18:53
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    @iruvar, correct. until science is willing to accept its short-sightedness, it will be irreconcilable. – ram Aug 02 '20 at 18:53
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    @Wikash_ - See this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-man . Despite dating the sculpture to 40000 BC, the scientific community has till date not discarded the three age system https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-age_system completely. So yes, no consistency among the vanguards of science . – Artist Formerly Known As CSD Aug 03 '20 at 01:11
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    @ram that is not correct. For example science has been able to identify a lot of things byond 5000 years like creatures like dinosaurs which Hinduism strangely enough says absolutely nothing about. Also, evolution has been proven via DNA, bones and other input data. There a houses, tools, trees and the list goes on. Actually almost all events in Hinduism have no bearing in science. These gods and characters in Hinduism seem to hide well. – Wikash_ Aug 03 '20 at 07:21
  • @Wikash_, Hinduism does say things way beyond 5000 years. This has been proven with historical records. Almost all events in science have no bearing on reality. These scientists and proofs seem to hide well. – ram Aug 03 '20 at 08:59
  • @Wikash_ - see here https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/2446/18974 . – Artist Formerly Known As CSD Aug 03 '20 at 12:59
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    @Carmen that is just speculation. Moreover the scriptures presume humans have lived for a very long time on earth and science contradicts this. – Wikash_ Aug 03 '20 at 13:16
  • @Wikash_ - can't help anymore. Pls carry on – Artist Formerly Known As CSD Aug 03 '20 at 15:24
  • @Wikash_ Let's reopen this one so it can be properly answered. – Say No To Censorship Aug 03 '20 at 17:22
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    "How does one explain this mismatch?" - Hindu cosmology is incompatible with science. You have to pick one and reject the other. As to what you should choose, see this post: Does Science contradict Hinduism? How to deal with scientific discoveries that don't line up with Vedas? – Say No To Censorship Aug 03 '20 at 17:29
  • @sv. I voted to reopen. – Wikash_ Aug 03 '20 at 22:53
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    @ram "Almost all events in science have no bearing on reality. These scientists and proofs seem to hide well. " no that is not true. There is a multitude of evidence available as I already explained. What is wrong with DNA, geographical data, objects like ancient tools that have been in the ground for a long time? – Wikash_ Aug 03 '20 at 22:56
  • There are two distinct aspects in my question: (1) Discussing the mismatch between the Hindu concept of yugas and theory of evolution, which we are discussing vigorously here. (2) Do Hindu scriptures mention anything about "before" and "after" the 84 cycles of creation and annihilation of the universe? – Ved Gupta Aug 04 '20 at 05:53
  • I just found that the first part of my question was also asked in: https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/10688/ – Ved Gupta Aug 04 '20 at 06:17

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