Modern and Traditional Time: Bhaktivedånta Swami and the Golden Age: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

Of all ideas characterizing modernity, evolutionary theory is surely among the most powerful. This theory is unabashedly optimistic: Out with the idea of clinging to a disempowering past! Mankind is by nature destined for a glorious future, not only in the biological sense, but in all ways—culturally, economically and spiritually.
The traditional Hindu view of time moves in the opposite direction: the world and its denizens were never as good as they were immediately after creation, and with the passing of every day, they devolve further. According to Hindu eschatology, we are presently living in the last of the world’s four ages, the age of Kali, a time of ever-increasing strife and evil. According to most authorities, this age began in 3102 BC, and will end when Viß∫u’s last avatåra, Kalki, descends to purify the earth in 428 897 CE (Fleet 1992). After
that, a new age of Satya, truth, harmony and enlightenment will begin.
While waiting for that, the best one can do is try to maintain whatever good remains in the world, since every new day will just bring new troubles.