<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:144713179; mso-list-template-ids:-574876506;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-tab-stop:.5in; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} -->

THE HINDU YUGAS & THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

There is some significance  to the information in this story about the placing of the Kalpa Vigraha in a copper vessel of water to "charge" the water. Water is known to carry some kind of "memory" that manifests  itself in healing. It  is this principle that is used by homoeopathics to heal. The other interesting reference here is that of the Hindu Yugas. The metal or alloy with which this vigraha was made must contain some powerful elements that fortify and rejuvenate the immune system of a human being. The water that is charged for 9 days must carry the memory of the elements. It would be interesting to know what it was that the CIA deciphered from the ancient manuscripts. The Kalpa Vigraha, if it is still in India, would be better utilized for medical research than as an object of worship. With regard to the 'yugas' of the Hindu calender I have some interesting information here.

The Hindu and Vedic writings make reference to four ages of mankind termed: Satya Yuga (Golden), Treta Yuga (Silver), Dwapara Yuga (Bronze) and Kali Yuga (Iron). According to the Laws of Manu these four ages total 12,000 years in declining order and 12,000 years in ascending order (for a total of 24,000 years in one complete cycle, and are equivalent to seasons of history or seasons of man. The timelines for the four ages are also given as given by Swami Sri Yukteswar in his book Holy Science.

1. Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga: A time of dhyana (meditative existence). This is the longest Yuga. This is also considered the highest yuga, during which the majority of people could experience spirituality by direct intuitive realization of truth. The veil between the material and the transcendent realms was almost transparent. The Natya Shastra manuscripts tell us that there are no Natya performances in the Krita Yuga because it is a period free from any kind of unhappiness or misery. This Satya Yuga is also called the Golden Age of mankind.
2. Treta Yuga: The period of yajna (sacrifice). Shorter in time than the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga is the mental age or the age of the mind. Mental power is developed and harnessed, and mankind possessed great skill and power of the mind. During this yuga, there were inventions of mental practices that dissolve the illusion of time (such inventions are characteristic of both Dvapara and Treta yugas). People were clairvoyant and telepathy was a common skill.
3. Dvapara Yuga: The epoch of archana (worship). In the Dvapara Yuga, science as we know today flourished, people experience the spiritual in terms of subtle energies and rational choices, inventions are abundant, particularly those that dissolve the illusion of distance between people and between things. Levitation, tele-transportation and astral-travel become common, and power is mostly in the hands of women. The end of this age (in the descending phase) is associated with the death of Krishna, and these events are described in the Mahabharata.
4. Kali Yuga: The epoch of daana (alms). It is a short and violent Yuga which started on February 18^th  3102 BCE. Also the lowest epoch, Kali Yuga, most people are aware only of the physical aspects of existence. The predominant emphasis of living is material survival, and power is mostly in the hands of men.

These four yugas also have a significant bearing on the longevity of a human being's life. Besides the fact that the strength and virtue of man decreases and that the time of each yuga gets shorter, the life-span, or the number of years that a man lives also decreases. In the beginning of the Satya yuga, the average life expectancy is 1,000 years. In the beginning of the Treta yuga, the average life expectancy is about 750 years. In the beginning of the Dvapara yuga, the life expectancy is 500 years. Finally, at the beginning of the Kali yuga (the age that we are currently in) the life expectancy is 250 years. As the Kali yuga progressed, life has shortened now to 100 or less years. While most people think that the life expectancy of humans is increasing with the rise of science and technology, according to Hinduism, the average life expectancy is actually decreasing. It is said that by the end of this yuga, an average human will live only to about 30 years, just enough to procreate, live a few more years and die. Their only food will be meat, sourced eventually from a polluted sea. We can actually see this happening around us due to diseases, pollution, climatic changes, wars, etc, and also by the decrease in greenery and the harvesting of more and more sea-food.

It is also important to understand that the tradition and belief in yugas, epochs, eras or time-frames in the ages of mankind were not unique to Hinduism. It is based on certain traits, beliefs, records and ancient information available with many cultures around the world.  An early and interesting account of the successive ages of mankind comes from the Greek poet Hesiod's Works and Days. Hesoid categorizes these eras of mankind as Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron attributing certain characteristics and virtues in man's nature and activities during these periods of time. The Roman poet Ovid (1st century BC - 1st century AD) tells a similar myth of Four Ages in Book 1.89-150 of the Metamorphoses. His account is similar to Hesiod's with the exception that he omits the Heroic Age. There are also many other references to various types of world ages or Ages of Man in Hopi (worlds), Mayan (suns) and other cultures of antiquity. Giorgio de Santillana, the former professor of the history of science, mentions approximately thirty ancient cultures that believed in the concept of a series of ages and the rise and fall of history, with alternating Dark and Golden Ages. This information is documented in the book Hamlet's Mill by de Santillana and von Dechend in 1969. These mythological ages are sometimes associated with historical timelines. In the chronology of Saint Jerome the Golden Age lasts ca. 1710 to 1674 BC, the Silver Age 1674 to 1628 BC, the Bronze Age 1628 to 1472 BC, the Heroic Age 1460 to 1103 BC, while the Iron Age was considered as still ongoing by Hesiod in the 8th century. Lori Pratt in her series of articles entitled Astrological World Ages interprets these ages roughly as : 11,500 BC to 6700 BC descending Golden Age, 6700 BC to 3100 BC descending Silver Age, 3100 BC to 700 BC descending Bronze Age, 700 BC to 500 AD descending Iron Age. The cycle then bottomed out and began the ascending phase with the Iron Age lasting from 500 AD to 1700 AD. The renaissance marked the rough transition from the lowest age into the next highest age. In her opinion, we are now said to be in the early stages of the ascending Bronze Age which they also term the atomic or electrical age.

All these beliefs aside, the results of the CIA's experiments on human subjects appear to have had the effect of enhancing longevity. I don't suppose there is any way of checking if all the people on Mac's list are real people, but if they are, the CIA should have been more open about their experiments and allowed a credible group of scholars do some useful medical research with the Kalpa Vigraha water that would have served society in a more generous way.