An inevitable query raised at Christmas parties and social gatherings of late is, “Will the world end on December 21 as predicted by so many people for the past two years?”
While many have pooh-poohed the theory, there are still many others with lingering fear that none of us would exist after the doomsday.
The story reportedly gained credibility with claims that ‘Nibiru,’ a supposed planet discovered by Sumerians thousands of years ago, will collide with the Earth this year. Also known as ‘Planet X,’ its collision was earlier predicted to occur in May 2003. Since the world did not end then, the doomsday was moved forward to December 21 this year, linking it to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice.
The Mayan Calendar was in use during pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in many modern communities in highland Guatemala and in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.
Scientists and scholars have advised people to remain calm, saying, “Just as the calendar at your home or office will not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar would not cease on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but just as your calendar begins again on January 1, another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.
According to the Hindu belief, the life of the world is linked to the days of Lord Brahma, the Creator. Each day in His terminology means a ‘Kalpa.’ Two kalpas are a day and a night for him.
Each kalpa is composed of 1000 ‘Maha Yugas.’ A kalpa is equal to 4.32 billion human years. At the end of Brahma’s daytime period, the Three Worlds (Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, Swarloka) and the seven underworlds (of the Nagas) would be temporarily dissolved; that is, the same people would be reincarnated when the next day of Brahma begins.
A year of Brahma equates to 360 day and night cycles, 720 kalpas or 8.64 billion human years. Hindus believe that we are located in the 51st year of Brahma.
This relates accurately to modern-day scientists and astronomers, who affirm that human life on earth is a little more than four billion years old.
According to another theory, we are in ‘Kali Yuga,’ the 5100th year of which corresponded to year 2000 AD. According to this account, the Yuga will last for at least another 426,000 years.
Indian scholars and astrologers have affirmed that there are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and that even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible.
One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate centre of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.
We will be back on January 15, 2013.
