It was only at the confluence of the iron and golden ages when God intervened, did his job of transformation to start something new, says Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj Ji
All of us have heard the most famous verse from chapter eight of the Bhagavad Gita, where God says that he will appear on this earth during every age to protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked and to re-establish the principles of dharma. However, the question that one might raise here is that when, in the history of this world, did the Almighty perform this task?
The words sambhavami yuge yuge in the Gita has led most of us to believe that God’s descent takes place in each of the four yugas or ages in the cycle of time. Really? Well, after some reflection, it becomes clear that this is not possible because the time cycle begins with the golden age or the satyuga, when both human souls and the elements of nature were in their purest state. Humans at that time were replete with divine virtues and free of all vices, for which they are worshipped as deities even now. They were blessed with health, wealth and happiness.
Evil did not exist in that age and hence every soul lived in a blissful state through the golden and silver ages, even though they lost some of their shine over the time. Thus, it is obvious that there was no need for God to intervene in this happy state of affairs.
As we all know, humans call out to God in times of sorrow and when things deteriorate beyond human tolerance. So, God, the redeemer, rejuvenator and remover of sorrows, comes to restore peace and happiness in this world. Practically-speaking, God’s descent is meant to remove human suffering and rejuvenate the world.
In the copper age, as humans came increasingly under the influence of vices, their pain and suffering increased and they lost the awareness that they were souls and begin to identify themselves with their bodies, which gave rise to lust, anger, greed and ego. As the copper age gave way to the iron age, this process of degradation gathers pace, which would not have happened had God come to salvage humanity at the end of the age. Finally, seeing that his beloved children are unable to get out of the grip of vices and suffering, he came to this world to remind them of their true, spiritual identity. God also reminded them about their relationship with him and how they could regain their original, pure state by re-connecting with and remembering him. By this remembrance, souls filled themselves with power and virtues, gradually overcoming the influence of vices. Those who made the effort to get cleansed in this way and attained a divine status became worthy of taking birth in the golden age that dawned after the iron age. All others were also liberated from sorrow in this process of change when the Almighty brought about the destruction of all evil and paved the way for the golden era.
So in the entire cycle of time, it was only at the end of the iron age that this massive and positive process of world transformation took place and it could only be carried out by the Supreme. During the rest of the cycle, souls underwent a process of degradation — which was quite slow in the beginning and faster as time went by. Thus, it was only at the confluence of the iron and golden ages, also called the sangam between the kaliyuga and the i, when God intervened, did his job of transformation to start a new beginning.