The two major symbols used in the construction of our cosmic map–those of the egg and of the person–both suggest some form of growth, organic development, or life. Although literally this is the case in only a few instances of monotheistic belief, we can nevertheless speak of cosmic ‘life’ in two senses of the word. Clearly, the different kinds of beings, the devas, nagās, asuras, animals and humans, are alive. But, in addition, the cosmos itself is perceived by the Indian traditions to be ‘alive’ in the sense of having a history, a growth and a decay. We shall see in due course that cosmic history and the life-story of the individual being are much more closely interwoven than it would appear at first sight. Thus what seem to be two separate topics of discussion in this chapter will reveal themselves as a single, though complex, theme: the pulsation of life to the rhythm of time. Let us begin our exploration by looking at the cosmic scale of this pulse, that is to say, at ‘world history’.

‘Time’ can be broken down into five components: beginning, past, present, future and end. In our view of things, reflections on the beginning and the end are the concern of cosmology and theology; those on the past are the concern of history, archaeology, etc.; those on the present, the concern of journalists, moralists and politicians; and finally those on the future, the concern of astrology and futurology.