Hinduism Explains: Kalpas, Anuad and the End of C0DA (Part I)

It should come as no surprise that the metaphysics and theology of TES Lore pulls heavily from Eastern religions and thought. Specifically, when you compare it to the religion of Hinduism, the similarities are clear.

In Vedic Hinduism there is one god, called [Brahman], who is the ultimate being, synonymous with the Universe as a whole. He is portrayed by three different aspects. There is: Vishnu, the spirit of preservation; Shiva, who is the embodiment of destruction and change; and final Brahma, the Creator, who is not to be confused with the godhead, Brahman. Furthermore, below these three aspects there are the Asura, the numerous gods of Hinduism.

The Asura are divided into two distinct factions, the “good” Devas and the “evil” group, who are also called Asuras. The difference between these two groups is created with each new world. At Creation, the Devas take the side of creation and light, while the ”evil” Asuras take the side of darkness.. This is the only difference between these two factions. As the Hindu-scholar Ananda Coomaraswamy puts it, “the Titan [Asura] is potentially an Angel [Deva], the Angel still by nature a Titan.” It is also important to note that one of the translations for “Deva” is litterally “Divine.”

In case the connection between Hinduism and TES Lore isn’t clear, I made this chart to help simplify it.

So that’s the breakdown, and I laid it all out to show that there is a lot in common between TES Lore and Hinduism. So I wondered, what else could be learned from Hinduism, when it comes to TES Lore? The first thing to look at is a word that is actually found in Hinduism, “Kalpa.”

Like in TES Lore, a Hindu Kalpa is a single turn in the cycle of creation. Specifically, it is equivalent to 1 day (only the day) of Brahma (the Creator). At the end of a Kalpa, there is a period known as the Naimittika Pralaya, “The Night of Brahma.” This is the time that Brahma “goes to sleep” (though it’s tempting, don’t jump to connect Dreaming with sleep, I will explain why later). In one Hindu text it is explained thusly: If Brahma is a child (for example), then the Kalpa is the day, where he builds the world with his toys (like Legos). The Naimittika Pralaya is the night, when he dismantles his creation and goes to sleep, only to wake up again and put the pieces back together.

This explanation fits perfectly with what we know about the TES Kalpa. In each Kalpa, things are slightly different. The Dreugh can posses a massive underwater Empire, where otherwise, the are just a primitive race. The “toy” that is the Dreugh is present in both Kalpas, but their position is different.

Of course now the question is raised: If Brahma is said to dismantle each world at the end of a Kalpa, and Brahma is Nir, then how come the Annotated Anuad claims that Nir is dead? Well, this post is already too long, and lots of terms have been thrown around, so I’m gonna break it here. I’ll talk about the Anuad and Nir in Part II.