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Podcast: New Books in Ancient History
Episode: Simon Brodbeck, "Divine Descent and the Four World-Ages in the MahÄbhÄrata" (Cardiff UP, 2022)
Description: Divine Descent and the Four World-Ages in the MahÄbhÄrata reflects on the theology of time in this early Hindu text and poses the key question: why does the Krishna avatÄra inaugurate the worst yuga? The Sanskrit MahÄbhÄrata describes a massive war facilitated by God and the gods. That war took place between the third and the last ages of a 12,000-year cycle; within the cycle, moral behaviour and human lifespan always decrease in steps before being rebooted for the next cycle (initial lifespan 400 years).Ā Divine Descent and the Four World-Ages in the MahÄbhÄrata-Or...