Sacred History and Cosmology  

Particularly, In the Puranas and Itihasas, we find presented the Vedic view of human history and of the order of the universe. We do find some of what we might consider from our rationalistic perspective to represent human history or a description of the physical world. However, we find many mythic elements which appear quite imaginary. For example, the Earth is said to consist of seven continents divided by seven seas of different substances like water, milk, honey, etc.  

Such views, however, were never meant to portray the actual state of things in time and space. They include not just the visible world in their scope but also the invisible worlds.  Sacred history is not concerned with the actual dates of various events. It is concerned with showing how we fell from the eternal into time and how we can return from time to the eternal. It shows where the eternal intersects time. It may also consider how time in our world is connected with time in the other more subtle worlds. Whereas our secular history is linear, sacred history has a qualitative dimension that cuts through chronological time only one level.

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