CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN INDIA. 117 



a period of 6000 years, exactly like the Jews, and 

 Hindus formerly, according to Megasthenes. The 

 Gothic tribes entertained also the same notions, as 

 appears from the cosmogony of Orpheus, who was a 

 Goth* 



The Hindus had the system of the Yiigas long be- 

 fore; but this was not pecuhar to them, for it pre- 

 vailed all over the west, and Hesiod, who lived be- 

 tween 900 and 1000 years before Christ, declares 

 that Cali-yuga \Y?iS ]wst beginning; and the Jainas 

 assert that it began about that time. Though the 

 Yugas are of a very great antiquity all over the world, 

 yet the Hindus did not think of stretching their du- 

 ration to such an enormous length, till a period com- 

 paratively modern ; and the Yugas in the west were 

 also the component of their grand Calpa, which con- 

 sisted equally of 12,000 years, but with this differ- 

 ence, that in the west these were considered as na- 

 tural years, which is not the case in the east, at least 

 now. 



The first time we heard, in the west, of this extra- 

 vagant system of chronology, was about the middle 

 of the ninth century ; when we were informed by 

 Abu-Mazar, a famous astronomer, who lived at the 

 court of Al-Mamun at Balkh, that the Hindus rec] 

 koned from the flood or the beginning of the Cali- 

 yuga, to the Hejra, 720,634,442,715 days, or 3725 

 years. 



There is obviously a mistake, originating either 

 with the transcriber or translator : but it may be ca- 



* See Gesner's notes on the fragments of Orfheus, also 

 Fabricius Cod. Pseudepigr. 



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