Yuga
Yuga in Hinduism is an epoch or era within a four age cycle. A complete Yuga starts with the Satya Yuga, via Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga into a Kali Yuga. Our present time is a Kali Yuga, which started at 3102 BCE with the end of the Mahabharata war.
Contents
Four yugas[edit]
There are four Yugas in one cycle:
- Satya Yuga, a time of truth and righteousness;
- Treta Yuga
- Dwapara Yuga
- Kali Yuga,
Characteristics of each Yuga[edit]
- Satya Yuga (also known as Krita Yuga "Golden Age"): The first and best Yuga. It was the age of truth and perfection. The Krita Yuga was so named because there was but one religion, and all men were saintly: therefore they were not required to perform religious ceremonies. The caste system was very flexible. Humans were gigantic, powerfully built, handsome, honest, youthful, vigorous, erudite and virtuous. The Vedas were one. All mankind could attain to supreme blessedness. There was no agriculture or mining as the earth yielded those riches on its own. Weather was pleasant and everyone was happy. There were no religious sects. There was no disease, decrepitude or fear of anything. Human lifespan was 100,000 years and humans tended to have hundreds or thousands of sons or daughters. People had to perform penances for thousands of years to acquire Samadhi and die.
- Treta Yuga: Is considered to be the second Yuga in order, however Treta means the "Third". In this age, virtue diminishes slightly. At the beginning of the age, many emperors rise to dominance and conquer the world. Wars become frequent and weather begins to change to extremities. Oceans and deserts are formed. People become slightly diminished compared to their predecessors. Agriculture, labour and mining become existent. Average lifespan of humans is around 1000-10,000 years.
- Dvapara Yuga: Is considered to be the third Yuga in order. Dvapara means "two pair" or "after two". In this age, people become tainted with Tamasic qualities and aren't as strong as their ancestors. Diseases become rampant. Humans are discontent and fight each other. Vedas are divided into four parts. People still possess characteristics of youth in old age. Average lifespan of humans is around a few centuries.
- Kali Yuga: The final age. It is the age of darkness and ignorance. People become sinners and lack virtue. They become slaves to their passions and are barely as powerful as their earliest ancestors in the Satya Yuga. Society falls into disuse and people become liars and hypocrites. Knowledge is lost and scriptures are diminished. Humans eat forbidden and dirty food and engage in unrestrained sinful sexual practices. The environment is polluted, water and food become scarce. Wealth is heavily diminished. Families become non existent. Average lifespan of people is barely 100 years, though, by the end of the Yuga, it will be as low as 20 years.
Durations of the four yugas[edit]
According to the Laws of Manu, one of the earliest known texts describing the yugas, the lengths are 4800 years + 3600 years + 2400 years + 1200 years, for a total of 12,000 years for one arc, or 24,000 years to complete the cycle, which is approximately one precession of the equinox. These 4 yugas follow a timeline ratio of (4:3:2:1).
According to Srimad Bhagavatam 3.11.19,[web 1] which is dated at 200 BCE-200CE, the Yugas are much longer, using a divine year in which one day is equal to one human year, thus:
one year of the demigods is equal to 360 years of the human beings. The duration of the Satya-yuga is therefore 4,800 x 360, or 1,728,000 years. The duration of the Tretā-yuga is 3,600 x 360, or 1,296,000 years. The duration of the Dvāpara-yuga is 2,400 x 360, or 864,000 years. [web 2]
The Viṣṇu Purāṇa Time measurement section of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa Book I Chapter III adds:
- 2 Ayanas (6-month periods, see above) = 1 human year or 1 day of the devas
- 12,000 divine years = 4 Yugas (= 4,320,000 human years) = 1 Mahā-Yuga (also is equal to 12,000 Daiva (divine) Yuga)
- 2*12,000 = 24,000 divine year = 12000 revolutions of sun around its dual
While the long yuga count is the most popular, it does not correlate to any known celestial motion found in the Astronomical Almanac. The value of 24,000 years fits relatively close with the modern astronomical calculation of one full precession of the equinox, which takes 25,772 years.[note 1] Thus the yuga cycle may have some basis in known terrestrial cycles. Srimad Bhagavatam 3.11.19 describes the timespans of the demigods, in which a year of a yuga is a year of the demigods. It is this second sloka which appears to have been modified over the years.
According to Brahma Kumaris, total duration of four yuga (stages of world cycle) is 5000 years, of which each yuga (stages of world cycle) is 1250 years.
Decline[edit]
The ages see a gradual decline of dharma, wisdom, knowledge, intellectual capability, life span, emotional and physical strength.
- Satya Yuga:- Virtue reigns supreme. Human stature was 21 cubits. Average human lifespan was 100,000 years.
- Treta Yuga: – There was 3 quarter virtue and 1 quarter sin. Normal human stature was 14 cubits. Average human lifespan was 10,000 years.
- Dwapara Yuga: – There was 1 half virtue & 1 half sin. Normal human stature was 7 cubits. Average human lifespan was 1,000 years.
- Kali Yuga: – There is 1 quarter virtue & 3 quarter sin. Normal human stature is 3.5 cubits. Average human lifespan will be 100 years.
In the present days we may be said to live in a Kali Yuga, which is said to have started in 3102 BCE[1] with the end of the Mahabharata war. This date is also considered by many Hindus to be the day that Krishna left Earth.[note 2]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ This phenomenon is observed as the stars moving retrograde across the sky at about 50 arc seconds per year, and is thought to produce periods of warm ages and ice ages known as the Milankovitch cycle.
- ^ According to Sri Yukteswar Giri, guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, The ascending phase of the Kali Yuga began in September 499 CE. Since September 1699, we have been in the ascending phase of the Dwapara Yuga. According to Sri Yukteswar, nobody wanted to announce the bad news of the beginning of the descending Kali Yuga, so they kept adding years to the Dvapara date (at that time 2400 Dvapara) only retitling the epoch to Kali.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Richter-Ushanas 1997, p. 16.
- ^ Yukteswar 1949.
Sources[edit]
Printed sources[edit]
- Richter-Ushanas, Egbert (1997), The Indus Script and the Ṛg-Veda, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., ISBN 81-208-1405-3
- Yukteswar, Swami Sri (1949), The Holy Science, Yogoda Satsanga Society of India
