THE 4 YUGAS IN HINDUISM

The four yugas refer to the cosmic ages that are used in the Vedic / Hindu system for measuring universal time. These four ages are known as Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali.

According to Hindu scriptures, the current universe is destined to pass through four great epochs, each of which is a complete cycle of cosmic creation and destruction. Hindu literature deals with numbers large enough to be nearly impossible to imagine.

Hindus believe the process of creation moves in cycles and that each cycle has four great yugas, or epochs, of time. And because the process of creation is cyclical and never-ending, it “begins to end and ends to begin.”​

“The Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an innate, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond, to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang. And there are much longer time scales still ”— Carl Sagan

A Kalpa, or eon, is said to be comprised of a thousand cycles of four yugas — each of a different quality. By one estimate, a single yuga cycle is said to be 4.32 million years, and a Kalpa is said to consist of 4.32 billion years

Hindu tradition holds that three of these great ages of this current universe have already passed away, and we are now living in the fourth one — the Kali Yuga. It is pretty hard to contemplate the meaning of the vast quantities of time expressed by the Hindu time scheme, so vast are the numbers. There are different theories about the symbolic meaning of these measurements of time.

In this article, an overview of each of the four yugas, Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga has been provided and discussed— like the concepts of Vedic time, including definitions of the most commonly used time units. We also reveal amazing coincidences between Vedic history and the modern fields of cosmology and archaeology.

Symbolic Interpretations

Metaphorically, the four Yuga ages may symbolize the four phases of involution during which the human gradually lost the awareness of his or her inner self and subtle body.

Hinduism believes that human beings have five kinds of bodies, known as annamayakosa, pranamayakosa, manomayakosa, vignanamayakosa, and anandamayakosa, which respectively mean the “gross body,” the “breath body,” the “psychic body,” the “intelligence body,” and the “bliss body.”

Another theory interprets these epochs of time to represent the degree of loss of righteousness in the world. This theory suggests that during Satya Yuga, only truth prevailed (Sanskrit Satya = truth). During the Treta Yuga, the universe lost one-fourth of the truth, Dwapar lost one-half of the truth, and now the Kali Yuga is left with only one-fourth of the truth. Evil and dishonesty have therefore gradually replaced truth in the last three ages.

Unlike the Western concept of linear time, Vedic time is cyclical. Like the four seasons of the year, the four ages of a chaturyuga, or Yuga cycle, rotate without end.

About the Four Yugas

The four great epochs in Hinduism are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga, and Kali Yuga. Satya Yug or the Age of Truth is said to last for 4,000 divine years, Treta Yuga for 3,000, Dwapara Yug for 2,000 and Kali Yuga will last for 1,000 divine years — a divine year equalling 432,000 earthly years.

Hindu tradition holds that three of these great ages of this current universe have already passed away, and we are now living in the fourth one — the Kali Yuga. It is quite hard to contemplate the meaning of the vast quantities of time expressed by the Hindu time scheme, so vast are the numbers. There are different theories about the symbolic meaning of these measurements of time.

Satya Yuga

In Satya Yuga, human beings were adept in meditation and possessed unbelievable strength and longevity. The Vedic texts state that humans during Satya Yuga, or the Golden Age, lived for up to 1,00,000 years. There was no disparity among cultures. Everyone enjoyed worldly comforts and lived in perfect harmony with the natural environment. There was no war, famine, or conflict among the human race. It was a time of complete peace on Earth.

However, as time progressed, people became less inclined toward spiritual practices and wished to augment their material comforts beyond their needs. A spirit of competition arose among men and as a result the system of varnashrama, or class-based society, was introduced. This ushered in the Dvapara Yuga or Silver Age.

We have compiled detailed and authentic articles containing a complete guide on Satya Yuga, symptoms of Satya Yuga, avatars of Satya Yuga and major events of Satya Yuga.

Treta Yuga

In Treta Yuga, the Silver Age, human beings engage in nonviolent religious sacrifice as a means of propitiating the gods and ultimately pleasing the Supreme Person, Vishnu. According to Hindu philosophy, the Yugas denote four distinct ages of mankind. The Treta Yuga is the Sanskrit name given to the second of the four Yugas. Translated, the term means “three collections.” The Treta Yuga lasted for 1,296,000 years and saw important events such as the appearance of agriculture and mining. Three avatars of Lord Vishnu were said to appear during this Yuga: Vamana, Parashurama and Rama as the fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations, respectively.

During this era, the power of mankind was diminished as people became less spiritual and more focused on material possessions. Wars broke out frequently and climate changes became commonplace, giving rise to deserts and oceans.

Despite these seemingly negative effects, the Treta Yuga also brought knowledge of universal magnetism. This knowledge allowed humans to understand the forces of nature and the true nature of the universe.

Each one of the distinct Yugas is linked to one of the four universal powers of maya and gives mankind the chance to understand this power and bring it under control.

As Lord Krishna instructs Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita:

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ
anena prasaviṣyadhvam eṣa vo ’stv iṣṭa-kāma-dhuk

“At the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, ‘Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.’”

devān bhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ
parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ param avāpsyatha

“The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.” (Bhagavad-gita, 3.10–11)

To facilitate collective sacrifice, human society was divided into four classes of men: brahmanas (intellectuals), Kshatriyas (administrators), vaishyas (merchants), and Sudras (workers).

The Brahmanas studied the Vedas and guided society with spiritual wisdom, the Kshatriyas served as rulers, politicians, and army generals, the Vaishyas worked in commerce and industry, and the Sudras served the other three classes. However, there was not a spirit of envy or condescension among the four classes. Rather, each member of society sacrificed for the good of the whole and the satisfaction of Sri Vishnu.

In Treta yuga, human beings were extremely dutiful, moral, and compassionate toward their fellow living beings. They lived life spans up to 10,000 years. Although there was some division in society, it was nevertheless a time of overarching peace and prosperity.

We have compiled detailed and authentic articles containing a complete guide on Treta Yuga, symptoms of Treta Yuga, avatars of Treta Yuga and major events of Treta Yuga.

Dvapara Yuga

Even before the beginning of Dvapara Yuga, by the end of Treta Yuga, human beings began to stray from the path of dharma, or the religious way of life. Members of society exploited their positions to increase their stature and standard of happiness at the expense of those around them.

This was occurring at all levels of society, from Brahmanas to sudras. Wars began to break out as ruling kings vied for power, wealth, and influence. No longer able to effectively perform collective sacrifice, human beings instead took up the worship of Vishnu in His deity form. Thousands of temples were constructed throughout the world for the worship of the Supreme Person, Vishnu, as well as His demigod expansions, such as Indra, Agni, Shiva, etc.

Dvapara Yuga, or the Bronze Age, saw the first instances of selfishness and irreligion overcoming mankind’s natural godly nature. The scales began to tip in favour of godlessness, and people became fearful and mistrusting of their leaders and fellow citizens. However, there were still many holy kings on earth who upheld justice and defended virtue. Human beings in Dvapara Yuga live up to 1,000 years.

Toward the end of the most recent Dvapara Yuga, Mother Earth became overburdened by corrupt leaders who had all but completely abandoned the path of religiosity in favour of wanton selfishness and blind violence. Mother Earth assumed the form of a helpless cow and approached Brahma, the universal creator, pleading to him to intervene on her behalf and for the welfare of the human race. Brahma then made an appeal to Vishnu, who informed him that the Supreme Personality of the Godhead, Krishna, would appear on Earth to destroy the evil kings and restore virtue to the world. It was at this time that Krishna made His descent and spoke the famous Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna.

A compiled detailed and authentic article containing: a complete guide on Dvapara Yuga, symptoms of Dvapara Yuga, avatars of Dvapara Yuga and major events of Dvapara Yuga.

Kali Yuga

While Sri Krishna remained on the planet, Kali Yuga could not begin. The reason is that the presence of the Supreme Person keeps ignorance and irreligion at bay. As the Vaisnava poet Krishnadasa has written:

kṛṣṇa — sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra

“Krishna is compared to sunshine, and māyā [illusion] is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Krishna consciousness, the darkness of illusion will immediately vanish.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, 2.22.31)

However, shortly after the departure of Sri Krishna to His realm in the spiritual sky, Kali Yuga broke out in full force. The social order was turned on its head. Religious and political leaders, instead of educating and protecting the populace, abandoned virtue and became the chief criminals in society.

In Kali Yuga or the Iron Age, spirituality and morality are diminished to the shadows of their former selves. Deception and hypocrisy in the name of religion are the status quo. Kali Yuga is the polar opposite of Satya Yuga — the world is virtually devoid of peace. All living beings suffer material hardships as they struggle simply to survive, being deeply afflicted by fear.

In Kali Yuga, people live up to only 100 years. The Bhagavata Purana describes human beings of Kali Yuga as follows:

“In this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.” (Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.10)

These are the compiled detailed and authentic articles containing a complete guide on Kali Yuga, symptoms of Kali Yuga, avatars of Kali Yuga and major events of Kali Yuga.

Living in the Kali Yuga

We are said to presently be living in the Kali Yuga — in a world infested with impurities and vices. The number of people possessing noble virtues is diminishing day by day. Floods and famine, war and crime, deceit, and duplicity characterize this age. But, say the scriptures, it is only in this age of critical troubles that final emancipation is possible.

Kali Yuga has two phases: In the first phase, humans — having lost the knowledge of the two higher selves — possessed knowledge of the “breath body” apart from the physical self. Now during the second phase, however, even this knowledge has deserted humanity, leaving us only with the awareness of the gross physical body. This explains why humankind is now more preoccupied with the physical self than any other aspect of existence.

Due to our preoccupation with our physical bodies and our lower selves, and because of our emphasis on the pursuit of gross materialism, this age has been termed the Age of Darkness — an age when we have lost touch with our inner selves, an age of profound ignorance.

What the Scriptures Say

Both the two great epics — the Ramayana and Mahabharata — have spoken about the Kali Yuga. In the Tulasi Ramayana, we find the sage Kakbhushundi foretelling:

In the Kali Yuga, the hotbed of sin, men and women are all steeped in unrighteousness and act contrary to the Vedas. Every virtue had been engulfed by the sins of Kali Yuga; all good books had disappeared; impostors had promulgated a number of creeds, which they had invented out of their own wit. The people had all fallen prey to delusion and all pious acts had been swallowed by greed.

In the Mahabharata (Santi Parva), the hero Yudhishthir says:

… The ordinances of the Vedas disappear gradually in every successive age, the duties in the Kali age are entirely of another kind. It seems, therefore, that duties have been laid down for the respective age according to the powers of human beings in the respective ages.

The sage Vyasa, later on, clarifies:

In the Kali Yuga, the duties of the respective order disappear and men become afflicted by inequity.

What Happens Next?

According to Hindu cosmology, it is predicted that at the end of the Kali Yuga, Lord Shiva will destroy the universe and the physical body will undergo a great transformation. After the dissolution, Lord Brahma will recreate the universe, and humankind will become the Beings of Truth once again & Satyuga will start.

Read: Concept of Creations and Yugas (Time Period) in Hinduism

To Note: An acknowledgement of Information Sources is attached as embedded links. The topic deals with religion, customs and practices; therefore, some sections are direct references. I acknowledge that the direct references belong to their original writers. This article has been published for education and informational purposes only.

Original article by Dr. Vineet Aggarwal