Cycle of Yuga

A Yuga Epoch (a.k.a. k a Each of the cyclic ages (yuga, chatur yuga, maha yuga, etc.) in Hindu cosmology Each yuga (world age)—Krita (Satya) Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga—repeats every 4,320,000 years (12,000 divine years[a]). [4]

The length of each yuga and the general moral and physical state of humanity within each yuga decrease by a factor of one-fourth as a Yuga Cycle moves through the four yugas. It is believed that the beginning of the Kali Yuga, which lasts for 432,000 years, occurred in 3102 BCE. [5][6] Near the end of Kali Yuga, when virtues are at their worst, a cataclysm and a re-establishment of dharma occur to usher in the next cycle's Satya Yuga, prophesied to occur by Kalki

A manvantara (age of Manu) contains 71 Yuga Cycles, while a kalpa (day of Brahma) contains 1,000. [6]

Lexicology [ edit ]

There are a number of different terms for a Yuga Cycle.

Age, or Yuga (Sanskrit: युग literal translation: "the age of the gods"

Age and Yuga are frequently used to reverently denote a " catur-yuga Unless otherwise specified, the four-world-age cycle includes the following minor ages: It is also written as yugam or the even more antiquated yug. yugānāṃ and yuge, from the Sanskrit word yuj (). युज् , which is thought to have originated from *yeug- "light" in Proto-Indo-European "to come together" [11]

The Sanskrit term for this era is Chatur Yuga. चतुर्युग written in Latin: You can spell it caturyuga, catur-yuga, chatur-yuga, or chatur-yuga. , lit. ' catur means four; the four ages taken together):[12]

Hindu texts such as the Surya Siddhanta, the Manusmriti, and the Bhagavata Purana define the four yuga ages as part of a cyclical age. [15]

The Age of Daiva (Sanskrit: दैवयुग Transliterated from the Roman: daiva yuga or daiva yuga , literally "the age of the gods" or "the age of the gods,"[16]
When the Deva Yuga (Sanskrit: देवयुग Transliterated from the Roman: deva-yuga or deva-yuga , literally "the Age of Gods"),[17]
In Sanskrit, the term for the current epoch is Divya Yuga. दिव्य युग written in Latin: or the Divya-Yuga Era , literally "a heavenly or divine age"]:[18]

The four yugas (a.k.a. "epochs") that make up a cyclical age of the gods (Devas). k a "world ages" or "human ages" According to Hindu scripture, one divine year equals 360 solar (human) years. [5][6]

The Great Age (Sanskrit: महायुग translated from the Roman script: or the Mah-yuga Era literal translation: "great age"

A larger cyclic age that includes the four yuga epochs [6]

Period of Yuga (Sanskrit: युग , literally "age" in English) cycle ):

A period of time that repeats itself every four yuga.

Since the concept of the four yugas does not appear in the four Vedas, it is believed to have been developed later, before the rest of the Hindu texts were written. The four yugas are thought to have been named after the numbers rolled on a long dice game played in India: Krita (Satya), Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. Dice games are mentioned in the Rigveda, the Atharvaveda, the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas, but the four yugas that follow the four Vedas make no reference to dice. The Vishnu Smriti (chapters 13–22) provides a comprehensive overview of the four yugas and the changes that occurred between them. Twenty, the Mahabharata (e.g., g Manusmriti (I. 81–86), as well as the Puranas (e g Brahma, ch 121-123; Matsya, ch. 143; Naradiya, Purvardha, chapters 142-143 41) In addition to the Vedas, the Bhagavata Purana (3 11 18–20)

Intensity and framework [ edit ]

According to Hindu scriptures, there are four yugas (world ages) in a cycle called the Yuga Cycle. These yugas are named Krita (Satya) Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. In each yuga, there is a primary era (a k a yuga proper), and its predecessor (the yuga-sandhyā (the time of day) and then its yuga-sandhyāṃśa (dusk), with each twilight constituting ten percent (10%) of the total time period There are 360 solar (human) years in a divine year (year of the gods). [4][5][6]

There are four yugas in each Yuga Cycle, and they occur in the following order:[4][5][6]. Each Yuga Cycle is 4,320,000 years long (12,000 divine years).

• 1,728,000 (4,800) years of Krita (Satya) Yuga
  • 144,000 at Krita-yuga-sandhya's dawn (400 deities).
  • 1,440,000 (4,000 divine) in the Krita-yuga (correct).
  • (At) twilight in the Krita yuga (144,000; 400 divine)
• 1,296,000,000 (3,600,000,000) years in the Treta Yuga.
  • 108,000 at the dawn of the Treta yuga (300 deities).
  • Correct Treta-yuga: 1,080,000 (3,000 divine).
  • 108,000 at Treta-yuga-sandhyamsa (dusk), including 300 deities.
• 864,000 (2,400) divine years constitute the Dvapara Yuga.
  • Dvapara yuga sandhya (morning): 72 thousand (two hundred divine).
  • 720,000 (2,000 divine) in the Dvapara-yuga epoch
  • 72 thousand (two hundred divine) at dvapara-yuga-sandhyamsa (dusk).
• Kali Yuga: 1,200 divine, or 432,000 human years
  • 36,000 at Kali yuga dawn (sandhya) (100 divine)
  • (Correct) Kali-yuga population: 360 thousand (one thousand divine).
  • 36 thousand (one hundred godlike) at Kali-yuga-sandhyamsa (dusk).

Dates for the other three yugas in this cycle are based on the current age, Kali Yuga, which began in 3102 BCE. [6][13]

Chapter 12 of Mahabharata: Shanti Parva 231:[27][d]

Seventeen (17) A human year is equivalent to a day and night in the gods' time   (19) For the Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali yugas, I will tell you the number of years that are calculated differently for different purposes. (20) The first age, also known as the Krita age, lasted for four thousand aeons in the heavens. Four hundred years make up both the morning and the evening of that cycle. (21) Each succeeding cycle is progressively a quarter shorter than the one before it, when comparing the length of the main period to that of the minor portion and to that of the conjoining portion. (29) According to the enlightened, this period of 12,000 celestial years constitutes a cycle.  

Ch. Manusmriti, 1:[28]

For the gods, one year is like a day and a night.   (68) But listen now for a condensed (description of) the length of a night and a day in the realm of Brahman [(Brahma)] and of the various ages (of the world, yuga) in accordance with their sequence. (69) They claim that the Krita age spans four thousand years in the gods' history, with an equal number of hundreds separating the two twilight periods before and after it. Seventy) The thousands and hundreds are reduced by one (in each) in the other three ages with their preceding and subsequent twilights. Seventy-one) The total of twelve thousand years mentioned thus far, which is the equivalent of four (human) ages, is referred to as one (divine) age.

Ch. Surya Siddhanta 1:[29]

(13) A year consists of twelve months. A divine day, as it were. (14) Six hundred and sixty of them make a divine year.   Quadruple Age (caturyuga) (15) is the name given to a period of twelve thousand of these divine years; of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two [4,320,000] solar years (16) is composed that Quadruple Age, with its dawn and twilight. By comparison, the Golden Age has ten times as many feet of Virtue as any of the other ages, as calculated by multiplying the tenth part of an age by four, three, two, and one. provides a chronological breakdown of how long the Golden Age and other epochs lasted: the sixth portion of each era was spent in the pre-historic era.

Bigger oscillations [ edit ]

A manvantara, or period ruled by Manu, the progenitor of humanity, consists of 71 Yuga cycles (306,720,000 years). A kalpa, or period equal to a day (12-hour day proper) in the time of Brahma, the creator of the universe and all life, consists of 1,000 Yuga cycles (4,320,000,000 years). Each Satya Yuga lasts 1,728,000 years, or 14 manvantaras, so a kalpa contains 14 manvantaras (4,294,080,000 years) and 15 manvantara-sandhyas (junctions), for a total of 25,920,000 years. A full day (24-hour day) consists of a kalpa and an equal-length pralaya (night or partial dissolution). A Yuga cycle (or "life of Brahma") consists of 72,000,000 years, or 311 years, or 100 Brahma years (of 360 days each). A brief period of creation (0.04 trillion years) is followed by an equally brief period of dissolution (maha-pralaya). [6]

Today marks the halfway point in the life of Brahma (maha-kalpa):[6][32]

• Year 51 of a century is known as the parardha.
• The 1st of 12 Months
• the 1st kalpa out of 30 (the Shveta-Varaha Kalpa).
• 14th epoch (7th manvantara, Vaivasvata Manu)
• The 28th yuga (chatur) k a The 71-year Yuga Cycle
• Fourth yuga (Kali Yuga) of the four

An ashloka, recited at the start of Hindu rituals, uses Yuga dates to describe how much of Brahma's life has already passed:

Kali Yuga year 5121 (the year 2020)   The first day of the 51st year of Brahma (circa 1 CE) in the 28th Caturyuga of the 7th Manvantra

Avatars [ edit ]

Ganesha [ edit ]

Different yugas are associated with different Ganesha avatars. [35][36][37]

Vishnu [ edit ]

It is possible that not all Yuga Cycles will feature the appearance of the Vishnu avatars described in the Puranas.

Vamana first appears at the start of the Treta Yuga. Vamana made his third appearance in the seventh Treta Yuga, according to Vayu Purana. [38][39]

Rama shows up at the close of the Treta Yuga. [40] Rama made his debut in the 24th Yuga Cycle, as stated in Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana. Padma Purana claims that Rama made an appearance in the 27th Yuga Cycle of the 6th (previous) manvantara. [42]

Vyasa [ edit ]

The four Vedas, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas are all traditionally credited to Vyasa. At the close of each Dvapara Yuga, a new Vyasa appears, as described in the Vishnu Purana, the Kurma Purana, and the Shiva Purana, to record veda (knowledge) that will serve as a guide for humanity during the dark Kali Yuga. [44][45]

Current Hypotheses [ edit ]

New theories about the length, number, and order of the yugas have emerged, challenging the traditional view that each yuga lasts for thousands of years.

The Giri of Sri Yukteswar [ edit ]

In the preface to his book The Holy Science (1894), Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855-1936) proposed a Yuga Cycle of 24,000 years. [46]

As he saw it, the mistaken belief that Kali Yuga lasts for 432,000 years began with Raja Parikshit shortly after the descending Dvapara Yuga ended (c. 3101   BCE), he had all of his court's wise men flee to the Himalayas. Due to the lack of reliable chronologists, Kali Yuga did not begin. After 499   A.D., as the Dvapara Yuga ascended, people's minds began to mature enough to spot errors and make an attempt to fix them by converting what they believed to be divine years to human years (1:360 ratio). According to Yukteswar, the lengths of the Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali yugas are 4,800, 3,600, 2,400, and 1,200 "human" years, or a total of 12,000.

Although he acknowledged the four yugas and their 4:3:2:1 length and dharma proportions, he added two more yugas to his Yuga Cycle, calling the first descending set of yugas a "Daiva Yuga" or "Electric Couple" and the second ascending set a "Maha Yuga" or "Great Yuga." One precession of the equinoxes (traditionally 25,920 years; 1,920 years ignored) is equal to his Yuga Cycle's duration of 24,000 years. According to him, the Pisces-Virgo Age began in 499.   The current age of Dvapara Yuga, which is ascending from the "cycle bottom" of 1699 CE,   Approximately the time period of the advent of modern scientific developments like electricity

The Sun, he said, moves closer and further away from the center of the galaxy as it orbits a binary star once every 24,000 years, or the duration of one Yuga Cycle. The place where Brahma controls dharma, or mental virtue as defined by Yukteswar, he dubbed Vishnunabhi (Vishnu's Navel) in the center of the galaxy. At the descending-ascending intersection ("cycle-bottom"), Dharma is at its lowest, and vice versa at the "cycle-top," when it is closest to Brahma. The lowest point of dharma (499   CE), the human mind is limited in its ability to grasp concepts beyond the purely material.

The Yuga Cycle of Sri Yukteswar Yuga Launch (-Closure) Length Falling backwards (12,000 years): (Satya) Krita 11,501   BCE 4,800 Treta 6701   BCE 3,600 Dvapara 3101   BCE 2,400 Kali 701   BCE 1,200 Moving upwards (12,000 years): Kali 499   CE 1,200 Dvapara* 1699   CE 2,400 Treta 4099   CE 3,600 (Satya) Krita 7699   CE - 12,499   CE 4,800 Years: 24,000 The Present [e]

According to Joscelyn Godwin, Yukteswar thought the traditional chronology of the yugas was wrong and rigged for political reasons. However, a police report published in Atlantis and the Cycles of Time suggests that Yukteswar may have had his own political motivations. meaning "new age" or "transition of an epoch," it connects Yukteswar to a covert anti-colonial movement of the same name.

Godwin asserts that Yukteswar, whose theory has only recently become prominent outside of India, was influenced by the Jain time cycle and the European myth of progress. An optimistic view of humanity runs counter to common belief. Many philosophies and religions, Godwin argues, got their start when "man could not see beyond the gross material world" (701).   BCE – 1699   CE) The post-1700 era is only viewed as a step forward by materialists and atheists.

The 499-year-old ascending Kali Yuga was revised by John Major Jenkins.   Criticizes Yukteswar for wanting the "cycle-bottom" to match his own education, beliefs, and historical understanding by shifting the date range from 1 CE to 2012 in his own version. Because of technology, we are now more materialistic and less spiritual than ever before.

Guénon, René [ edit ]

In a 1931 French article that was translated into English as part of the book Traditional Forms & Cosmic Cycles (2001), René Guénon (1886-1951) proposed a Yuga Cycle of 64,800 years. [55]

Kali Yuga as the current age and the doctrine of the four yugas with lengths of 4, 3, 2, and 1 years were all accepted by Guénon. He refused to believe the astronomically large numbers and suspected that they were encoded with extra zeros to trick those who might use it for foresight. Although he shortened the length of a Yuga Cycle from 4,320,000 to 4,320 years (1,728 1,296 864 432), he believed that this was still insufficient for the development of human society.

He used the precession of the equinoxes (typically 25,920 years; 360 degrees, or 72 years) as a starting point in his search for a multiplier. His calculation for the sub-multiplier was based on the numbers 25,920 and 72, yielding a result of 4,320 years (72 x 60 = 4,320; 4,320 x 6 = 25,920). Having observed that the Persian "great year" (12,000 years) and the Greek "great year" (13,000 years) were each almost half the precession, he deduced that a "great year" must be 12,960 years (4,320 x 3). Vaivasvata Manu was looking for the full number of "great years" in a manvantara or reign, and he thought he had found it in the reign of Xisuthros of the Chaldeans, which was set at 64,800 years (12,960 x 5). Guénon thought that 64,800 years was a more reasonable estimate that might fit with the timeline of human civilization. According to his calculations, the division of a 64,800 manvantara by a 4,320 "encoded" Yuga Cycle yields a multiplier of 15 (5 "great years"). Using 15 as a multiplier, he "decoded" the lengths of the yugas in a cycle of 5 "great years"[55].

• As for Satya, the numbers are as follows: 25,920 (4 ratio, or 2 x "great year"; 15 x 1,728)
• Number of Treta: 19,440 (3:1) 5 times "excellent year"; 15 times 1,296
• The Dvapara number is 12,960 (1 x "great year" or 2 ratio; 15 x 864).
• 6,480 in Kali (1:0 ratio) 15 times 432 (5 times "great year,")

Although Guénon did not specify when the Kali Yuga would begin, he did provide some hints about its nature in his account of the catastrophic end of the Atlantean civilization. Jean Robin, one of his commentators, claimed to have decoded this description and calculated the duration of the Kali Yuga in an early 1980s publication.   BCE to 1999   CE (2000   BCE (before Common Era) Although Gaston Georgel predicted the end of the world in 1999 CE in his 1949 book Les Quatre ges de L'Humanité (The Four Ages of Humanity), he shifted his prediction in his 1983 book Le Cycle Judéo-Chrétien (The Judeo-Christian Cycle). Later, he proposed bringing the cycle's end date up to 2030 CE. [59]

Mr. Alain Daniélou [ edit ]

In his book While the Gods Play: Shaiva Oracles and Predictions on the Cycles of History and the Destiny of Mankind (1985), Alain Daniélou (1907-1994) proposed a Yuga Cycle of 60,487 years. [60]

Daniélou and René Guénon exchanged letters because they shared a mutual rejection of the Puranas' ludicrously large measurements. Daniélou's calculations are based on a 4,320,000-year Yuga Cycle with (his calculation of 1000 14) 71 Manvantaras, most of which were referenced from Linga Purana. There are 42 manvantaras, and each one consists of 4 yugas [in 4:3:2:1 ratios]. He estimated 3102   Kali Yuga began in BCE, after the sunrise (yuga-sandhya). According to him, the Yuga Cycle began with a massive flood and the emergence of Cro-Magnon man, and it will conclude with a catastrophe that wipes out all humankind. His dates are accurate to within 50 years.

According to Joscelyn Godwin, Daniélou's confusion stems from a faulty translation of Linga Purana 1.4. 7

Vedic Hindu astronomy [ edit ]

The Hindu astronomical classic Surya Siddhanta uses yuga cycles to determine the length of planetary orbits. The number of orbits a celestial body makes in a yuga cycle is specified rather than its period of one orbit around Earth.

This chapter from Surya Siddhanta, by Ch 1:

(29) In one Age (yuga), four million, three hundred and twenty thousand days pass as the sun, mercury, and venus rotate counterclockwise and the conjunctions (shighra) of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter advance eastward; (30) In one yuga, the moon completes fifty-seven million, seven hundred and fifty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-six revolutions; (31) In one yuga, Mars completes fifty-seven million, seven hundred and fifty-three thousand (31) For the conjunction of Mercury (shighra), there were seventeen million, nine hundred and thirty-seven thousand, and sixty people; for Jupiter (360,420), there were three hundred and sixty-four thousand, two hundred and twenty; (32) For the conjunction of Venus (shigra), there were seven million, twenty-two thousand, and sixty people. three hundred and seventy-six; Saturn, one hundred and forty-six thousand five hundred and sixty-eight; (33) of the moon's apsis (ucca), in an Age, four hundred and eighty-eight thousand, two hundred and three; of its node (pata), in the opposite direction, two hundred and thirty-two thousand 232; (34) There are 1,502,037,228 asterisms in the galaxy.

If the beginning of a yuga cycle is known, then the above calculations can be used to determine the length of time that celestial bodies orbit the sun. Burgess claims that the Surya Siddhanta identifies the precise beginning of the Kali Yuga as

At the stroke of midnight on the meridian of Ujjayini, between the 17th and 18th of February 1612 J.P., or 3102 B.C.E., the Age is deemed to have begun. This corresponds to the end of the 588,465th and beginning of the 588,466th day (civil reckoning) of the Julian Period. C

From this, Ebenezer Burgess derives the following periods for the orbits of the planets:

Different civilizations [ edit ]

Many cultures, including Robert Bolton's, hold that the world originally existed in a state of perfection, one in which nature and the supernatural were in sync and everything was at its most ideal. which was then followed by an inevitable and ongoing decline in global quality over the eons. [67]

Between lines 109 and 201 of Works and Days (c.   700   According to Godwin, the Greek poet Hesiod's description of five ages (Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron Ages) is a compromise with Greek history at a time when the Trojan War and its heroes loomed so large. In contrast to the men of the Iron Age ("the race of iron"), who never rest from labor and sorrow, are degenerated without shame, morality, and righteous indignation, Bolton says that the men of the Golden Age lived like gods without sorrow, toil, grief, and old age. and die young, frequently, and at night; even infants exhibit the symptoms of old age; and finally, Zeus destroys it all.

Throughout the Statesman (c  399  – c  347   BCE the world's unmaking descent into chaos and destruction and the world's remaking by its creator into a renewed state each take up half of the cycle, with each half lasting 36,000 years, according to the Athenian philosopher Plato. Plato describes the first humans, a race of noble and good daemons (godlike guides) who walked the Earth in the Cratylus (397e).

I, 89–150; c. Metamorphoses):   8   According to Godwin, the Roman poet Ovid (ca. 63–55 b.c.e. ), excluding Hesiod's Heroic Age, describes four ages (Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages) as a downward curve with the present time as the nadir of misery and immorality. The dead of the first two epochs became watchful immortals who aided humanity in the third era, while those of the fourth age went to Hades (the Greek god of the underworld).

Joscelyn Godwin suggests that the ancient knowledge of the Greeks and other Indo-Europeans came from Hindu tradition. Godwin also notes that the appearance of the number 432 000 (the length of the Kali Yuga) in four very different cultures (Hindu, Chaldean, Chinese, and Icelandic) has been noted for quite some time.

See also [ edit ]

• Portal for Hinduism
• Portal for India

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]