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Yuga
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Yuga(Devangari: )inHinduphilosophyisthenameofan
epochorerawithinafouragecycle.AccordingtoHindu
cosmology,lifeintheuniverseiscreatedanddestroyedonceevery
4.1to8.2billionyears,[1][2]whichisonefulldayandnightfor
Brahma.ThelifetimeofBrahmahimselfbelievedtobe311trillion
and40billionyearsasperHinducosmology.[3]Thecyclesaresaid
torepeatliketheseasons,waxingandwaningwithinagreatertime
cycleofthecreationanddestructionofouruniverse.LikeSummer,
Spring,WinterandAutumn,eachyugainvolvesstagesorgradual
changeswhichtheearthandtheconsciousnessofmankindgoes
throughasawhole.AcompleteYugacyclefromahighGolden
Age,calledtheSatyaYugatoaDarkAge,KaliYugaandback
againissaidtobecausedbythesolarsystem'smotionaround
anotherstar.[4]

Contents
1Durationsoffouryugas
2SriYukteswar'steachingsontheyugas
3ThefouryugasandBrahmajnana
4Seealso
5References
6Externallinks

Durationsoffouryugas
AccordingtotheLawsofManu,oneoftheearliestknowntexts
describingtheyugas,thelengthis4800years+3600years+2400
years+1200yearsforatotalof12,000yearsforonearc,or24,000
yearstocompletethecycle(oneprecessionoftheequinox).Thereis
nomentionofayearofthedemigodsoranyyearslongerthanthe
solar,whichisconsistentwithdescriptioninTheHolyScience.[4]
However,theonedebatableinterpretationfromtheSrimad
Bhagavatamstatesthefollowing:"ThedurationoftheSatya
millenniumequals4,800yearsofthedemigodsthedurationofthe
Dvparamillenniumequals2,400yearsandthatoftheKali
millenniumis1,200yearsofthedemigods...Asaforementioned,
oneyearofthedemigodsisequalto360yearsofthehumanbeings.
ThedurationoftheSatyayugaistherefore4,800x360,or
1,728,000years.ThedurationoftheTretyugais3,600x360,or
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1,296,000years.ThedurationoftheDvparayugais2,400x360,
or864,000years.Andthelast,theKaliyuga,is1,200x360,or
432,000yearsintotal."(rmadBhgavatam3.11.19)[1]
(http://vedabase.net/sb/3/11/19/).These4yugasfollowatimeline
ratioof(4:3:2:1).

Theagesseeagradualdeclineofdharma,wisdom,knowledge, ManvantarainHinduunitsoftime
intellectualcapability,lifespan,emotionalandphysicalstrength. measurement,onalogarithmicscale.
SatyaYuga:Virtuereignssupreme.Humanstaturewas21
cubits.Averagehumanlifespanwas100,000years.
TretaYuga:Therewas3quartervirtue&1quartersin.Normalhumanstaturewas14cubits.
Averagehumanlifespanwas10,000years.
DvaparaYuga:Therewas1halfvirtue&1halfsin.Normalhumanstaturewas7cubits.Average
humanlifespanwas1,000years.
KaliYuga:Thereis1quartervirtue&3quartersin.Normalhumanstatureis3.5cubits.Average
humanlifespanwillbe100years.TowardstheendoftheYugathiswillcomedownto20years.

Whilethelongyugacountisthemostpopularitdoesnotcorrelatetoanyknowncelestialmotionfoundin
theAstronomicalAlmanac.Thevalueof24,000yearsiswithin7%ofthemodernastronomicalcalculation
ofonefullprecessionoftheequinoxof25,772years.Thisphenomenonisobservedasthestarsmoving
retrogradeacrosstheskyatabout50arcsecondsperyearandisthoughttoproduceperiodsofwarmages
andiceagesknownastheMilankovitchcycle,thustheyugacyclemayhavesomebasisinknown
terrestrialcycles.

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MANVANTARA=MAHAYUG*71

MAHAYUG

Deva Ratio(numberoflegsofdharma NumberofAvatarsof

Yuga
Years bull) Vishnu
SatyaYuga 4,800 4 4
TretaYuga 3,600 3 3
Dvapara
2,400 2 2
Yuga
KaliYuga 1,200 1 1

MANVANTARA [1200(4*360)+1200(3*360)+1200(2*360)+1200(1*360)]*71
MAHAYUG [1200(4*360)+1200(3*360)+1200(2*360)+1200(1*360)]

TheseinterpretationsarebasedontwodifferentslokasoftheSrimadBhagavatam.Oneoftheslokas
describesYugasinsamewayasLawsOfManudo.Otherslokadescribesayear,usedtodescribeyuga,as
theyearofthedemigods.Itisthesecondslokawhichcouldbehavecouldbeenmodifiedovertheyears.
Originalityofsecondslokaisbeingresearchedupon.

SriYukteswar'steachingsontheyugas
Thelongcountviewoftheyugacyclewithitsvasttimescalewaschallengedbythe19th/20thcentury
IndianyogiSwamiSriYukteswarGiri,guruofParamahansaYogananda.[4]

Inhisbook,TheHolyScience,SriYukteswarexplainedthatthedescendingphaseofSatyaYugalasts4800
years,theTretaYuga3600years,DwaparaYuga2400years,andtheKaliYuga1200years.Theascending
phaseoftheKaliYugathenbegins,alsolasting1200years.TheascendingphaseoftheKaliYugabeganin
September499AD.SinceSeptember1699,wehavebeenintheascendingphaseoftheDwaparaYuga,
accordingtoSriYukteswar.[4]

InTheHolyScience,SriYukteswarwrotethatthetraditionalorlongcountviewisbasedona
misunderstanding.HesaysthatattheendofthelastdescendingDvaparaYuga(about700BC),"Maharaja
Yudhisthira,noticingtheappearanceofthedarkKaliYuga,madeoverhisthronetohisgrandson
[and]...togetherwithallofhiswisemen...retiredtotheHimalayaMountains...Thustherewasnoneinthe
court...whocouldunderstandtheprincipleofcorrectlyaccountingtheagesoftheseveralYugas."[4]

AccordingtoSriYukteswar,nobodywantedtoannouncethebadnewsofthebeginningofthedescending
KaliYuga,sotheykeptaddingyearstotheDvaparadate(atthattime2400Dvapara)onlyretitlingthe
epochtoKali.AstheKalibegantoascendagain,scholarsofthetimerecognizedthattherewasamistake
inthedate(thenbeingcalled3600+Kali,eventheirtextssaidKalihadonly1200years)."Bywayof
reconciliation,theyfanciedthat1200years,therealageofKali,werenottheordinaryyearsofourearth,

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butweresomanydaiva(ordeva)years("yearsofthegods"),consistingof12daivamonthsof30daiva
dayseach,witheachdaivadaybeingequaltooneordinarysolaryearofourearth.Henceaccordingto
thesemen1200yearsofKaliYugamustbeequalto432,000yearsofourearth."[4]

SriYukteswarexplainedthatjustasthecycleofdayandnightiscausedbyacelestialmotion(theearth
spinningonitsaxisinrelationtothesun),andjustasthecycleoftheseasonsarecausedbyacelestial
motion(theearthwithtiltedaxisorbitingthesun)sotooistheyugacycle(seenastheprecessionofthe
equinox),causedbyacelestialmotion.Heexplainedthiscelestialmotionasthemovementofthewhole
solarsystemaroundanotherstar.Asoursunmovesthroughthisorbit,ittakesthesolarsystem(andearth)
closertoandthenfurtherfromapointinspaceknownasthe"grandcentre"alsocalled'Vishnunabhi',
whichistheseatofthecreativepower,'Brahma',[which]...regulates...thementalvirtueoftheinternal
world."Heimpliedthatitistheproximityoftheearthandsuntothisgrandcentrethatdetermineswhich
seasonofmanoryugaitis.[4]

QuotingfromTheHolyScience,SriYukteswarstatesthatoursunrevolvesroundagrandcentercalled
Vishnunabhi,whichistheseatofthecreativepower,Brahma,theuniversalmagnetism.Brahmaregulates
dharma,thementalvirtueoftheinternalworld.SriYukteswarstates:...thesun,withitsplanetsandtheir
moons,takessomestarforitsdualandrevolvesrounditinabout24,000yearsofourearth....Essentially,
Whenthesuninitsrevolutionrounditsdualcomestotheplacenearesttothisgrandcenter,theseatof
Brahma...thementalvirtue,becomessomuchdevelopedthatmancaneasilycomprehendall,eventhe
mysteriesofSpirit."Further,...whenthesungoestotheplaceinitsorbitwhichisfarthestfromBrahma,
thegrandcenter...thementalvirtue,comestosuchareducedstatethatmancannotgraspanythingbeyond
thegrossmaterialcreation.ParamahansaYogananda,devoteeofSriYukteswar,dateshisforwardinthe
bookas249Dwapara(1949AD).Theperiodof2400yearsduringwhichthesunpassesthroughthe2/20th
portionofitsorbitiscalledDwaparaYuga.Dharma,thementalvirtue,istheninthesecondstageof
developmentandisbuthalfcompletethehumanintellectcanthencomprehendthefinemattersof
electricitiesandtheirattributeswhicharethecreatingprinciplesoftheexternalworld.

ThefouryugasandBrahmajnana
ItshouldbeobviousthatthelifestyleinthefourYugasisthesameaslifestyleofpeopleofthefourHindu
Varnas.

Krita/SatyaYugaBhramhanaVarna
TretaYugaKshatriyaVarna
D(v/w)aparaYugaVaishyaVarna
KaliYugaShudraVarnas

TheVarnaofapersonisdeterminedbythetwoattitudes,PositiveandNegative,

BrahmanaVarnaPositiveandNegativeattitudesmergetobecomeoneandthesame
KshatriyaVarnaPositiveandNegativeattitudesareseparate
VaishyaVarnaThereisjustPositiveattitudeandnonegativeattitude
ShudraVarnaThetwoattitudesareabsent.

BrahmanaVarnagivesbestqualityoflifeandauthoritybutcanbeusedunderidealconditionsonly.All
activitiesoflifeareinterlinkedandeternal.ThisforcesBrahmanatobehonest.ShudraVarnagives
maximumfreedombutleastqualityoflife.InthisVarnaallactivitiesareindependentofeachotherand
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transient.TheenormousflexibilitymakesittheidealVarnaforchaoticconditions.TheVarnaswerebanned
becauseHindustriedtohaveboththeauthorityofBrahmanaVarnaandthefreedomofShudraVarna.The
Varnasweretherefore,replacedwiththeVirtualYugas.

Seealso
Ayanamsa
ListofnumbersinHinduscriptures
TimeinVedas

References
1. Sagan,Carl(1985).Cosmos.BallantineBooks.p.258.ISBN9780345331359.
2. Capra,Fritjof(1991).TaoofPhysics.Shambhala.p.198.ISBN9780877735946.
3. http://veda.wikidot.com/srishtiandpralaya
4. SriYukteswar,Swami(1949).TheHolyScience.YogodaSatsangaSocietyofIndia.

NuccioD'Anna,AlcuneconsiderazionisuRenGunoneladottrinadeiciclicosmici,in"Perennia
Verba",n.12,2012,pp.110121.

Externallinks
http://veda.wikidot.com/vedictimesystem

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Categories: Hinduastronomy Hinduphilosophicalconcepts Unitsoftime Theoriesofhistory

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