Bhaktisandesam / Time and Creation

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• The Four Epochs or Yugs

 

 

According to Hindu scriptures, all mortal beings are destined to pass

through four great epochs in every cycle of creation and destruction.

This divine cycle turns full-circle at the end of what is known as

kalpa. A kalpa is a period of 10,000 divine years or 10 million

years, and is divided into four ages or yugs (Sanskrit yuga =

age/epoch).

 

The four great epochs in Hinduism are: Satya Yug, Treta Yug, Dwapar

Yug and Kali Yug. Satya Yug or the Age of Truth is said to last for

four thousand divine years, Treta Yug for three thousand, Dwapara Yug

for two thousand and Kali Yug will last for one thousand divine

years. It is also believed that three of these great ages have

already passed away, and we are now living in the fourth one. What

these ages exactly mean, and why this division, it's hard to explain,

because they appear too unrealistic to be true for the rational mind.

 

Songs of Innocence & Experience!

The four ages symbolize the four phases of involution during which

man gradually lost the awareness of his inner selves and subtle

bodies. Hinduism believes that human beings have five kinds of

bodies, called annamayakosa, pranamayakosa, manomayakosa

vignanamayakosa and anandamayakosa, which represent the 'gross body',

the 'breath body', the 'psychic body', the 'intelligence body' and

the 'bliss body' respectively.

 

Another theory explains these epochs of time on the basis of the

degree of loss of righteousness in the world. It says, during Satya

Yug only truth prevailed (Sanskrit Satya = truth), Treta lost ¼

truth, Dwapar lost ½ truth and Kali is left with only ¼ truth. Evil

and dishonesty has replaced truth in the last three ages or yugs.

 

Dashaavatar

Throughout these four yugs, Lord Vishnu is said to incarnate ten

times in ten different avatars. This is known as 'Dashaavatar'

(Sanskrit dasha = ten). During the Age of Truth, human beings were

spiritually most advanced and had great psychic powers. In the Treta

Yug people still remained righteous and adhered to moral ways of

life. Lord Rama of the fabled Ramayana lived in Treta Yug. In the

Dwapara Yug, men had lost all knowledge of the intelligence and bliss

bodies. Lord Krishna was born in this age. The present Kali Yug is

the most degenerated of the Hindu epochs.

 

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Jai Shree Krishna !