THE FOUR YUGAS
The four yugas are known as a divya yuga. One divya yuga is 12,000 years
of
the demigods or 4,320,000 human years.
KRTA or SATYA-YUGA (Golden
Age)
Duration -
4,800 demigods years or 1,728,000 human years
Life span -
100,000 years
Yuga dharma -
meditation or astanga yoga having eight parts.
1) Yama -
Rules
2) Niyama -
Restrictions
3) Asana -
Sitting postures
4) Pranayama -
Breathing exercises
5) Pratyahara - Sense restriction
6) Dharana -
Meditation
7) Dhyana -
Undisturbed meditation
8) Samadhi -
Total absorbtion
Yuga Avatara (11.5.21)
The yuga avatara is white with four arms,
has
matted hair and wears a garment of tree bark. He
carries a black deerskin, a
sacred thread, prayer
beads and the rod and waterpot
of a brahmacari.
Symptoms of Satya-yuga
The people are peaceful,
non-envious, friendly
and naturally Krsna conscious.
In Satya-yuga
there was no division of
asrama, everyone was a
paramahamsa. There was no
demigod worship, only
the worship of Krsna and
religion was perfectly
practiced.
(S.B.
11.5.21-22)(S.B. Canto 9 Ch. 14)
TRETA-YUGA (Silver Age)
Duration - 3,600 demigod years or 1,296,00 human
years
Life span - 10,000 years
Yuga dharma - Fire sacrifice, Yajna
Yuga Avatara - The yuga avatara is red. He has four arms
and
golden hair. He wears a triple
belt representing
initiation into the three
Vedas. His symbols are
the sruk, sruva, etc.,(ladle,
spoon and other
implements of sacrifice).
Symptoms of Treta-yuga
In Treta-yuga the people are
thoroughly
religious. In Satya-yuga people
are naturally
Krsna conscious. In Treta-yuga
they are inclined
to become Krsna conscious. To
achieve that end
they are very strict in
following Vedic
principles.
DVARPARA-YUGA (Copper
Age)
Duration - 2,400 demigod years or 864,000 human
years
Life span - 1,000 years
Yuga Avatara - In Dvapara-yuga his complexion is dark
blue. He
wears yellow garments. His body
is marked with
Srivatsa and other distinctive
ornaments, and He
manifests His personal weapons.
NOTE: In other Dvapara-yugas before Krsna's appearance,
the yuga avatara was somewhat
greenish.
The original Personality of
Godhead from whom all
other incarnations expand is
Sri Krsna. He
appears once in a day of
Brahma, during the
period of the seventh manu
(Vaivasvata) in the
28th divyayuga. The original
Personality of
Godhead Krsna only comes once
in a day of Brahma.
Although in every Dvapara-yuga
there is a yuga
avatara, they are all
expansions of Visnu,
who is an expansion of Sri
Krsna.
Symptoms of Dvapara-yuga
In Dvapara-yuga people have the
weaknesses of
mortal beingss, but they have a
strong desire to
know about the Absolute Truth
and they worship
the Lord in the mood of
honoring a great king,
following the prescriptions of
both Vedas and
tantras.
KALI-YUGA (Iron Age)
Duration - 1,200 demigod years or 432,000 human
years
Life span - 100 years
Yuga dharma - Chanting the Hare Krsna (Maha) mantra
Yuga Avatara - The yuga avatara for the age of Kali is
golden or
yellow. For this Kali-yuga Lord
Caitanya has
appeared although He does not
appear in every
Kali-yuga. The yuga avatara for
Kali-yuga is
generally black. Lord Caitanya,
who is Krsna
Himself, appears only in the
Kali-yuga
immediately following the
appearance of Sri Krsna
in Dvapara-yuga.
Symptoms of Kali-yuga
O, learned one in the age of
Kali, men have but
short lives. They are
quarrelsome, lazy,
misguided unlucky and above
all, always
disturbed.
(S.B.1.1.10)
NOTE:
There is a chronological order of the four yugas - Satya,
Dvapara, Treta and Kali. Sometimes there
is an overlapping.
During the regime of Vaivasvata Manu there was an
overlapping of the twenty eighth divya-yuga and the third
yuga, Treta appears before the second, Dvapara. When this
happens the source of all incarnations, Krsna, appears.
Every yuga is divided into three periods called sandhyas.
(S.B. 1.4.14)
One thousand divya-yugas equals one day of Brahma. In Brahma's one day
there
are fourteen Manus. In each one Manu
enjoys a life of seventy-two divya-yugas
or 852,000 years of the demigods or
306,720,000 human years. After the
dissolution of every Manu a new Manu
comes. The seven great sages as well as
the leaders in the heavenly planets like
Indra, etc., also rotate along with
each change of Manu. Thus with the
change of each and every Manu the universal
management also changes.
In Brahma's one day there are 14 Manus
In Brahma's one month there are 420
Manus
In Brahma's one year there are 5,040
manus
In Brahma's lifetime there are 504,000
Manus
MANVANTARA AVATARAS
The present age is the Vaivasvata Manu and Brahma's present day is the
Sveta
Varaha Kalpa.
14 Manus for this day of Brahma
1)
Svayambhuva Manu - son of Lord Brahma
2)
Svarocisa Manu - son of Agni
3)
Uttama Manu - son of
Priyavrata
4)
Tamasa Manu - brother of
Uttama
5)
Raivata Manu - brother of
Tamasa
6)
Caksusa Manu - son of the
demigod Caksu
7)
Vaivasvata Manu - son of the
sun-god Vivasvan
8)
Savarni Manu - son of the
sun-god by his wife Chaya
9)
Daksa Savarni - son of Varuna
10) Brahma Sarvani _ son of Brahma
11) Dharma Savarni - son of Ruci
12) Rudra Savarni - son of Rudra
13) Deva Savarni - son of Satyasaha
14) Indra Savarni - son of Bhuti
During the period of each manu different sages accept the position of
Vyasa
or the compiler of the Vedas, Puranas,
etc. Thus in the Dvapara-yuga of each
divya-yuga a different sage accepts the
position of Vyasa.
28 Vyasas of the Vaivasvata Manvantara
1)
Brahma 15)
Trayyaruna
2)
Prajapati or Manu 16)
Dhananjaya
3)
Usana, Sukracarya 17)
Krtanjaya
4)
Brhaspati 18) Rina
5)
Savitri 19)
Bharadvaja
6)
Yamaraja 20)
Gautama
7)
Indra 21) Uttama
8)
Vasistha 22) Vena
9)
Sarasvata 23)
Somasushmapana
10) Tridhama 24) Riksha or Valmiki
11) Trivishan 25) Sakti, father of Parasara
Muni
12) Bharadhvaja 26) Parasara Muni
13) Antariksa 27) Jaratkaru
14) Vapra 28) Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa
In the next Dvapara-yuga the Vyasa will
be Asvattama the son of Drona.
Next: THE LILA AVATARAS
(Text PAMHO:3747025)
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