---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.2"
id: yuga
title: "Yuga — युग"
iast: "Yuga"
devanagari: "युग"
description: "One of four cosmic ages (Satya/Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali) constituting the Caturyuga cycle; each Yuga has a defined duration, a characteristic quality of dharma (measured in pādas/legs), and a prescribed spiritual practice; the present Kali Yuga began at Kṛṣṇa's departure (~3102 BCE per traditional reckoning)."
darshana:
  - Purāṇic
  - Vedānta
school_scope: "Pan-Purāṇic; consistent across Viṣṇu, Bhāgavata, Brahma, Matsya Purāṇas with minor variation; the 4:3:2:1 ratio and the dharma-decline model are universal"
text_source: "BhP 12.2-3; BhP 3.11.18-20; Manu-Smṛti 1.61-87; Mahābhārata Śānti Parva 231"
tags: [cosmology, yuga, time, kali-yuga, satya-yuga, dharma, puranic]
not:
  - term: "historical period / archaeological era"
    why: "Yugas are cosmological time-units measuring the quality of dharma on the cosmic scale, not archaeological periods (Stone Age, Bronze Age) or historical eras. The Yuga framework does not map onto human archaeological sequences or calendar dates in the modern sense."
    instead: "Translate as 'cosmic age' or keep 'Yuga' and distinguish from historical periodization; note that Yuga durations are divine (deva-) years in some texts and human years in others."
  - term: "2012 = end of Kali Yuga"
    why: "No authoritative Purāṇic source supports a 2012 end-date for Kali Yuga. The traditional calculation places the current Kali Yuga as having begun ~3102 BCE and running for 432,000 years; we are approximately 5,127 years in. The '2012' calculation derives from non-Purāṇic and New Age sources."
  - term: "Yuga = Kalpa"
    why: "A Yuga is one of the four ages within a Mahāyuga; a Kalpa is Brahmā's full day (1000 Mahāyugas = 4.32 billion years). AI training data frequently conflates these. See kalpa.md."
related:
  - /concepts/kala.md
  - /concepts/mahayuga.md
  - /concepts/kalpa.md
  - /concepts/manvantara.md
  - /concepts/pralaya.md
  - /concepts/avatara.md
  - /concepts/trigunas-cosmological.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Yuga — युग

**Not:** historical period / archaeological era, 2012 = end of Kali Yuga, Yuga = Kalpa

## The Four Yugas

The Yuga system presents cosmic time as a descending cycle, measured in the "legs" of dharma — Satya Yuga has four legs; Kali Yuga has one. The framework is not pessimistic; it is cyclical. After Kali Yuga's end, a new Satya Yuga begins.

| Yuga | Duration (human years) | Dharma | Characteristic |
|------|------------------------|--------|----------------|
| Satya / Kṛta | 1,728,000 | 4 legs | Perfect virtue; no disease, no conflict; meditation (dhyāna) as practice |
| Tretā | 1,296,000 | 3 legs | Slight decline; sacrifice (yajña) introduced as primary practice |
| Dvāpara | 864,000 | 2 legs | Dharma halved; texts compiled; pūjā (ritual worship) as practice |
| Kali | 432,000 | 1 leg | Quarrel and hypocrisy predominant; nāma-saṃkīrtana (chanting of names) as prescribed practice |

Total Mahāyuga (Caturyuga) = 4,320,000 years. Ratio: 4:3:2:1.

## What Yuga Actually Describes

A Yuga measures the quality of dharma operating in the cosmos during that period — not merely the moral character of people, but the structural capacity for beings to pursue liberation. As the legs of dharma are lost, the conditions for Mokṣa become harder to achieve through more demanding practices; in Kali Yuga, the prescribed practice is the simplest (nāma-saṃkīrtana) precisely because the conditions are most difficult.

This is the framework's internal logic: accessibility scales inversely with dharmic capacity. Kali Yuga is not without spiritual possibility — it has its own Yuga-dharma.

## The Sandhyā Periods

Each Yuga has a Sandhyā (dawn) and Sandhyāṃśa (twilight) equal to one-tenth of the Yuga's duration. The durations in the table above are the Yuga proper; the full Caturyuga including all Sandhyās totals 4,320,000 years.

## Yuga-Dharma and Avatāra

Viṣṇu's Avatāras descend in specific Yugas in response to adharma threatening the conditions for liberation. Rāma descends in Tretā; Kṛṣṇa in Dvāpara; Kalki is prophesied at the end of Kali Yuga. The Avatāra-Yuga correspondence is not arbitrary but tracks the specific form of adharma that each Yuga generates.

## The Present Position

Per the Bhāgavata Purāṇa's reckoning, the current Kali Yuga began when Kṛṣṇa departed (~3102 BCE); approximately 5,100+ years have elapsed of the Kali Yuga's 432,000-year duration. By this reckoning, most of Kali Yuga remains ahead.

## Audience Metaphor

Imagine a four-legged table gradually losing its legs. With four legs (Satya Yuga) the table is perfectly stable; with one leg (Kali Yuga) it requires much greater care and skill to keep things balanced — but balance is still possible. The table does not collapse at the end of Kali Yuga; the cycle resets and four legs are restored. The cosmic table is never permanently destroyed; it goes through endless cycles of stability and precariousness.

## Citations

1. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.2-3 — detailed description of Kali Yuga conditions; the prophetic frame
2. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.11.18-20 — Yuga durations in the cosmological framework
3. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.3.51-52 — Yuga-dharma and the prescribed practices for each age
4. Manu-Smṛti 1.61-87 — the locus classicus for Yuga durations and the four-legs of dharma; see references/manusmriti.md
5. Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva 231 — Yugas and their characteristics
6. See references/vishnu-purana.md — systematic Yuga treatment
