Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 16 Jul 2010 11:24 and updated at 01 Aug 2010 09:14
See Also | Yugas-Part1 | Yugas-Part2 | Yugas-Part3 | Yugas-Part4 | Yugas-Part5 |
12,000 BC | Krita-Yuga1 | Treta-Yuga1 | Dwapara-Yuga1 | Kali-Yuga1 | 2,000 BC |
2000 BC | Krita-Yuga2 | Treta-Yuga2 | Dwapara-Yuga2 | Kali-Yuga2 | 500 AD |
For convenience the article about Yuga is divided into five parts.
- Emergence of the Yuga System
- Yuga Definitions in Mahabharata
- Yugas mapped to Common Era
- Events in Chatur Yuga 1
- Events after Chatur Yuga 1
This is the fourth part of the article about Yuga, where we will discuss on the various events mentioned in Mahabharata. We try to map these events into the extended Yuga system. Focus is on events that occurred in the first Chatur Yugas (viz. Krita-1, Treta-1, Dwapara-1 and Kali-1). Reader is recommended to read the previous parts of this article. Usually many events mentioned in Book-3 (Vana Parva), Book-12 (Santi Parva) and Book-13 (Anusasana Parva) maps to the second set of Chatur-Yugas. Note: Start of Kali-Yuga-1 is taken exactly as 3000 BC. This is for the convenience of calculation. This can have a variation of 150 years.
Krita Yuga 1
12,000 BC to 8000 BC
Duration of Krita Yuga 1 was 4000 years. If we follow the ratio 1:1:1:1 instead of the ratio 4:3:2:1, its duration can as well be 1000 years. In this case Krita Yuga 1 would become the period from 5000 BC to 6000 BC. If we take the average of the ratios, then the duration of this Yuga becomes 2500 years. Then Krita Yuga 1 would become the period from 6500 BC to 9000 BC.
The details of Krita Yuga1 events are moved to the following article:- Krita Yuga1
Treta Yuga 1
8000 BC to 5000 BC
Duration of Treta Yuga 1 was 3000 years. If we follow the ratio 1:1:1:1 instead of the ratio 4:3:2:1, its duration can as well be 1000 years. In this case Treta Yuga 1 would become the period from 4000 BC to 5000 BC. If we take the average of the ratios, then the duration of this Yuga becomes 2000 years. Then Treta Yuga 1 would become the period from 4500 BC to 6500 BC.
The details of Treta Yuga1 events are moved to the following article:- Treta Yuga1
Dwapara Yuga 1
5000 BC to 3000 BC
Duration of Dwapara Yuga 1 was 2000 years. If we follow the ratio 1:1:1:1 instead of the ratio 4:3:2:1, its duration can as well be 1000 years. In this case Dwapara Yuga 1 would become the period from 3000 BC to 4000 BC. If we take the average of the ratios, then the duration of this Yuga becomes 1500 years. Then Dwapara Yuga 1 would become the period from 3000 BC to 4500 BC. The major event in this Yuga is the Kurukshetra War and the decline of Dwaraka.
The details of Dwapara Yuga1 events are moved to the following article:- Dwapara Yuga1
Kali Yuga 1
3000 BC to 2000 BC
Duration of Kali Yuga 1 was 1000 years. It is same if we follow the ratio 1:1:1:1 or the ratio 4:3:2:1. Below are some of the events occurred during this Yuga. The major event in this Yuga was the invasion of North India by Kali a Gandharva-Gandhara ruler from the north-west of India. Due to the impact of this invasion upon the culture of India, this Yuga was named Kali Yuga.
The details of Kali Yuga1 events are moved to the following article:- Kali Yuga1
Strange Yuga Junctions
Below are strange Yuga junctions mentioned in Mahabharata. These could be some errors but needs some investigation. A junction between Treta and Kali is mentioned at Mbh.3.121:- this period is the junction between the Treta and the Kali age. This is mentioned when Pandavas with Lomasa reached Narmada in their pilgrimage. A junction between Dwapara and Treta is mentioned at Mbh.3.125:- This is the junction Dwapara and Treta. This is mentioned when Pandavas with Lomasa reached Yamuna in their pilgrimage.
These statements connect Yuga-Junctions to geography. The word 'Yuga' formerly meant 'joint', 'joiner' and thus meant axis of wheels of chariots and axis of rotation of Earth. Later it assumed the meaning of a unit of time (time taken by the projection point of Earth's axis on the sky (celestial sphere) to move from one Nakshatra to another Nakshatra (12 degrees)). It will be interesting if it acquired any geographical meaning subsequently. This needs further investigation.
See Also | Yugas-Part1 | Yugas-Part2 | Yugas-Part3 | Yugas-Part4 | Yugas-Part5 |
12,000 BC | Krita-Yuga1 | Treta-Yuga1 | Dwapara-Yuga1 | Kali-Yuga1 | 2,000 BC |
2000 BC | Krita-Yuga2 | Treta-Yuga2 | Dwapara-Yuga2 | Kali-Yuga2 | 500 AD |
Share:-