Yuga: Theosophy Occultism Mysticism Dictionary on Yuga

By G. de Purucker, compiled by Geoffrey Barborka

Yuga
(Sanskrit) A word meaning an "age," a period of time. A yuga is a period of mundane time, and four of these periods are usually enumerated in "divine years":
 
1. Krita or Satya Yuga. . . . . . . 4,000
Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .  400
Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . ..  . . . 4,800
 
2. Treta Yuga. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3,000
Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . .  .  . 300
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3,600
 
3. Dvapara Yuga. . . . . . . . .  . . 2,000
Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .200
Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . ..  . 200
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,400
 
4. Kali Yuga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1,000
Sandhya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Sandhyamsa. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .  100
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 1,200
TOTAL . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .  . . 12,000
 
This rendered in years of mortals equals:
 
4,800 x 360 = 1,728,000
 
3,600 x 360 = 1,296,000
 
2,400 x 360 = 864,000
 
1,200 x 360 = 432,000
 
. . . . . .Total 4,320,000
 
Of these four yugas, our present racial period is the fourth or kali yuga, often called the "iron age" or the "black age." It is stated to have commenced at the moment of Krishna's death, usually given as 3,102 years before the Christian era. There is a very important point of the teaching in connection with the yugas which must not be forgotten. It is the following: The four yugas as above outlined refer to what modern theosophical philosophy calls a root-race, although indeed a root-race from its individual beginning to its individual ending is about double the length of the composite yuga above set forth in columnar form. The racial yugas, however, overlap because each new great race is born at about the middle period of the parent race, although the individual length of any one race is as above stated. Thus it is that by the overlapping of the races, a race and its succeeding race may for a long time be contemporaneous on the face of the globe.
 
As the four yugas are a reflection in human history of what takes place in the evolution of the earth itself and of the planetary chain, therefore the same scheme of yugas applies also on a cosmic scale  - there exist the four series of satya yuga, treta yuga, dvapara yuga, and kali yuga, in the evolution of the earth, and on a still larger scale in the evolution of a planetary chain. Of course these cosmic yugas are very much longer than the racial yugas, but the same general scheme of 4, 3, 2 applies throughout. For further details of the teaching concerning the yugas, the student should consult H. P. Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, and the work by the present author, Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy.

 
 

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For more articles related to Yuga , see: Body Mind and Soul, Theosophy, Yuga
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The definition of Yuga is extracted from "OCCULT GLOSSARY - A COMPENDIUM OF ORIENTAL AND THEOSOPHICAL TERMS".
 
Publisher's Note
"Every branch of study has its own special terminology, and the esoteric philosophies are no exception. This compendium not only clarifies the significance of the terms most frequently found in such literature, but offers a comprehensive outline of the scope and principles underlying an age-old tradition respecting the constitution of man and the universe in which he lives.
 
This Second and Revised Edition is faithful to the original 1933 edition. Changes include modernizing capitalization, spelling, and punctuation, and amending a few foreign terms (with appreciation to Dr. Bruce C. Hall and Mr. David Reigle for their respective contributions)."
 
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