kali-yuga is over, we are now in the dwapar-yuga.
एक आम धारणा प्रचलित है कि इस समय कलियुग चल रहा है जिस की अवधि चार लाख बत्तीस हजार वर्ष है। किन्तु इस शोध के अनुसार सन् 1700 में कलियुग समाप्त हो गया व द्वापर युग का आरंभ हो चुका है।
Timeless India and the four yuga
Western scholars have interpreted the development of human society through the chronology of the Ice age, Stone age, Bronze age, Copper Age, Iron age, floods, earthquakes, conquests and wars. For prehistoric times, they have studied pieces of evidence like inscriptions, rock art, discovered artefacts etc and created an assumptive history. For the medieval period they had more dependable evidences, but they could never develop a reliable calendar to chronicle human history. Their latest venture took place 425 years ago in 1582 when, after years of hard work by a battery of scholars they introduced the Gregorian Calendar which, at best, is a calendar of convenience: it has months of 28, 29, 30 and 31 days, it is built around the Equinoxes and Solstices but forgets to consider the transit of surya and the candramā in different zodiac signs, and the day it was introduced the date jumped from October 4 to October 15 and 10 days disappeared from the history of the Earth!
It is not surprising, therefore, that the western calendar has no system to go into the human history of the evolution of human intellect and the growth of the human consciousness through the ages. The Hindus, on the other hand, who use one of the most ancient calendars and many of which continue to be in use, have established guidelines to gauge, nay, foretell the ascent and the descent of the human Consciousness, creativity and intellect through the ages.
According to the Hindus, Time is cyclic and like the 4 human limbs, the cycle has four parts. Each part is called a yuga, and their sequence is satya yuga, tretā yuga, dvāpara yuga and kali yuga.
कृतं त्रेता द्वापरं च कलिश्चेति चतुर्युगम्।अनेन क्रमयोगेन भुवि प्राणिषु वर्तते॥ - श्रीमद्भागवत्
The cycle of four yuga - satya, tretā, dvāpara and kali - continues perpetually among living beings on this earth, repeating the same general sequence of events - śrīmadbhāgavata
The ṛṣi of Bharat had discovered that the progression of the yugas has a profound psycho-spiritual impact on human consciousness and social behaviour, and that with the progression from kali yuga towards satya yuga there is an upward trend in the mental abilities and spiritual powers in the society, and a corresponding decline in the virtues with the progression of the yuga from satya yuga to kali yuga.
The Span of the Yugas
The skanda purāṇa, the liṁga purāṇa, manusmṛti, śrīmadbhāgavat and mahābhārata have said the span of the yugas is in the ratio of 4:3:2:1. The satya yuga is of 4000 solar years, tretā yuga is of 3000 solar years, dvāpara solar yuga is of 2000 years and kali yuga is of 1000 solar years.
Each yuga is preceded and succeeded by a period of transition called saṁdhi or yuga saṁdhi, each of which is 10% of the period of the main Yuga. Thus, if the main Satya Yuga is of 4000 years, then it has two yuga saṁdhi of 400 years each.
The span of the yugas is described in vanparva of mahābhārata in the following shloka:
चत्वार्याहुः सहस्राणि वर्षाणाँ तत् कृतं युगम्। तस्य तावच्छती संध्या संध्याँशश्च तथाविधः॥ त्रीणि वर्ष सहस्राणि त्रेतायुग महोच्यते। तस्य तावच्छती संध्या संध्याँशश्च ततः परम्॥
तथा वर्ष सहस्त्रे द्वापरे परिमाणतः। तस्यापि द्विशती संध्या संध्याँशश्च तथा विधः।
सहस्त्रमेकं वर्षाणाँ ततः कलियुग स्मृतम्। तस्य वर्ष शतं संधि-संध्याँशश्च ततः परम्।
Four Thousand years is the period of satya yuga, and as many hundred years are its sandhya and sandhyansha. The period of Treta Yuga is told to be Three Thousand years. Its Sandhya and sandhyansha are also the same. The measure of dvāpara Yuga is Two Thousand years and two hundred are its Sandhya and sandhyamsha. The period of kali Yuga is One Thousand years. A hundred years before and after are its sandhi and sandhyamsha.
The same timespan is described in manusmṛti:
चत्वार्याहुः सहस्राणि वर्षाणां तत्कृतं युगम्।तस्य तावच्छती संध्या संध्यांशश्च तथाविधः॥
इतरेषु ससंध्येषु ससंध्यांशेषु च त्रिषु।एकापायेन वर्तन्ते सहस्राणि शतानि च ॥
यदेतत्परिसंख्यातमादावेव चतुर्युगम् । एतद्द्वादशसाहस्रं देवानां युगमुच्यते ॥
दैविकानां युगानां तु सहस्रं परिसंख्यया । ब्राह्ममेकमहर्जेयं तावतीं रात्रिमेव च ॥
- मनुस्मृतिः (मन्वर्थमुक्तावलीसंवलिता)
The Krita Yuga (Satya Yuga) is of four thousand years. Its Sandhya and sandhyamsha have as many hundred, and its period of evening dusk is of the same length (i.e. 400+4000+400 = 4800). In the other three ages, with their morning and evening twilights, the thousands and the hundreds decrease by one (i.e. 300+3000+300 = 3600); etc. That fourfold cycle comprising 12,000 years is called an Age of the Gods. The sum of a thousand solar ages constitutes one day of Brahma, and of the same length is its night.
The span of the yugas can be summarised as below:
The mahābhārata war - a prelude to the onset of kali yuga
There is a chronology of important events around the Pandavas and Sri Krishna which hovers around the onset of kaliyuga.
In 3177 BC, much before the mahābhārata war Yudhisthira was coronated as the king of Hastinapur. After ruling for 26 Years he lost his empire in the game of Dice to Duryodhan and the Pandavas remained in exile for 13 years. In 3138 BC the Pandavas returned from their exile and demand their share in the kingdom. Duryodhan refused and the situation escalated to a war. The Pandavas won and Yudhishthir was coronated as the king of Hastinapur. The same year Parikshit, the son of Abhimanyu, was born.
In 3102 BC, 36 years after the mahābhārata war Kali yuga set in. This year Srikrishna left his mortal body, Dwarka got submerged in the sea, and the Pandavas handed over the throne of Hastinapur to Parikshit and left for a pilgrimage. A year later Parikshit ascended the throne of Hastinapur.
Around that time Shukdevji narrated to Parikshit the changes which kali yuga would bring. According to him, the virtues of Dharma, Truth, Forgiveness, Mercy and compassion would erode, humans would have a short lifespan, short memory and reduced strength. Wealth would become the sole criteria to ascertain one’s nobility and good birth, justice would be dispensed according to one’s stature and not by way of righteousness, relationships would be based purely on personal attractions, business would thrive on deceit, feminity would be judged by expertise in matters of conjugal delight, scholars and spiritual persons would be judged by their attire and eloquence of speech rather than by Knowledge, people would suffer from extremities of weather, the society would suffer from disputes, thirst and hunger, disease and anxiety, the Veda and the system of varnashrama would be forgotten, and the shudras (implying those who have little knowledge) would form the majority of the society.
As a consequence, much began to be said about the negative impact of kali yuga and a tendency developed in the society to blame the kali yuga for all that has gone wrong or is going wrong in the society at the cultural, moral, religious and social levels; wars, famines, cultural degeneration, the disappearance of a large section of the vedas, invasions by the foreigners, religious conversions, atrocities on the hindus and all such phenomenon began to be attributed to the effect of kali yuga. During the Bhakti movement then Bhakti poets like Tulsidas propagated devotion to the Divine as the only solution to the onslaught of the Kaliyuga:
द्वापर करि रघुपति पद पूजा। नर भव तरहिं उपाय न दूजा॥
कलिजुग केवल हरि गुन गाहा। गावत नर पावहिं भव थाहा॥
कलिजुग जोग न जग्य न ग्याना। एक अधार राम गुन गाना॥
सब भरोस तजि जो भज रामहि। प्रेम समेत गाव गुन ग्रामहि॥
Dating the onset of Kaliyuga
Dating of onset of kali yuga in śrīmadbhāgavata
In śrīmadbhāgavata the onset of the kali yuga is marked by two events: the entry of the Saptarishis into the Magha Nakshatra, and the passing away of Sri Krishna.
The first event broadly establishes the period from B.C. 3177 to B.C. 3077as that is the time the Saptarishis were in Magha. The second establishes the period more specifically as 3102 BC.
(Sri Krishna was hit on his feet by a hunter’s arrow on 23rd January 3102 BCE in Bhalka Tirth near Somnath Temple. He left his physical body on 24th January 3102 BCE).
सप्तर्षीणां तु यौ पूर्वौ दृष्यते उदितौ दिवि ।तयोस्तु मध्ये नक्षत्रंदृष्यते यत् समं निशि॥ तेनैव ऋषयो युक्तास्तिष्ठन्त्यब्दशतं नृणाम्।ते त्वदीये द्विजा: काल अधुनाचाश्रिता मघा:॥
Of the Saptarishis two (pulaha and kratu) are first seen rising in the sky. Whichever nakshatra is seen between them, it will be समं - i.e. of the same longitude as their midpoint. The seven rishis will stay in that nakshatra for a hundred human years. Now (as I speak to you) they are situated in Magha.
विष्णोर्भगवतो भानु: कृष्णाख्योऽसौ दिवंगत: । तदाविशत् कलिर्लोकं पापेयद् रमते जन: ॥
Lord Vishnu, like the Sun, also known as Krishna – when He returned, then entered the age of kali and people started engaging in sinful activities.
यावत् स पादपद्माभ्यां स्पृशनास्ते रमापति: ।तावत्कलिर्वै पृथिवीं पराक्रन्तुं न चाशकत्॥
As long as the lotus feet of Ramapati Sri Krishna touched the earth with His lotus feet, kali was unable to subdue it.
यदा देवर्षयः सप्त मघासु विचरन्ति हि। तदा प्रवृत्तस्तु कलिर्द्वादशाब्दशतात्मकः॥
When the constellation of the seven sages is passing through the lunar mansion Maghā, the Age of kali began. It comprises of twelve hundred years.
यदा मघाभ्यो यास्यन्ति पूवार्षाढ़ा महषर्यः। तदा नन्दात् प्रभृत्येष कलिवृर्द्धिगमिष्यति॥
kaliyug began when the Saptarishis entered Magha and will last for 1200 years. After 1200 years when Saptarishis will be in Purvashadha kali yuga will mature (be over) during the dynasty of King Nanda.
यस्मिन् कृष्णो दिवंयातस्तस्मिन्नेव तदाहनि ।प्रतिपन्नं कलियुगमिति प्राहु: पुराविद: ॥
kali yuga started when Srikrishna left his mortal body, so say those who know the history.
दिव्याब्दानां सहस्रान्ते चतुर्थेतु पुन: कृतम् । भविष्यति तदा नृणांमन आत्मप्रकाशकम् ॥
After the one thousand solar years of kali-yuga, the Fourth will manifest again. At that time the minds of all men will become bright with Inner Light. This shloka establishes that the span of kali yuga is 1000 solar year (plus 200 years of yugasandhi).
Dating of onset of kali yuga by Aryabhata: 3102 BC
Aryabhata I was born in 476 AD. At the age of 23 he wrote Aryabhatiya, a treatise on Mathematic and Astronomy. In the 10th verse of the chapter Kalakriyapada he describes the time when he wrote the book:
षष्ट्यब्दानां षष्टिर्यदा व्यतीतास्त्रयश्च युगपादाः। त्र्यधिका विंशतिरब्दास्तदेह मम जन्मनोऽतीताः॥
When the three yugapada (satya yuga, treta yuga and dwapara yuga) and sixty times sixty years had elapsed, then twentythree years of my life had passed.
He writes that three yuga had elapsed 3600 years ago and now he was 23 years old, which means that 3623 years ago kali yuga had started. Aryabhat was born in 476 AD and the year of his writing is 476+22=498. Subtracting these years from 3600 would give the year when kali yuga started, which is 3600-498 = 3102 BC
Dating of onset of kali yuga by Aihole Inscription: 3102 BC
A stone inscription called Aihole Prashanti exists in a Jain temple in Aihole in Karnataka which gives us an exact date of the mahābhārata war. It says:
त्रिंशत्सु त्रिसहस्रेषु भारतादाहवादितः। सप्ताब्दशतयुक्तेषुः गतेष्वब्देषु पञ्चसु ॥
पञ्चाशत्सु कलौ काले षट्सु पञ्चशतासु च। समासु समतीतासु शकानामपि भूभुजाम् ॥
3030+705 = 3735 years have passed after the mahābhārata war (which means it is the 3736th year after the war). And 556th year of Shak samvat is on.
The Shak Samvat started in 78 BC. So the date of the inscription is 556+78=634 AD. Therefore mahābhārata war happened in 3736-634 = 3102 BC
The Riddle: is Kaliyuga for 1200 years or 4,32,000 years?
Several ancient texts unanimously mention that the span of the kali yuga is 1200 years. But there is a general notion that the kaliyuga has a span of 4,32,000 years. All Hindu ephimeris and writings accept this number which, obviously, in the face of the evidences, seems incorrect.
This mistake to interpret 1200 years as 4,32,000 years happened due to incorrect interpretation of a shloka in śrīmadbhāgavat which refers to the span of kali yuga. One must remember that the interpretation was made after kali yuga had begun, and the intellectual level of the learned persons had gone down due to the influence of kaliuga and thus they were unable to understand the correct meaning of the shloka.
Sri Yukteshwarji also has mentioned that the span of kali yuga has been miscalculated. Sri Yukteswar Giri was the disciple of Lahiri Mahashay and was the Guru of Yoganand Paramhans. He was an accomplished Kriya Yog, an accomplished astronomer, an astrologer, and a scholar of Upanishads and Gita. In 1894, at the behest of Mahavatar Babaji, Sri Yukteshwarji wrote Kaivalya Darsanam which was later published as The Holy Science.
According to him, when the Pandavas handed over the kingdom to Parikshit and retired to the mountains, all the wise and learned men of the court left with them and the court was left with no one who could correctly interpret the span of the yugas, and the span of 1200 solar years of kali yuga was interpreted as 1200 divine years. The mistake is attributed to Medhanidhi, one of the earliest commentator of manusmṛti, who misinterpreted the following shloka:
दिव्याब्दानां सहस्रान्ते चतुथेर्तु पुनः कृतम्। भविष्यति यदा नृणां मन आत्म प्रकाशकम्॥
- SMB, S12, A2, Sh 34
At the end of a thousand Divya years satya yuga will come again and will fill the human mind and heart with light.
Here दिव्य refers to Surya - दिव भवं दिव्यन् – that which appears during the दिवि or the day is दिव्य which is Surya. But the commentators made a mistake and interpreted दिव्य as divine. Thus the meaning turned from 1000 solar years to 1000 divine years, and since one solar year is supposed to equal one day of the gods, the commentator multiplied 1200 (100+1000+100) by 360 and declared that kali yuga would last for 4,32,000 years.
This mistake was pointed out by Kullukabhatta, a scholar and commentator of manusmṛti. When commenting upon the shlokas in Chapter 1 which describe the span of the yugas he writes:
एतस्य श्लोकस्यादौ पदे तन्मानुषं चतुर्युगं परिगणितं एतद्देवानां युगमुच्च्यते॥
All the four yugas are of humans, one yuga of the devas equals these four.
Gayatri Pariwar has also addressed the concern, strangely enough, the mistake is being carried on to this day.
Why do the Yugas change
In the Book, The Holy Science, Shri Yukteshwarji has explained the reason for change of the yugas and a corresponding change in the levels of human consciousness and has also set right the misconception about the age of kali yuga.
According to him, just as the Earth goes around Sun in an elliptical path, our solar system also goes in an elliptical path around a celestial centre called viṣṇunābhi. When the solar system is closest to viṣṇunābhi it is the zenith of the satya yuga on Earth. That is the time when there is a rise in the quest for Truth, Knowledge and Self Realization, accompanied by a corresponding rise in the human intellect and virtues of Dharma like truthfulness, social harmony, forgiveness, mercy, compassion and empathy. When the solar system is farthest from viṣṇunābhi it is the zenith of kali yuga on Earth. This is the time of decline in the human quest for Truth, Knowledge, Self Realization, Dharma and harmony with a corresponding rise in wars, anarchy, ego and falsehood.
When did the yugas begin and when will the kali yuga end?
We have two references for the day when the current cycle of the yugas began.
The first evidence is from Aryabhat who writes that the Satayuga began on the first day of the Shukla paksha of Chaitra when all the graha were at the beginning point of meṣa rāṣi.
युगवर्षमासदेवसाः समं प्रवृत्तास्तु चैत्रशुक्लादेः।कालोऽयमनाद्यन्तो ग्रह भैरनुमीयते क्षेत्र॥
- sh. 11, Kalakriyapada, Aryabhatiya
The Yuga, the year, the month and the day commenced at the beginning of the brighter half of Chaitra.
The second reference is from Sri Yukteshwarji who also states the same fact. According to him, the satya yuga started in 11,501 BC when the Autumnal Equinox happened with Sun at Zero Degree Aries. At that point, the Sun was closest to viṣṇunābhi.
I have used Jagannath Hora, a well known astrological software by Shri P.V.R. Narasimha Rao, to verify the accuracy of the statement, and have come to the following moment using Ujjain’s co-ordinates, since traditionally Ujjain has been the centre for all astrological calculations in the ancient days.
Date: 2 October 11501 BC
Time: 20.00 hours
Place: Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India
Since then, with each succeeding year, the Autumnal Equinox and the surya have moved away from viṣṇunābhi at 1 degree yer year, till in AD 500 it reached the farthest point at 30 Degree Kanya or 0 degrees Tula. The time has been calculated by me as 26 October 500AD, 12.30 pm.
This, according to Sri Yukteshwarji, was the epoch of kali yuga.
From here the Autumnal Equinox and the Sun began to move back towards viṣṇunābhi. After 1200 years kali yuga ended in 1700 and the dvāpara Yuga has begun.
In 2021 AD it is 321 dvāpara.
The change of the dates of the yugas coincides with the events in the history of humanity. Since the advent of dvāpara yuga in 1700 AD the world has seen the rise of Knowledge, Science and Technology. In recent years we have witnessed the rise of the industrial revolution, the discovery of steam power, electricity power, fossil fuel power, atomic power, light power (Laser) and digital
power, a change in the means of communication from runners to email, from posters, pamphlets and newspapers to social media. And as things stand today, there is no end in sight of technological development. With it, there is a renaissance in the spiritual sciences. Man’s quest to know himself has never been as strong in the masses as it is in the current age.
The Table below shows the beginning of the current Daiva Yuga in 11500 BCE and its completion in 12500 AD, which is a span of 24000 years.
When Sri Paramhans Yogananda wrote the Foreward for Sri Yukteshwar Giri’s ‘The Holy Science’ in 1949 he signed it as being written in 249 dvāpara, which is proof of his belief in Guru’s words.
There is a strong argument that the end of Kali yuga will herald the satya yuga and the descent of Kalki Avtar. This argument is based upon an incorrect understanding of the interpretation of what the scriptures have stated. A sudden jump from kali yuga into satya yuga is not possible, for, as Sri Yukteshwar Giri says,’ Development of dharma, the mental virtue, is but gradual ..”, and a sudden change can deeply hurt the very development of human consciousness. Therefore, what the descent of the Kalki Avtar signifies is the beginning of a journey towards satya yuga and not the beginning of satya yuga.
The changing times of dvāpara yuga
To set the records straight, the dvāpara yuga began in AD 1700. Out of its span is of 2400 years, the 200 years of first yugasandhi are also over, and as I write this, the humanity is passing through the 321st year of dvāpara yuga.
In the 18th century when dvāpara yuga had begun, for almost a hundred years the world had witnessed several wars and revolutions - War of the Spanish Succession, War of Austrian succession, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, widespread suffering and loss of life due to plagues, famines, severe winters and earthquakes.
Gradually the world changed. One day James Watt discovered steam power and it ushered in an industrial revolution. In the last hundred years, the rise of Technology in all spheres of life is rapidly changing human life, and as the world moves through dvāpara yuga new technologies will emerge because the human mind will find it easier to connect to the Higher Mind. The emergence of electricity, the emergence of laser, the digital revolution and its application in data computing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence has already made its impact. The click of the mouse button which has dramatically transformed life was unimaginable barely a generation ago.
Perhaps in the yugas to come a system will be put in place to change the genetic code of a baby while in Mother’s womb so that desirable children are produced.
Although there has been an up-rise in global terrorism, the world has already begun to move towards a different level of consciousness. From the individual mind, we have started moving towards the collective mind, from individual consciousness towards collective consciousness. The emergence of the Internet is, at the physical level, a manifestation of collective consciousness. More is happening through the net in a day than has happened in a year a decade ago.
Dharma has started to strengthen its foothold. The new Avatar has arrived and is growing – the Avatar has come in the form of collective consciousness and Technology. Vamana Trivikram covered the earth in three steps, and modern technology is doing it at the click of a mouse button from the comfort of an armchair.
No progress comes without a caveat. With the changing yuga, the earth has begun to face unprecedented challenges as a rise in world population because of better medical facilities. Pollution, exhausting natural resources, climate change due to global warming, depletion of drinking water, agricultural land and related food insecurity are some major challenges that are predicted.
The new Avatar has arrived in all humans as collective consciousness and has a fordidable task at hand: to re-establish righteousness and Dharma, to manage human greed, human population, protect the environment and let the Earth breathe.
©Arun Vyas. This article may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author. Arun Vyas may be contacted at arun@arunvyas.com / arunvyas.com/contact
Detailed analysis with various references and conclusion as well. I am fully convinced that we are in Dwaparayug.
Very interesting and convincing analysis.
Can we see a change in spritual values,human mind set समाज की विचार धारा etc from pre 1700AD period(which is kali era as per this discussion) to present period, which as per this analysis is द्वापर युग ? An answer to this will certainly add strength to the result.🙏
Interesting read 👌👌
Wonderful & Awesome Explanation, i am just speechless. Great Arun ji.