Thursday, January 27, 2011

On Yuga-Classification and what causes Yugas


On yugas, in several places in Mahabharata it is said that Yuga is formed by the King / by the dharma.
The yuga classification of Surya Siddhantha is astronomy.
But in human life, dharma and danda neeti determine the Yugas.

Proof from Mahabharata:-


  • (Shanti parva -140)
'O bull of Bharata's race, that Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali, as regards their setting in, are all dependent on the king's conduct.'

  • (Shanti parva – 68)
'Whether it is the king that makes the age, or, it is the age that makes the king, is a question about which thou shouldst not entertain any doubt. The truth is that the king makes the age.
The king is the creator of the Krita age, of the Treta, and of the Dwapara. The king is the cause of the fourth age called Kali. '


  • Krishna to karna (Udyoga parva 142)

'when thou wilt hear the twang of Gandiva piercing the welkin like the very thunder, then all signs of the Krita, the Treta, and the Dwapara ages will disappear but, instead, Kali embodied will be present.'

  • Kunti (Udhyoga parva -132)

'When the king properly abides by the penal code, without making any portion of it a dead letter, then that best of periods called the Krita Yuga sets in. Let not this doubt be thine, viz, whether the era is the cause of the king, or the king the cause of the era, for know this to be certain that the king is the cause of the era. It is the king that creates the Krita, the Treta, or the Dwapara age. Indeed, it is the king that is the cause of also the fourth Yuga viz, the Kali'

  • Markandeya (vana parva – 187) Yuga calculation very well detailed

  • Vana parva 148 – Hanuman also gives a good explanation on yuga

****************

I rely on Markandeya's version.

According to him the years of yugas are


400 + 4000 + 400 = 4,800
300 + 3000 + 300 = 3,600
200 + 2000 + 200 = 2,400
100 + 1000 + 100 = 1,200
                           = 12,000
Add 10-% sandhi for this before and after
1,200 + 1,200 = 2,400
Total = 12,000 +   2,400 = 14,400 years.

The ascending and descending of this = 14,400 + 14,400 = 28,800 years

15 times of this 28,800 = kali maha yuga duration at cosmic level (4,32,000 )

150 times this 28,800 = 1 chathur maha yuga

150,000 times this 28,800 = 1 kalpa.


On the other side, let us see the split up of 28,800 years = precession of the sun around the zodiac.


60 years is the basic unit.
This is equal to the years in one conjunction of the planets of dharma (Jupiter) and karma (saturn)
Jupiter's 1 revolution = 12 years

Saturn's 1 revolution = 30 years.

They conjunct in the same place in the same sign once in 60 years. So this is the basic life of dharma - karma of a man.

The ascending and descending part = 60 +60 = 120 years.
120 times 120 = 14,400
14,400 + 14,400 = 28, 800

Now  connect this with what I wrote above.

Previous posts:-

Rama in Treta yuga – Yuga is defined on the basis of dharma and not the number of years.

Ram Sethu – issues on volcanism and yuga classification.

Did Rama rule for 11,000 years?


9 comments:

surya said...

Namastay Mam,

story that I heard goes like... After Lord Krishna left the world in human form and Pandavas left the Kingdom to Parikshit, Kali yuga entered. But it was due to ruling of Parikshit that Kali was unable to perform his duty of spoiling the society. So in an incident that leads Parikshit to offer 4 places to live for Kali, Kali chooses 4 places and requests for one more that last being gold. And when Parikshit accepts the last, he was unknown of the fact that he was himself wearing at that time gold and as a result made big mistake in the next few moments by hanging dead snake on a seriously meditating rishi.

So, if the Ruler is powerful, he can control even Kali, but he needs to be very determined to do so.

Is that right?

Sincerely,
NVS Prakasam.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

>>So, if the Ruler is powerful, he can control even Kali, but he needs to be very determined to do so.<

yes

surya said...

Any by the way Mam,

if you feel I am hunting you through comments, dont worry...sooner I will be jumping to my next level of thoughts by God's grace (by Master Program's allowance) because I am feeling fatigued of using the current language (hinduism, achara, god, etc. or normal daily life language...like I am a telugu person, AP politics, india corruption...these are all the creation of Error commands of ourselves, tired of them). I want to use them to take some rest mentally whenever I feel tired only. so wont bother you.

NVS.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Dear Mr Surya,

Of the 3 comments you sent, I am posting only the last comment of yours (as above). I think you will accept that I have that discretion to decide what to post or not.

I did not post them as I see them not in sync with what I write as Sanathana views in this blog spot. As you wrote in one of those comments the readers should not get confused.

Hope you understand.

surya said...

Namastay Mam,

By the way I wrote the yday comments that you did not post, I may have given an image like I am deviating from what our elders said, but it is not the fact. In fact, I am now learning Shodashopachara Puja from my Mother. All my effort is to a come to a conclusion that there is GOD. I with my child-like/childish mentality questioned the basic system I born in and tried to verify using the tools of West. And the concusion is very clear. There is GOD and for sure He is Very, Very Kind if we are sincere in our heart.

Now, I can put into practice what our elders said without a small doubt, except that for every possible thing I have to give explanation to myself why and how our elders created these customs and how to implement them and how can I explain them if somebody questions me. Because, in my society, I have seen people laughing at following customs and ridiculing them as "old." If we say them the word "sanatana achara," they would understand the sanatana as "old," but the actual meaning of Sanatana is Eternal...so Sanatana Dharma is Eternal Dharma, not Old. By having understood the customs in "modern language," we can defend ourselves and also help some souls or learn new way of understanding them. Thats why my effort is, but not to deviate away from the Core of our dharma.

Also on the comment I made on Mr. 123, its not ridiculing in any way, but only an internal confidence that "thats not the only way" that God accepts.

And I know the fact that, I would never get complete knowledge of these things, not even in Dream. but if I am able to get a drop out of the Ocean of what our elders said, I would call myself being blessed by God.

In that process, I take the help of your blog and other sites that I checked. The only relief/benefit I got by questioning the very system I born is, now I have no doubts, just no doubts. All I try to get is just explanation, that also just to satisy my ego. My personal opinion now is...follow Dharma blindly whether you understand it or not, and if you pray God and are lucky enough, you will get the explanation for sure like a flash of thought one day.

This is my personal experience. I just want to change the language in understanding, but not deviating from Core concept that our elders said.

Sincerely,
NVS Prakasam.

nono said...

The day counts given above for calculation of yugas are the same days as on earth or could they be the number of days for gods/brahma etc...then one can correlate the days with the year counts for yugas...

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@ nono,

Please read my recently published 4-part article on Yuga, it covers all possible doubts and questions. http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.in/2018/01/divya-and-dharma-two-sides-of-yuga.html This is the link to the 1st article. The rest are given as links in the same article.

Akshat said...

1 Mahayuga (dharm yuga, not solar) = 12,000 yrs ; solar years = 12y

Satya Yuga = 4800, solar years = 4y

Treta Yuga = 3600 , solar years = 3y

Dvapara Yuga = 2400 , solar years = 2y

Kali Yuga = 1200, solar years = 1 y

धर्म युग (दो) - ascending (उत्तरायण) procession of sun in 12 zodiac signs of 12000 yrs + descending (दक्षिणायन) of 12000 yrs

सतयुग - 4000 + 800 संधिकाल
त्रेता - 3000 + 600
द्वापर - 2000 + 400
कलियुग - 1000 +200

My interpretation of yug dharma : procession of sun in 12 zodiacof signs which according to scriptures effects our thinking , knowledge and behaviour.

{In terms of solar yuga or mahayuga (procession of galaxy around polar dhruva star) which lasts for 12 solar years ×2 (ascending and descending) = 1200 × 12× 2 = 24000 + 4800 (sandhikaal)= 28,800 yrs., we are in Kaliyug}

3102 bc ascending dwapar ended and dwapar sandhikaal of 400 yrs started

3100 -400 = 2700 bc kaliyug started (collapse of Sumerians, Mesopotamia and Indus valley, Assyrians taken over)

2700 - 1200 = 1500 bc - ascending kaliyug ended (Hittites took over Mittani, Jews expelled from israel, in india Budhha, Ashoka Priyadarshi Maurya / chanakya era over)

1500 - 1200 = 300 bc - descending kaliyug ended (Alexander from Macedonia dominated , he took revenge for Cyrus the great domination of Athens, Ashoka -II of andhra dynasty, married daughter of Seleucus )

300 - 2400 = 2000 ad - descending dwapar over

Digital age started , So we are now in descending treta - material knowledge - science , material development high , dharm low because in descending phase

prasenjit said...

Nice blog.