1-Satya, 2-Dvapara, 3-Treta, 4-Kali = Correct Order

[bhaktajan]

The consecutive order of the 4 yugas are referenced to as:
Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali.
Whereas, the actual chronological order is:
Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali.

The famous Hare Krishna Guru Bhaktivedata Swami mentions this in regards to the Bhagavatam verses that describe Veda-Vyasa's birth.

Bhagavata-purana verse 1.14.14:
Suta Gosvami said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great sage [Vyasadeva] was born to Parasara in the womb of Satyavati, the daughter of Vasu.

Bhaktivedanta Swami's commentatry to this verse is:
There is a chronological order of the four millenniums,
namely Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali.
But sometimes there is overlapping.
During the regime of Vaivasvata Manu,
there was an overlapping of the twenty-eighth round
of the four millenniums, and the third millennium
appeared prior to the second.
In that particular millennium, Lord Sri Krishna
also descends, and because of this there was
some particular alteration. The mother of the great sage
was Satyavati the daughter of the Vasu (fisherman),
and the father was the great Parasara Muni.
That is the history of Vyasadeva’s birth.
Every millennium is divided into three periods,
and each period is called a sandhya.
Vyasadeva appeared in the third sandhya of that particular age.

################################################

Can anyone expound on this unique "overlapping" of the Yugas that apparently has only occurred during the present Catur-Yuga we are in now?

Also, I can conjecture that such "overlapping" of Yugas may have occurred at different past ages.

What does in mean? Did the ages switch places and thus, contain/retain the qualities of that age . . .but occur in different successive orders?

IE: 1,000 year earth-bound human life span of the treta-yuga
was followed by 10,000 year human life span
----whereas the longer life-span life-span-epoch is followed by the shorter life-span epoch:

Satya [100,000 year human life span],
Dvapara [10,000 year human life span],
Treta [1,000 year human life span], and,
Kali [100 year human life span].

seeking input,
Bhaktajan

 

[Satsangi]

I am not aware of any such "switching" of the Yugas. The order of the Yugas is Satya, Treta, Dvapar and Kali to the best of my knowledge.

Regards,

 

[Satsangi]

Friend Bhaktajan,

I think you have posted a wrong Shloka number of 1.14.14 because below is the link to the BhaktiVedanta database link of 1.14.14.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 14 Verse 14

Regards,

 

[bhaktajan]

Yes, sorry. It was a typografical error on my part.
It is actually from 1.4.14

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 4 Verse 14

Bhagavata-purana verse 1.4.14:
Suta Gosvami said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great sage [Vyasadeva] was born to Parasara in the womb of Satyavati, the daughter of Vasu.

Bhaktivedanta Swami's commentatry to this verse is:
There is a chronological order of the four millenniums,
namely Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali.
But sometimes there is overlapping.
During the regime of Vaivasvata Manu,
there was an overlapping of the twenty-eighth round
of the four millenniums, and the third millennium
appeared prior to the second.
In that particular millennium, Lord Sri Krishna
also descends, and because of this there was
some particular alteration. The mother of the great sage
was Satyavati the daughter of the Vasu (fisherman),
and the father was the great Parasara Muni.
That is the history of Vyasadeva’s birth.
Every millennium is divided into three periods,
and each period is called a sandhya.
Vyasadeva appeared in the third sandhya of that particular age.

 

[kylixguru]

Bhagavata-purana verse 1.14.14:
Suta Gosvami said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great sage [Vyasadeva] was born to Parasara in the womb of Satyavati, the daughter of Vasu.

Bhaktivedanta Swami's commentatry to this verse is:
There is a chronological order of the four millenniums,
namely Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali.
But sometimes there is overlapping.
During the regime of Vaivasvata Manu,
there was an overlapping of the twenty-eighth round
of the four millenniums, and the third millennium
appeared prior to the second.
In that particular millennium, Lord Sri Krishna
also descends, and because of this there was
some particular alteration. The mother of the great sage
was Satyavati the daughter of the Vasu (fisherman),
and the father was the great Parasara Muni.
That is the history of Vyasadeva’s birth.
Every millennium is divided into three periods,
and each period is called a sandhya.
Vyasadeva appeared in the third sandhya of that particular age.

################################################

Can anyone expound on this unique "overlapping" of the Yugas that apparently has only occurred during the present Catur-Yuga we are in now?

Also, I can conjecture that such "overlapping" of Yugas may have occurred at different past ages.

What does in mean? Did the ages switch places and thus, contain/retain the qualities of that age . . .but occur in different successive orders?

Please pardon my intrusion. I am not very knowledgable about the Vedas. I have read most of the books in it at least once and some more. I would like to understand them more. I am coming to them with the perspective that they represent a more complete body of knowledge of which the Judeo-Christian-Islamic faiths are like a kid brother to. I have not heard of millennial periods overlapping before in the Vedic cycles of time. I am highly interested in this because I do see a definite program of overlapping millennial periods in the Hebrew texts. So, anyone having knowledge of this, please share as I am highly interested.

Thanks!

 

[Satsangi]

The Bhagvatam that I have says the "third Dvapar Yuga"- when the second overlapped the third. There may have been some "overlapping" but I am not sure about the switching of the Treta and Dvapar Yugas.

Regards,

 

[bhaktajan]

I do not know anything about the reasons of the names Treta & Dwarpa being switched, nor do I
know anything about the ‘overlapping of the Yugas’.

What I know is from one sole mentioned in the Bhagavata-purana.
So I have investigated it but I have not found anything yet.
Nonetheless, I found some interesting bits that I thought you may find interesting.
It seems that this topic encompasses other larger issues –so I have excerpted some verses and commentaries from Bhaktivedanta Swami’s translation of Bhagavata-purana. My own comments are shown in blue.

The duration of the material universe is manifested in cycles of kalpas:

One kalpa = a day of Brahma,
One day of Brahma = a 1,000 cycles of four yugas, or ages: Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali.

The characteristic Qualities of each age:
Satya is characterized by virtue, wisdom and religion,
[practically no ignorance and vice]
Satya yuga lasts 1,728,000 years –during which a typical human span lasts 100,000 years.

Treta-yuga is when vice is introduced,
Treta-yuga lasts 1,296,000 years –during which a typical human span lasts 10,000 years.

Dvapara-yuga is characterized by an even greater decline in virtue and religion,
[vice increasing]
In Dvapara-yuga, Deity worship of the Lord is prominent.
Dvapara-yuga lasts 864,000 years –during which a typical human span lasts 1,000 years.

Kali-yuga (the yuga we have now been experiencing over the past 5,000 years) is characterized by an abundance of strife, ignorance, irreligion and vice,
[true virtue being practically nonexistent]
Kali-yuga lasts 432,000 years –during which a typical human span lasts 100 years.

In Kali-yuga it is impossible for ordinary people to perform highly technical Vedic sacrifices or the unbearable penances of the mystic yoga system.

In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship of Godhead.

Normally there are strict regulations governing the time, season, place, conditions, etc., under which one may execute a particular Vedic ceremony or chant a particular mantra. However, one should chant the holy name of Krishna everywhere and at all times, twenty-four hours a day.

In Kali-yuga vice increases to such a point that at the termination of the yuga the Supreme Lord Himself appears as the Kalki avatara, vanquishes the demons, saves His devotees, and commences another Satya-yuga. Then the process is set rolling again.

These four yugas, rotating a thousand times, comprise one day of Brahma [one Kalpa],
and the same number comprise one night [one Kalpa].

Lord Brahma lives one hundred of such “years” and then dies.
These “hundred years” by earth calculations total to 311 trillion and 40 billion earth years.
By these calculations the life of Brahma seems fantastic and interminable,
but from the viewpoint of eternity it is as brief as a lightning flash.

IMO, when thinking of the “characteristic Qualities of each Yuga” one should considered
that such knowledge indicates the possible advantages and facilities that allow oneself
to excel at dharmic duties in an ‘efficient’ or ‘expeditious’ way.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Bhagavata Purana 5.18.35:
“O Lord, we offer our respectful obeisances unto You as the gigantic person. Simply by chanting mantras, we shall be able to understand You fully. You are yajna [sacrifice], and You are the kratu [ritual]. Therefore all the ritualistic ceremonies of sacrifice are part of Your transcendental body, and You are the only enjoyer of all sacrifices. Your form is composed of transcendental goodness. You are known as tri-yuga because in Kali-yuga You appeared as a concealed incarnation and because You always fully possess the three pairs of opulences.”

Bhagavata Purana 7.9.38:
“In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles. According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.”

Bhagavata Purana 10.8.13:
Your son Krishna appears as an incarnation in every millennium. In the past, He assumed three different colors—white, red and yellow—and now He has appeared in a blackish color. [In another Dvapara-yuga, He appeared (as Lord Ramacandra) in the color of shuka, a parrot. All such incarnations have now assembled in Krishna.]

 

[bhaktajan]

should ‘scare straight’ any meandering soul within the material world.

The Qualities of the cycle of Yugas, is not about geological implications,
but rather about the human experience in each of the epochs.
This seems interesting to me that, just as the cycle of the Four-Seasons [summer, fall, winter & spring] infer changes in the weather, especially significant for agrarian societies ---but it actually informs the attentive citizen/worker/leader/farmer of “What scheduled duties lie ahead on the agenda” ---here I point out how cosmic phenomena translates into specific chores to be preformed.
IOW, the ‘call of nature’ prompts us to oblige ourselves to a higher calling. [yes, I am using a pun here to make the point that humbling ourselves to the cycles of nature are inescapable by all stratums of society]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;;
In Hindu metaphysics, the famous three factors of existence, are referred to as
the “Three modes of material nature”—it is the interaction of these three forces
that underlie the physics of all phenomena**:

“Creation, Maintenance, Destruction”
–aka, the ‘Tri-Gunas’ [‘sattva, rajas, and, tamas’ guna

But, rather than:
I) Creation, II) Maintenance, III) Destruction
—the correct name and/or reference for these three ‘modes’ are:

I) Passion {Rajas},
II) Goodness {Sattva},
III) Ignorance {avidya; lit., ‘tamas’ –‘darkness’ as in ‘nescience’}

IMO, the metaphysical primordial impetus to exist springs forth from the interaction of “Qualities” rather than, “Forces”. The terms, ‘Passion-Goodness-Ignorance’ infers the presence of a Doer, aka, a soul. And that, evidently is the clear inference conveyed by the actual names of the Three-Modes, namely, ‘sattva, rajas, and, tamas’ –goodness, passion, and, ignorance.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Lord is addressed in this verse as tri-yuga, or one who appears in three millenniums—namely the Satya, Dvapara and Treta yugas. He is not mentioned as appearing in the fourth millennium, or Kali-yuga. It is described in Vedic literature that in Kali-yuga He comes as channa-avatara, or an incarnation, but He does not appear as a manifest incarnation. In the other yugas, however, the Lord is a manifest incarnation, and therefore he is addressed as tri-yuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.

Shridhara Svami describes tri-yuga as follows: yuga means “couple,” and tri means “three.” The Lord is manifested as three couples by His six opulences, or three couples of opulences. In that way He can be addressed as tri-yuga. The Lord is the personality of religious principles.

In three millenniums religious principles are protected by three kinds of spiritual culture, namely austerity, cleanliness and mercy. The Lord is called tri-yuga in that way also. In the age of Kali these three requisites to spiritual culture are almost absent, but the Lord is so kind that in spite of Kali-yuga’s being devoid of these three spiritual qualities, He comes and protects the people of this age in His covered incarnation as Lord Caitanya.

Lord Caitanya is called “covered” because although He is Krishna Himself, He presents Himself as a devotee of Krishna, not directly Krishna. The devotees pray to Lord Caitanya, therefore, to eliminate their stock of passion and ignorance, the most conspicuous assets of this yuga. In the Krishna consciousness movement one cleanses himself of the modes of passion and ignorance by chanting the holy name of the Lord, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, as introduced by Lord Caitanya.
…………………….
There are four yugas, or millenniums—Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. In all the yugas but Kali-yuga, the Lord appears in various incarnations and asserts Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but although Lord SHri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appears in Kali-yuga, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He never asserted Himself as such.

On the contrary, whenever Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was addressed as being as good as Krishna, He blocked His ears with His hands, denying His identity with Krishna, because He was playing the part of a devotee.

Lord Caitanya knew that in Kali-yuga there would be many bogus incarnations pretending to be God, and therefore He avoided asserting Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, in many Vedic literatures, especially in Shrimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32).
…………………………………………
Shri Prahlada Maharaja said in his prayer, “My Lord, You manifest as many incarnations as there are species of life, namely the aquatics, the vegetables, the reptiles, the birds, the beasts, the men, the demigods, etc., just for the maintenance of the faithful and the annihilation of the unfaithful. You advent Yourself in this way in accordance with the necessity of the different yugas. In the Kali-yuga You have incarnated garbed as a devotee.”

This incarnation of the Lord in the Kali-yuga is Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are many other places, both in the Bhagavatam and in other scriptures, in which the incarnation of the Lord as SHri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is explicitly mentioned.
……………………………….
Bhagavata Purana 3.11.18: Maitreya said: O Vidura, the four millenniums are called the Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali yugas. The aggregate number of years of all of these combined is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.
……………………………..
Bhagavata Purana 3.11.22: Outside of the three planetary systems [Svarga, Martya and Patala], the four yugas multiplied by one thousand comprise one day on the planet of Brahma. A similar period comprises a night of Brahma, in which the creator of the universe goes to sleep.
COMMENTARY:
When Brahma goes to sleep in his nighttime, the three planetary systems below Brahmaloka are all submerged in the water of devastation. In his sleeping condition, Brahma dreams about the Garbhodakashayi Vishnu and takes instruction from the Lord for the rehabilitation of the devastated area of space.

 

[bhaktajan]

Bhagavata Purana 3.29.44: Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the directing demigods in charge of the modes of material nature carry out the functions of creation, maintenance and destruction; everything animate and inanimate within this material world is under their control.
COMMENTARY:
The three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance, are under the control of three deities—Brahma, Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu is in charge of the mode of goodness, Lord Brahma is in charge of the mode of passion, and Lord SHiva is in charge of the mode of ignorance. Similarly, there are many other demigods in charge of the air department, the water department, the cloud department, etc.

Just as the government has many different departments, so, within this material world, the government of the Supreme Lord has many departments, and all these departments function in proper order out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Demigods are undoubtedly controlling all matter, animate and inanimate, within the universe, but above them the supreme controller is the Personality of Godhead. Therefore in the Brahma-samhita it is said, ishvarah paramah krishnah [Bs. 5.1]. Undoubtedly there are many controllers in the departmental management of this universe, but the supreme controller is Krishna.

There are two kinds of dissolutions. One kind of dissolution takes place when Brahma goes to sleep during his night, and the final dissolution takes place when Brahma dies. As long as Brahma does not die, creation, maintenance and destruction are actuated by different demigods under the superintendence of the Supreme Lord.
………………………………………………
There are the yugavataras, or the incarnations of the millennia. The yugas are known as Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga and Kali-yuga. The incarnations of each yuga are of different color. The colors are white, red, black and yellow. In the Dvapara-yuga, Lord Krishna in black color appeared, and in the Kali-yuga Lord Caitanya in yellow color appeared.

So all the incarnations of the Lord are mentioned in the revealed scriptures. There is no scope for an imposter to become an incarnation, for an incarnation must be mentioned in the shastras. An incarnation does not declare Himself to be an incarnation of the Lord, but great sages agree by the symptoms mentioned in the revealed scriptures. The features of the incarnation and the particular type of mission which He has to execute are mentioned in the revealed scriptures.

Apart from the direct incarnations, there are innumerable empowered incarnations. They are also mentioned in the revealed scriptures. Such incarnations are directly as well as indirectly empowered. When they are directly empowered they are called incarnations, but when they are indirectly empowered they are called vibhutis.

Directly empowered incarnations are the Kumaras, Narada, Prithu, Shesa, Ananta, etc. As far as vibhutis are concerned, they are very explicitly described in the Bhagavad-gita in the Vibhuti-yoga chapter. And for all these different types of incarnations, the fountainhead is the Garbhodakashayi Vishnu.

…………………………
This age of Kali is not at all suitable for self-realization as was Satya-yuga, the golden age, or Treta- or Dvapara-yugas, the silver and copper ages. For self-realization, the people in Satya-yuga, living a lifetime of a hundred thousand years, were able to perform prolonged meditation.

And in Treta-yuga, when the duration of life was ten thousand years, self-realization was attained by performance of great sacrifice. And in the Dvapara-yuga, when the duration of life was one thousand years, self-realization was attained by worship of the Lord.

But in the Kali-yuga, the maximum duration of life being one hundred years only and that combined with various difficulties, the recommended process of self-realization is that of hearing and chanting of the holy name, fame, and pastimes of the Lord.
………………………………..
There are four yugas: Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga and Kali-yuga. During the first yuga, Satya-yuga, people were very pious. Everyone practiced the mystic yoga system for spiritual understanding and realization of God. Because everyone was always absorbed in samadhi, no one was interested in material sense enjoyment. During Treta-yuga, people enjoyed sense pleasure without tribulations. Material miseries began in Dvapara-yuga, but they were not very stringent. Stringent material miseries really began from the advent of Kali-yuga.

……………………
Bhagavata Purana 1.3.25:
Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Vishnu Yasha. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers.
COMMENTARY:
Here is another foretelling of the advent of Lord Kalki, the incarnation of Godhead. He is to appear at the conjunction of the two yugas, namely at the end of Kali-yuga and the beginning of Satya-yuga. The cycle of the four yugas, namely Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali, rotates like the calendar months.

The present Kali-yuga lasts 432,000 years, out of which we have passed only 5,000 years after the Battle of Kurukñetra and the end of the regime of King Parikñit. So there are 427,000 years balance yet to be finished. Therefore at the end of this period, the incarnation of Kalki will take place, as foretold in the Shrimad-Bhagavatam. The name of His father, Vishnu Yasha, a learned brahmaëa, and the village Shambhala are also mentioned. As above mentioned, all these foretellings will prove to be factual in chronological order. That is the authority of Shrimad-Bhagavatam.

 

[Satsangi]

The four Yugas, although are periods of time, they can be compared with the gunas prevailing in a person. When Sattva alone prevails- it is Sat Yuga, when a mixture of Sattva and rajas prevails- it is Treta, when rajas and tamas prevails- it is Dvapar and when tamas is predominant- it is Kali Yuga.

The period of Kali Yuga is not all bad. The "short cut" to God is in Kali Yuga. If, by living in one's Dharma, one faithfully does bhakti and Satsang- the chances of Moksha are very bright.

Regards,

 

[lakeisle]

Usually Dwapara is 2nd and Treta is third - you can see that in the language of the names: 'dwa' is two and 'tre' / tri is three, as Srila Prabhupada explains in SB 1.4.14. Once after a day and night of Brahma, or once in 8,640,000,000 years Krishna comes Himself personally, and then the ages happen to be switched around, so generally we read in the order of "Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali" as that's the current cycle we're in at this moment - so that's relevant to us right now - that's real 'current affairs' and really what's 'in the news'! For example, Lord Ramachandra came in this Treta yuga of the cycle we're in now.

Hare Krishna! All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is a personal associate of Sri Krishna, who came to help us return to our original spiritual nature.