honestly believe in this Kaliyuga story during such a crisis as the present. Even the most sceptical will read with some surprise of the evils accompanying the close of this age, as described in the Vishnu Purana. They tally so closely with recent changes in the social order of Hindu life—Editor, The Madras Mail.]
A Yuga in Sanskrit (in Heb. Olim, in Gr.Aion, and in Lat. AEvum) means an age of the world. Four Yugas are recognised by the Hindu mythology, the Krita, the Treta, the Dvapara and the Kali. All these four-Yugas joined together constitute a great age, or an aggregate of four ages (Mahayuga). A thousand such aggregates area day of Brahma. Let us give the number of years allotted to each Yuga in the years of the gods and in the years of men. The first rule is that a year of men is equal to a day of the gods. The following table gives the years of the four Yugas according to both these calculations:—
Yugas. | Divine years. | Years of Mortals. | |
Krita | … | 4,800 |
4,800x360=1,728,000
|
Treta | … | 3,600 |
3,600x360=1,296,000
|
Dvapara | … | 2,400 |
2,400x360=864,000
|
Kali | … | 1,200 |
1,200x360=482,000
|
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Total (a Mahayuga) 4,320,000 |