Four Yugas

In Hinduism, four Yugas refer to the cosmic age of our universe. These Yugas were named as 'Satya Yuga', 'Treta Yuga', 'Dvapara Yuga' and 'Kali Yuga' as per their respective era. If we distinguish them as per their characteristics, We can say that Satya Yuga was Golden Age of universe, Treta Yuga was Silver Age of universe, Dvapara Yuga was Bronze Age of universe and lastly, current era named Kali Yuga can be said to be Iron Age of universe. Start of Satya Yuga refers to birth of universe whereas end of Kali Yuga refers to death of universe.

First Yuga named Satya Yuga or Golden Age of universe is most prosperous era of universe. This era had longest span of all eras of universe. Total span of this era was 1.728 million solar years. In this era, human beings were immersed in meditation and possessed tremendous strength and very long life span. As per Vedic literature, average lifespan of a person was approximately 100,000 years. In this era, people were living in harmony and this era was most peaceful era of universe. As time in Satya Yuga passed, people started moving away from path of spirituality and moved toward materialistic comfort.

Treta Yuga was second era of universe. We can call it as Silver Age of universe. Total span of this era was three forth of Satya Yuga. In terms of years, total span of Treta Yuga was 1.296 million solar years. As human moved toward materialistic comforts, conflicts started among people. Morality of people dropped and out of four people, one was crooked. Along with morality, span of human life also dropped. Average lifespan of a person was approximately 10,000 years. In this era, human society started division of class based on their work which are known as Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Despite being divided society, this era was still mostly peaceful and prosperous.

Third era of universe was Dvapara Yuga and also be called as Bronze Age of universe. Total span of this era is half of Satya Yuga. In terms of years, span of this era was 0.864 million solar years. Morality of people dropped more and we can say that out of two people, one was crooked. Average lifespan of human life dropped to approximately 1000 years. Division of society which was work based became rigid descendent based. People started dividing society based on what their ancestors were working as and switching over to other class became difficult. Wars and big conflicts started among people.

The fourth and last era of universe is Kali Yuga - current era of universe. This era can be called as Iron Age of universe. Total span of Kali Yuga is fourth of Satya Yuga. In terms of years, span of this era is 0.432 million solar years. Morality of people dropped to least and out of four people, three are crooked. Average lifespan of human is 100 years and will drop more as time will pass. As per Vedic literature, conflicts and war between people and nations will be common. At end of this era, there will be mass destruction of living beings.