Cosmic Ages

The Yuga Cycle

चतुर्युग — Four Ages of the Cosmos

One complete Maha Yuga spans 4,320,000 years, divided into four descending ages in a strict 4:3:2:1 ratio. The start of the current Kali Yuga — 3102 BCE — has been independently verified by NASA JPL ephemeris data. We are 5,128 years in, out of 432,000 total.

Satya Yuga

सत्य युग · Krita Yuga

1,728,000

years duration

Dharma — Virtue Level100% of full dharma

The Golden Age — Dharma stands on all four legs. Complete truth, virtue, and spiritual perfection. Human lifespan: up to 100,000 years. No disease, no hunger, no deception. All beings walk the path of dharma without effort. The Sun, Moon, and planets move in perfect harmony.

Epoch: Deep mythological past

Scientific Evidence

Some scholars correlate Satya Yuga with geological deep time — periods of planetary stability, before mass extinctions and climate upheavals. The extraordinary human lifespans may encode a memory of different biological conditions in pre-civilisational epochs.

Treta Yuga

त्रेता युग

1,296,000

years duration

Dharma — Virtue Level75% of full dharma

The Silver Age — one quarter of dharma lost. Sacrificial rites and rituals originate here. The age of King Rama — the Ramayana. Human lifespan: up to 10,000 years. Virtue still predominates but must be cultivated through effort and ritual. Vimanas (flying vehicles) are described in this age.

Epoch: Age of Ramayana (~5000–7000 BCE by archaeoastronomy)

Scientific Evidence

Archaeoastronomical dating of the Ramayana (using planetary positions described in the text) yields dates ranging from 5114 BCE to 7323 BCE depending on the ephemeris used. The key birth-star alignment described in the Bala Kanda has been matched to specific sky configurations by multiple independent researchers using modern planetarium software.

Dvapara Yuga

द्वापर युग

864,000

years duration

Dharma — Virtue Level50% of full dharma

The Bronze Age — half the dharma lost. Disease, sorrow, and falsehood emerge. The age of Lord Krishna and the Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra. Human lifespan reduces to centuries. This is the age that gave us the Bhagavad Gita — delivered at the cusp of transition to the darkest age.

Epoch: Age of Mahabharata (~3100 BCE)

Scientific Evidence

The Mahabharata contains over 150 distinct astronomical observations. Multiple independent analyses (Dr. B.N. Narahari Achar using planetarium software) date the Mahabharata war to approximately 3067 BCE — consistent with the Kali Yuga commencement at 3102 BCE. The Saraswati River's drying (confirmed by ISRO satellite data) coincides with this period.

Kali Yuga

कलि युग · Current Age

432,000

years duration

Dharma — Virtue Level25% of full dharma

The Iron Age — three quarters of dharma lost. The age we live in now. Spiritual darkness, materialism, and hypocrisy predominate. Human lifespan drops to decades. The Surya Siddhanta sets its commencement at a specific astronomical instant. As of 2026 CE, 5,128 years of the Kali Yuga have elapsed — out of 432,000 total. We are barely 1.2% into it.

Epoch: Started midnight, Feb 17–18, 3102 BCE

Scientific Evidence

The Surya Siddhanta provides the exact astronomical start of Kali Yuga: midnight between February 17–18, 3102 BCE. This corresponds to a remarkable planetary alignment where the mean positions of all planets coincided near zero degrees of Aries. This has been independently verified using NASA JPL ephemeris data and confirmed as a real, observable astronomical event.

Verification

Scientific Proofs of the Yuga Timeline

Kali Yuga Start Date — Verified by NASA JPL

High

The Surya Siddhanta states the Kali Yuga began at midnight between February 17–18, 3102 BCE, when all seven classical planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) were at or near zero degrees of Aries (mean positions). NASA JPL DE430 ephemeris data confirms this planetary alignment as a real astronomical event. Dr. R.N. Iyengar of IISc Bangalore cross-verified this using the Astronomical Almanac.

Source: Surya Siddhanta + NASA JPL DE430

Mahabharata Planetary Alignments — 3067 BCE

Medium-High (date range: 3067–2559 BCE)

The Bhishma Parva (3.32.17) describes two eclipses — one solar, one lunar — within 13 days, combined with Saturn afflicting Rohini and Mars at Jyeshtha. Dr. B.N. Narahari Achar used modern planetarium software to scan 3,000 years of sky maps and found this exact configuration matching 3067 BCE. Dr. S. Balakrishna found the 13-day twin eclipse pair for 2559 BCE as an alternative.

Source: Bhishma Parva + Lodestar Pro / Planetarium software

Ramayana Birth Star — 5114 BCE

Medium (dependent on yojana/ayanamsha definitions)

Bala Kanda 1.18.8–10 specifies five planets simultaneously in exaltation at Rama's birth: Sun in Aries, Venus in Pisces, Mars in Capricorn, Saturn in Libra, Jupiter in Cancer, Moon near Punarvasu (Pollux). Researcher Pushkar Bhatnagar input these exact positions into Planetarium software and found a precise match on January 10, 5114 BCE. This 5-planet simultaneous exaltation is extremely rare.

Source: Valmiki Ramayana Bala Kanda + Planetarium software

Sri Yukteswar's 24,000-Year Yuga Cycle

Alternative interpretation — active scholarly debate

Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri (The Holy Science, 1894) proposed an alternative 24,000-year Yuga cycle linked to precession of the equinoxes (Earth's axis wobble completes a cycle in ~26,000 years). Under this model we are currently in an ascending Dvapara Yuga — which would explain the rapid technological acceleration of the past 200 years. Modern measurement of Earth's precessional period is 25,771 years — close to Yukteswar's 24,000-year estimate.

Source: The Holy Science (1894) + modern precession measurements

Next: Cosmic Time Scales →← The 14 Lokas