Yuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an 'epoch' or 'era' within a cycle of four ages. These are the Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga), the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga and finally the Kali Yuga. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is one full day (day and night) for Brahma. The lifetime of a Brahma himself may be 311 trillion and 40 Billion years. The cycles are said to repeat like the seasons, waxing and waning within a greater time-cycle of the creation and destruction of the universe. Like Summer, Spring, Winter and Autumn, each yuga involves stages or gradual changes which the earth and the consciousness of mankind goes through as a whole. A complete yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system's motion around a central sun.
1. The Satya Yuga (Devanagari: सत्य युग), also called Sat Yuga, Krta Yuga and Krita Yuga inHinduism, is the "Yuga (Age or Era) of Truth", when mankind is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and mankind will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age." The average lifespan in the satya yuga is 100,000 years. The Dharma bull, which symbolises morality, stood on all four legs during this period. Later in the Treta Yuga it would become three, and two in the later Dvapara Yuga. Currently, in the immoral age of Kali, it stands on one leg.
2. The Treta Yuga (Devanagari: त्रेता युग)is the second out of four yugas, or ages of mankind, in the religion of Hinduism, following theSatya Yuga of perfect morality and preceding the Dvapara Yuga. The most famous events in this yuga were Lord Vishnu's fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations as Vamana, Parashurama and Ramachandra respectively. The Dharma bull, which symbolises morality, stood on three legs during this period. It had all four in the Satya Yuga and two in the later Dvapara Yuga. Currently, in the immoral age of Kali, it stands on one leg.
3. Dvapara Yuga or Dwapara Yuga (Devanagari: द्वापर युग) is the third out of four yugas, or ages, described in the scriptures of Hinduism. This yuga comes after Treta Yuga and is followed by Kali Yuga. According to the Puranas this yuga ended at the moment when Krishna returned to his eternal abode of Vaikuntha.
There are only two pillars left of religion in the Dvapara Yuga: Kama and Artha. Bhagavan Vishnuassumes the yellow color and the Vedas are categorized into four parts that is Rig, Sama, Yajurand Atharva. During these times the Brahmins are knowledgeable of two, sometimes three Vedas, but rarely have studied all the four Vedas thoroughly. Accordingly, because of this categorization, different actions and activities come into existence.
4. Kali Yuga (Devanāgarī: कलियुग [kəli juɡə], lit. "age of (the male demon) Kali", or "age of vice") is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga. According to the Surya Siddhanta, an astronomical treatise that forms the basis of all Hindu and Buddhist calendars, Kali Yuga began at midnight (00:00) on 18 February 3102 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar, or 23 January 3102 BC in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. This date is also considered by many Hindus to be the day that Krishna left earth to return to his abode. Most interpreters of Hindu scriptures believe that earth is currently in Kali Yuga. Some, such as Swami Sri Yukteswar, David Frawley, and Paramhansa Yogananda[4] believe that it is now near the beginning of Dvapara Yuga. The Kali Yuga is traditionally thought to last 432,000 years.
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga, which is referred to as the Dark Age because in it people are as far removed as possible from God. Hinduism often symbolically represents morality (dharma) as a bull. In Satya Yuga, the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, but in each age morality is reduced by one quarter. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the golden age, so that the bull of Dharma has only one leg.
Kali Yuga is associated with the apocalyptic demon Kali, not to be confused with the goddess Kālī(read as Kaalee) (these are unrelated words in the Sanskrit language). The "Kali" of Kali Yuga means "strife, discord, quarrel, or contention."
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