Treta Yuga (IAST:Tretā-yuga) (Devanagari: त्रेतायुग), inHinduism, is the second and second-best of the fouryugas (world ages) in aYuga Cycle, preceded byKrita (Satya) Yuga and followed byDvapara Yuga.[1][2]Treta Yuga lasts for 1,296,000 years (3,600 divine years).[3][4][5]
Treta means 'a collection of three things' in Sanskrit, and is so called because during theTreta Yuga, there were threeAvatars of Vishnu that were seen: the fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations asVamana,Parashurama andRama, respectively.[citation needed] The bull ofDharma symbolizes that morality stood on three legs during this period. It had all four legs in theSatya Yuga and two in the succeedingDvapara Yuga. Currently, in the immoral age ofKali, it stands on one leg.[6][better source needed]
Yuga (Sanskrit:युग), in this context, means "an age of the world", where its archaic spelling isyug, with other forms ofyugam,yugānāṃ, andyuge, derived fromyuj (Sanskrit:युज्,lit. 'to join or yoke'), believed derived from*yeug- (Proto-Indo-European:lit. 'to join or unite').[7]
Treta Yuga (Sanskrit:त्रेतायुग,romanized: tretāyuga or tretā-yuga) means "the age of three or triads", where its length is three times that ofKali Yuga. During this period, theDharma bull, which symbolizes morality, stands on three legs;Śauca (lit. 'cleanliness'),Dayā (lit. 'compassion') andSatya (lit. 'truth').[a]
Treta Yuga is described in theMahabharata,Manusmriti,Surya Siddhanta,Vishnu Smriti, and variousPuranas.[9]
Hindu texts describe fouryugas (world ages) in aYuga Cycle, where, starting in order from the first age ofKrita (Satya) Yuga, eachyuga's length decreases by one-fourth (25%), giving proportions of 4:3:2:1. Eachyuga is described as having a main period (a.k.a.yuga proper) preceded by itsyuga-sandhyā (dawn) and followed by itsyuga-sandhyāṃśa (dusk), where eachtwilight (dawn/dusk) lasts for one-tenth (10%) of its main period. Lengths are given in divine years (years of the gods), each lasting for 360solar (human) years.[3][4][5]
Treta Yuga, the second age in a cycle, lasts for 1,296,000 years (3,600 divine years), where its main period lasts for 1,080,000 years (3,000 divine years) and its two twilights each lasts for 108,000 years (300 divine years). The current cycle'sTreta Yuga has the following dates based onKali Yuga, the fourth and present age, starting in 3102 BCE:[3][4][5]
| Part | Start (– End) | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Treta-yuga-sandhya (dawn) | 2,163,102 BCE | 108,000 (300) |
| Treta-yuga (proper) | 2,055,102 BCE | 1,080,000 (3,000) |
| Treta-yuga-sandhyamsa (dusk) | 975,102–867,102 BCE | 108,000 (300) |
| Years: 1,296,000solar (3,600 divine) | ||
| Current:Kali-yuga-sandhya (dawn). | [10][11] | |
Mahabharata, Book 12 (Shanti Parva), Ch. 231:[12][b]
(17) A year (of men) is equal to a day and night of the gods ... (19) I shall, in their order, tell you the number of years that are for different purposes calculated differently, in the Krita, the Treta, the Dwapara, and the Kali yugas. (20) Four thousand celestial years is the duration of the first or Krita age. The morning of that cycle consists of four hundred years and its evening is of four hundred years. (21) Regarding the other cycles, the duration of each gradually decreases by a quarter in respect of both the principal period with the minor portion and the conjoining portion itself.
Manusmriti, Ch. 1:[13]
(67) A year is a day and a night of the gods ... (68) But hear now the brief (description of) the duration of a night and a day of Brahman [(Brahma)] and of the several ages (of the world, yuga) according to their order. (69) They declare that the Krita age (consists of) four thousand years (of the gods); the twilight preceding it consists of as many hundreds, and the twilight following it of the same number. (70) In the other three ages with their twilights preceding and following, the thousands and hundreds are diminished by one (in each).
Surya Siddhanta, Ch. 1:[14]
(13) ... twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the gods. (14) ... Six times sixty [360] of them are a year of the gods ... (15) Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a Quadruple Age (caturyuga); of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two [4,320,000] solar years (16) Is composed that Quadruple Age, with its dawn and twilight. The difference of the Golden and the other Ages, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Virtue in each, is as follows : (17) The tenth part of an Age, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the Golden and the other Ages, in order : the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.
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Vamana,[15]Parashurama,[16] andRama[17] are believed to have lived during theTreta Yuga.
* HINDUISM: Myths of time and eternity: ... Each yuga is preceded by an intermediate "dawn" and "dusk." The Krita yuga lasts 4,000 god-years, with a dawn and dusk of 400 god-years each, or a total of 4,800 god-years; Treta a total of 3,600 god-years; Dvapara 2,400 god-years; and Kali (the current yuga) 1,200 god-years. A mahayuga thus lasts 12,000 god-years ... Since each god-year lasts 360 human years, a mahayuga is 4,320,000 years long in human time. Two thousand mahayugas form one kalpa (eon) [and pralaya], which is itself but one day in the life of Brahma, whose full life lasts 100 years; the present is the midpoint of his life. Each kalpa is followed by an equally long period of abeyance (pralaya), in which the universe is asleep. Seemingly the universe will come to an end at the end of Brahma's life, but Brahmas too are innumerable, and a new universe is reborn with each new Brahma.
* YUGA: Each yuga is progressively shorter than the preceding one, corresponding to a decline in the moral and physical state of humanity. Four such yugas (called ... after throws of an Indian game of dice) make up a mahayuga ("great yuga") ... The first yuga (Krita) was an age of perfection, lasting 1,728,000 years. The fourth and most degenerate yuga (Kali) began in 3102 BCE and will last 432,000 years. At the close of the Kali yuga, the world will be destroyed by fire and flood, to be re-created as the cycle resumes. In a partially competing vision of time, Vishnu's 10th and final AVATAR, KALKI, is described as bringing the present cosmic cycle to a close by destroying the evil forces that rule the Kali yuga and ushering in an immediate return to the idyllic Krita yuga.
Paraphrased: Deva day equals solar year. Deva lifespan (36,000 solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Mahayuga equals 12,000 Deva (divine) years (4,320,000 solar years), and is divided into 10 charnas consisting of four Yugas: Satya Yuga (4 charnas of 1,728,000 solar years), Treta Yuga (3 charnas of 1,296,000 solar years), Dvapara Yuga (2 charnas of 864,000 solar years), and Kali Yuga (1 charna of 432,000 solar years). Manvantara equals 71 Mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Kalpa (day of Brahma) equals an Adi Sandhya, 14 Manvantaras, and 14 Sandhya Kalas, where 1st Manvantara preceded by Adi Sandhya and each Manvantara followed by Sandhya Kala, each Sandhya lasting same duration as Satya yuga (1,728,000 solar years), during which the entire earth is submerged in water. Day of Brahma equals 1,000 Mahayugas, the same length for a night of Brahma (Bhagavad-gita 8.17). Brahma lifespan (311.04 trillion solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Parardha is 50 Brahma years and we are in the 2nd half of his life. After 100 years of Brahma, the universe starts with a new Brahma. We are currently in the 28th Kali yuga of the first day of the 51st year of the second Parardha in the reign of the 7th (Vaivasvata) Manu. This is the 51st year of the present Brahma and so about 155 trillion years have elapsed. The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight on 17/18 February 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.
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