Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 3.11.18
Sthāna· The universe in orderFour Yugas Form One Vast Cycle
“Maitreya said: O Vidura, the four millenniums are called the Satya-, Tretā-, Dvāpara- and Kali-yuga. The aggregate number of years of all of these combined is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.”
What the purport teaches
- Maitreya names the four millenniums as Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga and Kali-yuga.
- Together they comprise 12,000 years of the demigods, including the transitional periods called yuga-sandhyās.
- One year of the demigods equals 360 human years. The four yugas therefore total 4,320,000 human years.
Try this today
Write the four yugas in order, followed by their combined duration of 4,320,000 human years.
Ask yourself
How does this vast cycle affect your sense of the scale of time?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.