Yuga

{{Short description|Age or era in Hinduism}}

{{Distinguish|Yoga}}

{{About||other uses|Yuga (disambiguation)}}

{{Italic title}}

A yuga, in Hinduism, is generally used to indicate an age of time.{{Dictionary.com|Yuga|access-date=2021-02-27}}{{cite book|author-last=Sundarraj|author-first=M.|year=1997|orig-year=1st ed. 1994|editor-last=Mahalingam|editor-first=N.|editor-link=N. Mahalingam|chapter=Ch. 4 Asvins⁠—Time-Keepers|title=RG Vedic Studies|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/rigvedicstudiessundarrajm.ed.mahalingamn._202003/page/n252/mode/1up|location=Coimbatore|publisher=Rukmani Offset Press|page=219|quote=It is quite clear that the smallest unit was the 'nimisah' ['winking of eyes'], and that time in the general sense of past, present and future was indicated by the word 'yuga'.}}

In the Rigveda, a yuga refers to generations, a period of time (whether long or short), or a yoke (joining of two things).{{cite journal |author-last=Kane |author-first=P. V.|author-link=Pandurang Vaman Kane|date=September 1936|editor-last1=Sukthankar|editor-first1=V. S.|editor-link1=Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar|editor-last2=Fyzee|editor-first2=A. A. A.|editor-link2=Asaf Ali Asghar Fyzee|editor-last3=Bhagwat|editor-first3=N. K.|title=Kalivarjya (actions forbidden in the Kali Age)|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281640/page/n199/mode/1up|journal=Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=12|publisher=The Asiatic Society of Bombay|pages=1–2|quote=The word yuga occurs at least thirty-eight times in the Rigveda, but the meaning is rather doubtful. In a few places yuga means yoke ... In many places it appears to refer to a very brief period ... Generally yuga appears to mean in the Rigveda 'generation' (lessening the life of human generations) ... In other places 'yuga' must be given the sense of a 'long period of time' ...}} In the Mahabharata, the words yuga and kalpa (a day of Brahma) are used interchangeably to describe the cycle of creation and destruction.{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=González-Reimann |author-first=Luis |year=2018 |title=Cosmic Cycles, Cosmology, and Cosmography |editor1-last=Basu |editor1-first=Helene |editor2-last=Jacobsen |editor2-first=Knut A. |editor3-last=Malinar |editor3-first=Angelika |editor4-last=Narayanan |editor4-first=Vasudha |encyclopedia=Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |volume=2 |doi=10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1020020 |isbn=978-90-04-17641-6 |issn=2212-5019 |page=415 |quote=The cycle [of creation and destruction] is either called a yuga (MBh. 1.1.28; 12.327.89; 13.135.11), a kalpa, meaning a formation or a creation (MBh. 6.31.7 [= BhG. 9.7]; 12.326.70; 12.327.23), or a day of the brahman, or of Brahmā, the creator god (MBh. 12.224.28–31). Sometimes, it is simply referred to as the process of creation and destruction (saṃhāravikṣepa; MBh. 12.271.30, 40, 43, 47–49).}}

In post-Vedic texts, the words "yuga" and "age" commonly denote a Yuga Cycle (pronounced chatur yuga), a cycle of four world ages—for example, in the Surya Siddhanta and Bhagavad Gita (part of the Mahabharata)—unless expressly limited by the name of one of its minor ages: Krita (Satya) Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, or Kali Yuga.{{cite book |author-last=Burgess |author-first=Rev. Ebenezer |year=1935 |orig-year=1st ed. 1860 |editor-last=Gangooly |editor-first=Phanindralal |title=Translation of the Surya-Siddhanta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; With notes and an appendix |url=https://archive.org/details/SuryaSiddhantaTranslation/page/n61/mode/1up| publisher=University of Calcutta |page=9 |quote=The period of 4,320,000 years is ordinarily styled Great Age (mahayuga), or, as above in two instances [1.15-16], Quadruple Age (caturyuga). In the Surya-Siddhanta, however, the former term is not once found, and the latter occurs only in these verses; elsewhere, Age (yuga) alone is employed to denote it, and always denotes it, unless expressly limited by the name of the Golden (krta) Age.}}{{efn|The general word "{{IAST|yuga}}" is sometimes used instead of the more specific word "{{IAST|catur-yuga}}". A kalpa is described as lasting 1,000 {{IAST|catur-yuga}} in Bhagavata Purana 12.4.2 ("{{IAST|catur-yuga}}"){{cite web |title=Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 12.4.2 |url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/12/4/2/ |website=Bhaktivedanta Vedabase |access-date=2020-05-10 |quote=
{{Transliteration|sa|catur-yuga-sahasraṁ tu brahmaṇo dinam ucyate ।
sa kalpo yatra manavaś caturdaśa viśām-pate ॥ 2 ॥|italic=no}}
(2) One thousand cycles of four ages [{{IAST|catur-yuga}}] constitute a single day of Brahmā, known as a kalpa. In that period, O King, fourteen Manus come and go.}} and Bhagavad Gita 8.17 ("{{IAST|yuga}}").{{cite Q|Q854700 |title=Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.17 |url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/17/ |website=Bhaktivedanta Vedabase |access-date=2020-05-10 |quote=
{{Transliteration|sa|sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ ।
rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te ’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ ॥ 17 ॥|italic=no}}
(17) By human calculation, a thousand ages [{{IAST|yuga}}] taken together form the duration of Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.}}}}

The term "yuga" can represent the number 4. In early Indian astronomy, it referred to a five-year cycle starting with the conjunction of the sun and moon in the autumnal equinox.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/YorkMichaelCushDeniseRobinsonCatherineAEncyclopediaOfHinduism/page/n1085/mode/1up |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7007-1267-0 |editor-last=Cush |editor-first=Denise |location=London; New York |pages=1043–1044 |oclc=ocm62133001 |editor-last2=Robinson |editor-first2=Catherine A. |editor-last3=York |editor-first3=Michael}}