Not to be confused with Yoga.
For other uses, see Yuga (disambiguation).

A yuga, in Hinduism, is generally used to indicate an age of time.[1][2]

In the Rigveda, a yuga refers to generations, a period of time (whether long or short), or a yoke (joining of two things).[3] In the Mahabharata, the words yuga and kalpa (a day of Brahma) are used interchangeably to describe the cycle of creation and destruction.[4]

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.[1][5][a]

The term "yuga" can represent the number four. In early Indian astronomy, it referred to a five-year cycle starting with the conjunction of the sun and moon in the autumnal equinox.[6]

Etymology

Yuga (Sanskrit: युग) means "a yoke" (joining of two things), "generations", or "a period of time" such as an age, where its archaic spelling is yug, with other forms of yugam, , and yuge, derived from yuj (Sanskrit: युज्), believed derived from yeug- (Proto-Indo-European: 'to join or unite').[7]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ The general word "" is sometimes used instead of the more specific word "". A kalpa is described as lasting 1,000 in Bhagavata Purana 12.4.2 ("")[8] and Bhagavad Gita 8.17 ("").[9]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ Mahalingam, N. (ed.) (1997 [1st ed. 1994]). "Ch. 4 Asvins⁠—Time-Keepers". RG Vedic Studies. Coimbatore: Rukmani Offset Press. p. 219. 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'.
  3. ^ Sukthankar, V. S.; Fyzee, A. A. A.; Bhagwat, N. K. (eds.) (September 1936). "Kalivarjya (actions forbidden in the Kali Age)". Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 12: 1–2. The Asiatic Society of Bombay 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' ...
  4. ^ "Cosmic Cycles, Cosmology, and Cosmography". Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Vol. 2. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 2018. p. 415. doi:10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1020020. ISBN 978-90-04-17641-6. ISSN 2212-5019 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).
  5. ^ Gangooly, Phanindralal (ed.) (1935 [1st ed. 1860]). Translation of the Surya-Siddhanta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; With notes and an appendix. University of Calcutta. p. 9. 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.
  6. ^ Cush, Denise; Robinson, Catherine A.; York, Michael (eds.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 1043–1044. ISBN 978-0-7007-1267-0. OCLC ocm62133001
  7. ^ "युग (yuga)". Wiktionary. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
    "yuga". Wiktionary. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
    "Yuga". Wisdom Library. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
    "युज् (yuj)". Wiktionary. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
    "*yeug-". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
    "yug". Wiktionary. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  8. ^ "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 12.4.2". Bhaktivedanta Vedabase. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
    catur-yuga-sahasraṁ tu brahmaṇo dinam ucyate ।
    sa kalpo yatra manavaś caturdaśa viśām-pate ॥ 2 ॥
    (2) One thousand cycles of four ages [] constitute a single day of Brahmā, known as a kalpa. In that period, O King, fourteen Manus come and go.
  9. ^ Wikidata item Q854700