Four Yugas in the Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa

A yuga is a great age of the world. The Purāṇas teach that time moves in a cycle of four yugas: Kṛta (also called Satya), Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali. With each age, dharma (right living) grows weaker. In the Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa (Chapters 40–41), Mahākāla gives a long teaching on these four ages.

The teaching is set during the hundred-year tapas (austerity) of Kālabhīti at Guptakṣetra, where Mahākāla gave it as a revelation. It describes the moral and physical features of each age, the givers of the Dharmaśāstra (books of dharma) for each era, the twenty-eight Vyāsas of the present Vārāha Kalpa (the current great cycle of creation), and the particular signs and sufferings of the Kali Yuga.

The Setting

Kālabhīti performed an extraordinary tapas for a hundred years at a bilva tree in Guptakṣetra. During this time Mahākāla, Śiva as the great form of time, showed himself and gave this teaching. The part on the four yugas belongs to a larger teaching about the universe and time, which also covers the eighteen Purāṇas, the Vyāsas, the Dharmaśāstra-givers and the kinds of pāpa (wrongdoing).

Kṛta Yuga (Satya Yuga)

This is the first and most perfect of the four ages. In the Kṛta Yuga:

  • Dharma stands on all four feet: truth, purity, compassion and charity are all fully present
  • People live very long lives (traditionally said to be 100,000 years or more)
  • There is no disease, no greed, no envy and no fear
  • All four varṇas (social classes) keep to their proper duties and relationships
  • Tapas (austerity) is the main path to liberation, and everyone can practise strict tapas
  • The deity of the age is Viṣṇu in his white form

Tretā Yuga

This is the second age. Dharma stands on three feet, as one foot (truth, or another quality) has been lost:

  • People’s lifespans become shorter
  • Yajña (fire offering) becomes the main way to keep the order of the universe and to reach liberation
  • The varṇa system begins to weaken at its edges
  • Some greed and desire enter human life
  • The deity of the age is Viṣṇu in his red form

Dvāpara Yuga

This is the third age. Dharma stands on two feet:

  • Lifespans become shorter still
  • Disease and sorrow become common
  • Pūjā of the deities in temples and through sacred images (arcana) becomes the main path
  • The Vedas, which were once one whole, are divided into four by the Vyāsa of the age
  • The deity of the age is Viṣṇu in his yellow form

Kali Yuga

This is the fourth age, the one we live in now. Dharma stands on only one foot.

The Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa gives special attention to the signs of the Kali Yuga, because these are the times when its own teachings are most needed:

  • Brāhmaṇas sell the Vedas and perform rituals for money
  • Kings oppress their people instead of protecting them
  • Women are disrespected and dharma is turned upside down
  • Lives are short, diseases spread widely and dishonesty is everywhere
  • The wealthy are thought to be good, and poverty is treated as pāpa
  • Sacred texts are twisted and false teachers multiply
  • The deity of the age is Viṣṇu in his dark or blue form

Even with all this decline, the Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa agrees with the usual Purāṇic teaching that liberation is especially easy to reach in the Kali Yuga. Even small acts of bhakti (devotion), japa (repeating a sacred name or mantra) and tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage to holy places) bring great puṇya (merit). Pūjā on the Ekādaśī (11th day) of the bright fortnight of Kārttika at the image of Nārada at the Mahīsāgara Saṅgama frees a person from the particular faults of the Kali Yuga.

The Twenty-Eight Vyāsas

The teaching also gives the list of the twenty-eight Vyāsas of the present Vārāha Kalpa. These are the twenty-eight persons who, across twenty-eight Dvāpara Yugas, divided and preserved the Vedas. This keeps the Purāṇic understanding that “Vyāsa” is an office and a title, not just one person in history. In each Dvāpara Yuga a particular ṛṣi takes on this role.

The Givers of the Dharmaśāstra

Each yuga has its own Dharmaśāstra, given by law-givers suited to the abilities and conditions of that age. The Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa lists them as part of its teaching on the four yugas. This shows the Purāṇic view that dharma is not a fixed code that never changes. It is the living expression of eternal principles, fitted to what people can do in each era.

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 40–41
  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 54