Who knows now and who can declare the paths that lead to the God; only their lower habitations are visible, who dwell in regions of supreme mystery. Rig Veda III.54.5

Secrets of the Yugas or World Ages - Adapted from Astrology of the Seers, by David Frawley

            According to the Vedic seers, life on Earth is under the rule of vast cosmic forces that originate from the stars. All that happens locally on our planet is a result of forces coming from the distant regions of the universe. These are not just distant regions of the physical world, but also of the cosmic mind, the mysterious origin of things from which the underlying forces of creation arise. These forces determine the nature of the time in which we live. Usually we are so involved in the transient events of our personal lives that we miss these great powers altogether. Like fish, we fail to see the ocean.

             Just as we resonate to the seasons of the year, so too are we individually and collectively under the rule of various time cycles. Each person, each nation, and each humanity has such a cycle, as does the planet itself. We exist at different stages in the processes of birth, growth, decay and death, not just in our bodies but also in our minds and souls. Yet this is not just a mechanical round that goes nowhere. Behind the cycle of time lies an ongoing evolution of consciousness. Just as a tree has annual cycles of growth and retreat but continues to grow year after year, so all things have an inner growth process in which consciousness continues to develop through life after life.

The Lesser Cycle of World Ages

            The main time cycle governing the human race, the seasons of humanity, is the precessional cycle. This period of 25,000 years is about one year in the life of humanity. According to some Vedic astrologers, it reflects the period of revolution of the Sun around a dark companion. According to them, the Sun is a double star but its companion appears to be a dark dwarf possessing no real luminosity of its own. Modern astronomers have begun to suspect the existence of such a star and have postulated its existence to explain irregularities in the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, which suggest the gravitational influence of a more distant heavenly body within the solar system.

            Besides the light from our own Sun, we also receive light from the center of the galaxy, the galactic Sun. Much of the light of this greater Sun, however, is not in visible frequencies. Some astronomers have suspected a central galactic light, like that of a quasar, whose light may be obscured by dust or nebulae in the region of the galactic center. According to Vedic astrology, the light from this galactic source has a special influence upon Earth. It nourishes and sustains intelligence in human beings. This is not the materialistic intellect but true intelligence, the capacity to perceive the real or divine spirit in things and act according to the Divine Will.             

            When the Sun is located on the side of its orbit where its dark companion comes between it and the galactic center, the reception of the cosmic light is reduced. At such times there is a dark or materialistic age on Earth. When the Sun is on the opposite side of its orbit and has an open reception to the light of the galactic Sun, there is a golden or spiritual age on Earth. Humanity then acts in harmony with cosmic intelligence and with Divine powers that are its functionaries and emissaries. The Sun's dark companion appears to possess a negative magnetic field that obstructs the cosmic light from the galactic center from reaching the Earth. Through this it creates cycles of advance and decline in human civilization.

            Modern astronomy estimates this cycle at around 25,900 years. The rate of yearly precession does not appear fixed, so this duration is only approximate. Manu, the great Vedic lawgiver for the human race in the Golden Age, in his teaching the Manu Samhita (I. 68-71, also note The Holy Science, Sri Yukteswar, p. 11), places this cycle at 24,000 (100 x 240) years. Other Vedic astrologers have placed it at 25,920 years (108 x 240, with 108 being the occult or mystic form of the number 100). While the exact details are not known, the general affect of the cycle is certain.

            Ancient astrology places humanity under the legendary four ages: the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron ages. We find this idea among the Greeks as well as the Hindus, but the time periods involved are not given. In Sanskrit these are called the yugas or world ages of Satya (which means truth, also called the fourth age), Treta (the third), Dwapara (the second) and Kali (the first). Manu fixed their duration at, respectively, 4000, 3000, 2000 and 1000 years, plus a transitional period of 1/10 of their respective length both before and after. 

            This makes a total of 4800 years for the Satya Yuga, 3600 for the Treta Yuga Age, 2400 for Dwapara Yuga, and 1200 for Kali Yuga. The total for all four ages is 12,000 years. Two cycles of the four ages make up the 24,000-year precessional cycle. 

            Each precessional cycle is divided into two halves: an ascending half, in which the Sun is moving towards the point on its orbit closest to the galactic center, and a descending half, when it is moving towards the point on its orbit furthest from the galactic center. In the ascending half we move from Kali to Dwapara, Treta and Satya Yugas. In the descending half we move from Satya to Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yugas. This creates a cycle, ascending Kali, Dwapara, Treta and Satya Yugas, then descending Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yugas. In this system we do not move directly from Kali to Satya Yuga, as some other interpretations indicate, but must pass through all the intermediate ages.

            The level of true intelligence on Earth diminishes one quarter for each world age. At the high point of Satya Yuga it is 100%, at the low point of Kali Yuga 25%. In Dwapara Yuga it is 50% and in Treta 75%. The bull of the dharma, who loses one leg during each of the declining yugas, symbolizes this.

            According to some Vedic astrologers, the point of the Sun's orbit furthest from the galactic center occurred around 500 AD. This was when the point of the vernal equinox was at the first degree of Aries. This was the point of greatest darkness on Earth, since which there has been a gradual increase of light. Variant views would place this date sometime between 200-550 AD, as it is the same issue as that of the ayanamsha.

            Therefore, while many Western astrologers already put us in the Age of Aquarius, Vedic astrologers would place its advent up to 500 years in the future (though by other measurements given here, some of them do agree that we are in a different world age this century). The historical dates that correspond to the four Vedic world ages (as given by Sri Yukteswar in his book The Holy Science, pp. 12-3) are as follows:

                        Descending Yugas       

                        Ascending Yugas