# Yuga

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{{Short description|Age or era in Hinduism}}
{{Distinguish|Yoga}}
{{About||other uses|Yuga (disambiguation)}}
{{Italic title}}

A '''''yuga''''', in [Hinduism](/source/Hinduism), is generally used to indicate an age of time.<ref name="Dictionary.com yuga">{{Dictionary.com|Yuga|access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref><ref>{{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](/source/Coimbatore)|publisher=[Rukmani Offset Press](/source/Sakthi_Group)|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'.}}</ref>

In the ''[Rigveda](/source/Rigveda)'', a ''yuga'' refers to generations, a period of time (whether long or short), or a [yoke](/source/yoke) (joining of two things).<ref>{{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](/source/The_Asiatic_Society_of_Mumbai)|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' ...}}</ref> In the ''[Mahabharata](/source/Mahabharata)'', the words ''yuga'' and ''[kalpa](/source/Kalpa_(time))'' (a day of [Brahma](/source/Brahma)) are used interchangeably to describe the cycle of creation and destruction.<ref>{{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](/source/Leiden) |publisher=[Brill Publishers](/source/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).}}</ref>

In post-Vedic texts, the words  "''yuga''" and "age" commonly denote a [{{IAST|catur-yuga}}](/source/Yuga_Cycle) (pronounced ''chatur yuga''), a cycle of four world ages—for example, in the ''[Surya Siddhanta](/source/Surya_Siddhanta)'' and ''[Bhagavad Gita](/source/Bhagavad_Gita)'' (part of the ''Mahabharata'')—unless expressly limited by the name of one of its minor ages: ''[Krita (Satya) Yuga](/source/Satya_Yuga)'', ''[Treta Yuga](/source/Treta_Yuga)'', ''[Dvapara Yuga](/source/Dvapara_Yuga)'', or ''[Kali Yuga](/source/Kali_Yuga)''.<ref name="Dictionary.com yuga"/><ref>{{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](/source/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.}}</ref>{{efn|The general word "{{IAST|yuga}}" is sometimes used instead of the more specific word "{{IAST|catur-yuga}}". A ''[kalpa](/source/Kalpa_(time))'' is described as lasting 1,000 {{IAST|catur-yuga}} in [Bhagavata Purana](/source/Bhagavata_Purana) 12.4.2 ("{{IAST|catur-yuga}}")<ref>{{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=<br>{{Transliteration|sa|catur-yuga-sahasraṁ tu brahmaṇo dinam ucyate ।<br>sa kalpo yatra manavaś caturdaśa viśām-pate ॥ 2 ॥|italic=no}}<br>(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.}}</ref> and [Bhagavad Gita](/source/Bhagavad_Gita) 8.17 ("{{IAST|yuga}}").<ref>{{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=<br>{{Transliteration|sa|sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ ।<br>rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te ’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ ॥ 17 ॥|italic=no}}<br>(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.}}</ref>}}

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Etymology==
''Yuga'' ({{langx|sa|युग}}) means "a [yoke](/source/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'', {{IAST|yugānāṃ}}, and ''yuge'', derived from ''yuj'' ({{langx|sa|युज्||to join or yoke}}), believed derived from {{lang|ine-x-proto|yeug-}} ([Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language): {{lit.}} 'to join or unite').<ref>{{cite web |title=युग (yuga) |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/युग#Sanskrit |website=[Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary) |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=yuga |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yuga |website=[Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary) |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=Yuga |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/yuga |website=Wisdom Library |date=29 June 2012 |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=युज् (yuj) |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/युज्#Sanskrit |website=[Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary) |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=*yeug- |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/*yeug- |website=[Online Etymology Dictionary](/source/Online_Etymology_Dictionary) |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=yug |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yug |website=[Wiktionary](/source/Wiktionary) |date=6 June 2022 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Hindu units of time](/source/Hindu_units_of_time)
** [Kalpa](/source/Kalpa_(time)) (day of [Brahma](/source/Brahma))
** [Manvantara](/source/Manvantara) (age of [Manu](/source/Manu_(Hinduism)))
** [Pralaya](/source/Pralaya) (period of dissolution)
** [Yuga Cycle](/source/Yuga_Cycle) (four yuga ages): [Satya (Krita)](/source/Satya_Yuga), [Treta](/source/Treta_Yuga), [Dvapara](/source/Dvapara_Yuga), and [Kali](/source/Kali_Yuga)
* [List of numbers in Hindu scriptures](/source/List_of_numbers_in_Hindu_scriptures)

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://veda.wikidot.com/vedic-time-system#toc8 Vedic Time System: Yuga]

{{Calendars}}
{{Time in religion and mythology}}
{{Brahmanda}}

Category:Four Yugas
Category:Hindu astronomy
Category:Hindu philosophical concepts
Category:Time in Hinduism
Category:Units of time

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Yuga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuga) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuga?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.