Changes

=== Yuga System ===

=== Yuga System ===

On the macroscopic scale of time, the yuga system is highly evolved in the Indian Astronomy. Many important elements of planets and other parameters are given in terms of the number of revolutions in the course of a long period of time called '''yuga'''.  

On the macroscopic scale of time, the yuga system is highly evolved in the Indian Astronomy. Many important elements of planets and other parameters are given in terms of the number of revolutions in the course of a long period of time called '''yuga'''.  

While in the [[Vedanga Jyotisha (वेदाङ्गज्योतिष्)|Vedanga Jyotisha]] the word yuga was used to mean a period of 5 years, in later works the word meant a large period of time.     

While in the [[Vedanga Jyotisha (वेदाङ्गज्योतिष्)|Vedanga Jyotisha]] the word yuga was used to mean a period of 5 years, in later works the word meant a large period of time. Yugas of large periods of time have been used to indicate the rates of motion of planets and other important points of astronomical significance. This technique enabled them to express these constants as integers, though very large, thus avoiding very inconvenient fractions.     

[[File:Kalachakra.png|thumb|594x594px|Yugas and Kalpa ]]

[[File:Kalachakra.png|thumb|653x653px|Yugas and Kalpa ]]

=== युगम् ॥ Yuga ===

=== युगम् ॥ Yuga ===

An epoch. One of the four large periods into which the basic Chaturyuga cycle is divided, it forms the basic Indian cycle of creation and destruction. According to the puranas and the astronomical texts one Chaturyuga consists of 43,20,000 solar years. Thousand Chaturyugas form a Kalpa, which is the larger cycle of creation and destruction, and is seen as a day of Brahma. The four Yugas comprising the Chaturyuga are: Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali.

One of the four large periods into which the basic Chaturyuga cycle is divided, it forms the basic Indian cycle of creation and destruction. According to the puranas and the astronomical texts one Chaturyuga consists of 43,20,000 solar years. Thousand Chaturyugas form a Kalpa, which is the larger cycle of creation and destruction, and is seen as a day of Brahma. The four Yugas comprising the Chaturyuga are: Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. It may be noted that the four yugas are in the ratio of 4:3:2:1. One Mahayuga is ten times a Kaliyuga in its duration.

==== Krita Yuga  ====

==== Krita Yuga  ====

The first Yuga of the Chaturyuga cycle. In this Yuga Dharma represented by the bull supporting the universe stands securely on all four legs. The four legs of Dharma are said to be Satya, Ahimsa, Daya, Dana, truth, non-injury, kindness and generosity, respectively, in rough translation. According to the calculations of the Puranas, the length of the Krita yuga is 17,28,000 years. But with the passage of time, the universe starts getting more and more complex. The innate order starts getting disturbed. Dharma starts getting weakened. And, towards the end of Krita, the creator has to take birth on earth in various forms to re-establish the dharma.

The first Yuga of the Chaturyuga cycle. In this Yuga Dharma represented by the bull supporting the universe stands securely on all four legs. The four legs of Dharma are said to be Satya, Ahimsa, Daya, Dana, truth, non-injury, kindness and generosity, respectively, in rough translation. According to the calculations of the Puranas, the length of the Krtayuga is 17,28,000 years. But with the passage of time, the universe starts getting more and more complex. The innate order starts getting disturbed. Dharma starts getting weakened. And, towards the end of Krta, the creator has to take birth on earth in various forms to re-establish the dharma.

==== Treta Yuga  ====

==== Treta Yuga  ====

The second Yuga of the Chaturyuga cycle. In this Yuga the bull representing Dharma stands on three feet.

The second Yuga of the Chaturyuga cycle. In this Yuga the bull representing Dharma is said to stand on three feet.

==== Dvapara Yuga  ====

==== Dvapara Yuga  ====

=== Kalpa ===

=== Kalpa ===

Period of one thousand Chaturyugas, forming a day of Brahma. A Kalpa is divided into 14 Manvantaras, and there is a Manu, the patriarch, of each of the 14 Manvantaras. The largest Indian time cycle is that of 100 years of the life of Brahma, which is called a Para and half of it is Parardha. Currently we are in the Vaivasvata Manvantara, the seventh Manvantara of the Svetavaraha Kalpa, which is at the beginning of the second Parardha, or the fifty-first year of the current 100 year cycle of Brahma.  

Kalpa is the period of one thousand Chaturyugas or Mahayugas, forming a day of Brahma. A Kalpa is divided into 14 Manvantaras, and there is a Manu, the patriarch, of each of the 14 Manvantaras. The largest Indian time cycle is that of 100 years of the life of Brahma, which is called a Para and half of it is Parardha. Currently we are in the Vaivasvata Manvantara, the seventh Manvantara of the Svetavaraha Kalpa, which is at the beginning of the second Parardha, or the fifty-first year of the current 100 year cycle of Brahma.

{| class="wikitable"

{| class="wikitable"