Ascending or Descending Yugas

The ancient rishis of India, and more recently, Swami Sri Yukteswar – a venerated Jnanavatar (“incarnation of wisdom”) who attained spiritual illumination during his lifetime – instructed how our world revolves through ascending or descending yugas, or ages, and completes a whole cycle in about 24,000 years. 

According to Oriental astronomy, Sri Yukteswar writes in the Holy Science, “moons revolve around their planets, and planets turning on their axes revolve with their moons around the sun; and the sun, with its planets and their moons, takes some star for its dual and revolves around it in 24,000 years of our earth – a celestial phenomenon which causes the backward movement of the equinoctial points around the zodiac. The sun also has another motion by which it revolves round a grand center called Vishnunabhi, which is the seat of the creative power, Brahma, the universal magnetism. Brahma regulates dharma, the mental virtue of the internal world.”

“When the sun in its revolution around its dual comes to the place nearest to this grand center, the seat of Brahma, then dharma, the mental virtue, becomes so much developed that man can easily comprehend all, even the mysteries of Spirit.”

“After 12,000 years, when the sun goes to the place in its orbit which is farthest from Brahma, then dharma, the mental virtue, comes to such a reduced state that man cannot grasp anything beyond the gross material creation.” 

So we are either ascending toward – or descending from – Brahma, the mental virtue, from peak spiritual development to gross materialism. 

Each of these periods of 12,000 years brings a complete change, both externally in the material world, and internally in the intellectual or electric world.

Development of dharma is but gradual and is divided into four different stages of 12,000 years as follows: 

• Kali Yuga – 1,200 years. The mental virtue, dharma, is in its first stage and only a quarter developed; the human intellect cannot comprehend anything beyond the gross material of this ever-changing creation, the external world.   
• Dwapara Yuga – 2,400 years. The mental virtue, dharma, is in the second stage of development and is but half complete; the human intellect can then comprehend the fine matters or electricities and their attributes which are the creating principles of the external world.
• Treta Yuga – 3,600 years. The mental virtue is then in its third stage; the human intellect becomes able to comprehend the divine magnetism, the source of all electrical forces on which creation depends for its existence. 
• Satya Yuga – 4,800 years. The mental virtue is in its fourth stage and completes its full development; the human intellect can comprehend all, even God the Spirit beyond this visible world. 

Historical Context of the Yugas

In 11,501 B.C., the sun began to move away from the point of its orbit nearest to the grand center toward the point farthest from it, and accordingly, the intellectual power of man began to diminish. 

At around A.D. 500 came the darkest part of Kali Yuga and of the whole cycle of 24,000 years. History reveals the accuracy of these ancient calculations of the Indian rishis, and records the widespread ignorance and suffering in all nations at that period. 

From A.D. 499 the sun began to advance toward the grand center, and the intellect of man started gradually to develop. During the 1100 years of the Ascending Kali Yuga, which brings us to A.D. 1599, the human intellect was so dense that it could not comprehend the electricities – the fine matters of creation. In the political world also, generally speaking, there was no peace in any kingdom. 

As the transitional period from Kali Yuga to Dwapara Yuga began, men began to notice the existence of fine matters, or the attributes of electricities:

• About A.D. 1600, William Gilbert discovered magnetic forces and observed the presence of electricity in all material substances.
• In 1609 Kepler discovered important laws of astronomy, and Galileo produced the telescope.
• In 1621 Drebbel of Holland invented the microscope. 
• About 1670 Newton discovered the law of gravitation.
• In 1700 Thomas Savery made use of a steam engine in raising water. Twenty years later Stephen Gray discovered the action of electricity on the human body. 

Science advanced. Railways and telegraphic wires appeared. Steam engines, electric machines, and many other instruments were brought into practical use. In 1899 the true Dwapara Yuga of 2,000 years began, giving to mankind in general a thorough understanding of the electricities and their attributes. 

Since then, in a little over 100 years, we have seen countless technological and scientific wonders come to fruition – things never even dreamed about. 

Despite this technological and scientific progress, the world remains hungry for spiritual knowledge, and humans require loving help one from the other, to finally evolve spiritually above the gross material world. It is our hope that this website can facilitate this shift of consciousness to a higher level of love, compassion, brotherhood, and understanding that is so desperately needed in our time of change.