Talk:Yuga cycle

Italics?

Why is Yuga Cycle in italics? It isn't a foreign term and it isn't the title of a work. 184.145.17.221 (talk) 05:11, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Because it is a foreign term. At least the "Yuga" part is. In its entirety it isn't an English term. Jroberson108 (talk) 08:03, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

problem with the number of chaturyugas in a kalpa

Considering their respective durations, a 4.32 billion year kalpa is actually 1000 times the length of a 4.32 million year chaturyuga. But considering a kalpa comprises 14 manvataras which themselves comprise 71 chaturyugas each, it gives a total of only 994 chaturyugas, and 1000 divided by 71 is not an integer number. What about the 6 remaining chaturyugas then? However, there are also 15 flooding periods between each manvatara 1.728 million years each, which is exactly the same length 6 chaturyugas would have. So are there extra caturyugas during these flooding periods outside the manvataras ? 176.128.237.169 (talk) 20:44, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

Hindu texts regard 1,000 chaturyugas as a kalpa (day of Brahma), which is generally repeated in secondary and tertiary sources. Sometimes in tertiary sources they mistakenly include the pralaya (night) in the kalpa calculation and write 2,000, or they mix up a kalpa and manvantara. Never have I read in any reliable sources that a kalpa has 994 chaturyugas. Also repeated is that a manvantara has 71 chaturyugas and that a kalpa has 14 manvantaras (periods of Manu), which sometimes the 15 sandhyas (deluges) that separate them are also described, although not many secondary sources delve into the deluges and sometimes omit them completely probably unknowingly. Here are a few primary sources if you want to read what they say: Mahabharata (12.231.29 & 31), Manusmriti (1.72-73 & 79), Surya Siddhanta (1.18-20), Bhagavata Purana (12.4.2), Bhagavad Gita (8.17), and elsewhere.

Usually primary sources describe the relationships separately: yugas in chaturyuga, chaturyugas in manvantara or kalpa, manvantaras/sandhyas in kalpa, kalpas/pralayas in Brahma's life. What actually happens during a sandhya, all I know is that it's a major flood that lasts as long as kritayuga. If you have any reliable sources on the topic, please post them. Jroberson108 (talk) 01:41, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. The "problem" then would be that no source (or not many) describes the whole measurement system in one time, hence some inconsistencies. 176.128.237.169 (talk) 06:43, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

It may be more complicated than that. Most would agree that the yuga system was developed sometime after the four Vedas due to its absence and before the rest of the Hindu texts where it is described, but that history has been lost since not all Hindu texts have lasted the test of time. It is possible multiple systems existed over time as it was being developed or maybe there were competing systems where one became more popular. There may have also been modifications or additions to older Hindu texts to add or expand the system, as Patrick Olivelle proposes for Manusmriti in his 2005 book Manu's Code of Law (pp. 53–54). In the Mahabharata 12.231.12–31 (Manmatha Nath Dutt, 1903), there is a description of time that doesn't mention Manu or manvantara, which doesn't mean it isn't elsewhere. That is why we need some reliable sources from scholars and historians to look at all instances of the yuga system's description in Hindu texts and piece it together. Jroberson108 (talk) 19:44, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

Note, I added some clarification about a kalpa's 1,000 and 994 yuga cycles on Manvantara#Duration_and_structure, where it seems more appropriate. I will probably move this talk section to that page too. Jroberson108 (talk) 22:44, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

I see. Several competing (or even contradictory) systems may have existed, only a few surviving, and many sources are lost because of their ancientness. This is a more a problem of incompleteness of (in) the sources than a problem of inconsistency, isn't it? 176.128.237.169 (talk) 14:11, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

In my research, I came across this publication from 1911 titled Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 64 (p. 487) that illustrated three systems: Arabhata's, some intermediate one, and the present day Brahmagupta system that may be based on an earlier one. Wasn't easy to find. The author states his agenda to disprove the Hindu's claim of antiquity (Vedic times) for the current system. Not sure if there is a bias? I haven't read it all the way through yet. More research is needed and additional sources, preferably from more recent publications. Jroberson108 (talk) 16:17, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

I'm not fond enough of the subject to do deep research but thanks for that explanation, it appears clearer to me now. 176.128.237.169 (talk) 12:25, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

Is it 4,320,000 or 432,000?

I see two different length of yugas in the article. Which one is the correct one? Thanks! 2A02:8109:AA14:7E00:0:0:0:ED16 (talk) 08:31, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

@2A02:8109:AA14:7E00:0:0:0:ED16: Which one do you want? The greater cycle is the first length. Kali yuga, one of the four yugas in that cycle, is the second length. Jroberson108 (talk) 12:09, 6 May 2024 (UTC)