Chapter 39 - Specific Dharmas of Four Yugas

Śailādi said:

1. On hearing the narration of Indra, my father, the great sage, bowed to the lord of Devas, and with the palms joined in reverence he asked him again.

Śilāda said:

2- 3. O lord Indra, O omniscient one, bowed down by the chiefs of Devas O lord of Śacī, O thousand-eyed lord of the universe, O Maheśvara, how did the lotus-born deity Brahmā evolve the specific dharmas of the yugas? It behoves you now to recount it to me who have bowed down to you.

Śailādi said:

4. On hearing the words of Śilāda, the noble-souled Indra recounted the dharmas of the yugas in detail in the manner seen by him,

Indra said:

5. Know that first comes Kṛtayuga. O sage, Tretā comes next. Thereafter Dvāpara and Tiṣya (Kali) yugas. These are the four yugas in brief.

6. Sattvaguṇa signifies Kṛta yuga; rajas signifies Tretā; rajas-cum-tamas signifies Dvāpara. Tamas signifies Kali. These should be known as the special characteristics in each of the different yugas.

7. Meditation is the greatest activity in Kṛta yuga; yajña (sacrifice) in Tretā; worship is the main activity in Dvāpara and pure charitable gift in the Kali age.

8. Four thousand divine years constitute Kṛta yuga. So many hundred years (i.e four hundred) constitute the preceding transition period (sandhyā). The following transition period (sandhyāṃśa) is also of the same duration.

9. O Śilāśana, O man of good holy rites, know that the longevity of the subjects in Kṛta is four thousand human years.

10. When the Kṛtayuga together with its sandhyāṃśa passes off, the yuga dharma becomes reduced by a quarter all round.

11. The excellent Tretā yuga extends to a period one fourth less than Kṛta. Know that Dvāpara extends to half of the duration of Kṛta. Kaliyuga is still half of it.

12. O sage, the Sandhya periods are respectively three hundred, two hundred and one hundred years. The sandhyāṃśa periods are also the same. The same thing holds good in all the kalpas, and yugas.

13- 14. In Kṛta, the eternal dharma has all the four feet; in Tretā it has three feet; it stays on two feet in Dvāpara; in Kali, it is devoid of three feet and is stationed by its mere existence. In Kṛta, the subjects are born in twins; their avocation abounds in taste and happiness.

15. They are always satisfied. They enjoy all pleasures and bliss. There is no inferiority or superiority among them; there are no special characteristics among subjects; they are all auspicious.

16. Longevity, happiness and features among the people in Kṛta are the same for all; they have no special liking; they have no Dvandvas (mutually opposing pairs), no hatred, no fatigue.

17-19. Those who have no abodes live on mountains and in the oceans. Even then they are devoid of misery. They have mostly sattva guṇas and are mostly isolated. They move about without specific desires; they are perpetually delighted in their minds. They refrain from virtuous and sinful activities.

At that time there was a well-defined arrangement of castes and stages of life; but there was no intermingling of castes. O brahmin, by efflux of time, in Tretā yuga their tastes and happiness perish.

20-22. When that Siddhi has perished another is generated. When water attains subtlety it gets transformed into clouds. From the thundering clouds rainfall proceeds. As soon as the surface of the earth comes into contact with rain, trees appear. These trees form their abodes. The subjects have their sustenance and pleasures out of these trees.

23-26. In the beginning of Tretā the subjects sustained, themselves through them. Then after the lapse of a great deal

of time, when there was a change, the feeling of lust and covetousness was sudden. The trees which formed their abodes began to perish. When they perished the twin-born subjects at that time were bewildered. Thereafter they began to ponder over the matter. Since they were truthful in their thought the trees reappeared.

27-28. They used to produce clothes, fruits and ornaments. On the very same trees honey of great potency but not generated by bees, got evolved in every leafy cup. This honey had great fragrance, good colour and sweet taste The subjects always sustained themselves thereby and passed their days comfortably at all times.

29. They were delighted and well-nourished. Through this achievement they were free from ailments. Then after the lapse of some time, they became greedy.

30-32. They began to chop off the trees and take the honey forcibly. Due to their misdemeanour as well as their greed the kalpa trees perished in certain places along with honey. As time rolled on only a little of this perfection survived. As Tretā was repeated in every cycle the Dvandvas (mutually conflicting pairs) cropped up. Then the subjects became very miserable due to the chilly rain and scorching sun.

33. When they were harassed by Dvandvas they began to make clothes and garments for covering themselves. They made abodes on the mountains in order to ward off Dvandvas.

34. Formerly they roamed about as they pleased. They had no fixed abodes. Now they began to stay in houses in accordance with their availability and pleasure.

35-36. After taking preventive measures against the Dvandvas they began to think about their means of sustenance. When the kalpa trees had perished along with honey, the subjects became confounded and agitated due to disputes. They were harassed by thirst and hunger. Then, again in Tretā, new perfections came in sight.

37. They had more rains than they desired or needed for production. Heavy downpour of waters flowed down the slopes.

38. Due to continuous rain sources of water currents arose. Thus in the course of second creation of rains, streams and rivers began to function.

39. Small collection of those waters fell on the earth. Due to the mingling of waters and the earth, plants and herbs came into being.

40-41. Then trees and hedges grew up. Very few of them were cultivated. They were not sown. Fourteen^[1] types of trees and grasses grew up in the rural and forest areas. They put forth flowers and fruits in accordance with the season. Different types of trees and medicinal herbs also appeared. The subjects sustained themselves with these at that time of Tretā.

42. Thereafter the subjects became lustful and greedy in every respect on account of what is destined to happen inevitably in Tretā age.

43. Then the subjects forcibly occupied the fields near the rivers and on the mountains. They seized the trees, hedges and herbs as much as they could.

44-45. On account of this perversity the fourteen types of medicinal herbs perished. Thinking that these plants and herbs have entered the earth, Brahmā milked the earth assiduously for the welfare of living beings. Ever since, the plants are ploughed by ploughshares here and there.

46. Those who were desirous of sustaining themselves assiduously took to agriculture. The word Varta means avocation and the avocation in this context is the endeavour and desire for agriculture.

47. Otherwise, towards the close of Tretā, the subjects have no means of livelihood. Then water has to be lifted by hand in general.

48. In that Tretā the subjects in their fury seized one another, even their sons, wives, riches etc., forcibly. Such was the characteristic of that yuga.

49. Knowing all this, the lotus-born lord created Kṣatriyas, to protect people from wounds and injuries and also for establishing the rules of conduct.

50. Characterised by his own splendour the lord established castes and stages of life. The lord of the universe then created avocation and conduct of life for respective castes of people.

51. The avocation of sacrifices was evolved in Tretā gradually. But persons of good holy rites did not resort to animal sacrifice even then.

52. It was then that the seer Viṣṇu performed sacrifices forcefully. That is why the brahmins praise a non-violent sacrifice.

53. In the Dvāpara too, men have different inclinations mentally, verbally and physically. It is with great difficulty that agriculture proceeds in that age.

54-55. Then all living beings exert gradually and strain their bodies. Covetousness, service on wage basis, business, fighting, indecision about principles, division of Vedas, confusion of dharmas, destruction of discipline among the four castes and stages of life, lust and hatred—these are the specifics pertaining to that age.

56. It is in this Dvāpara that the following begin to function, viz—passion, covetousness, arrogance, etc. In the beginnings of Dvāpara the Vedas are classified into four by Vyāsa.

57. It is laid down that during Tretā the Vedas constituted one single whole with four sections. Since the span of life becomes less and less the Vedas are classified in Dvāpara.

58-59. They are further differentiated through the whims of the sons of sages, when the order of Mantra and Brāhmaṇa texts is altered and the accents and letters are changed. The compendiums of Ṛk, Yajus and Samans are compiled by the learned men. Although the texts are common, they are differentiated due to different view-points.

60. The different sections to the Vedas are evolved, viz.,—Brāhmaṇas^[2] Kalpasūtras^[3] and Mantrapravacanas.^[4] Some departed from them and some abided by them.

61-63. The Itihāsas and Purāṇas^[5] differ from time to time. They are Brāhma, Pādma, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Bhāgavata, Bhaviṣya, Nāradīya, Mārkaṇḍeya, Āgneya, Brahmavaivarta. Laiṅga, Vārāha, Vāmana, Kūrma, Mātsya, Gāruḍa, Skānda and Brahmāṇḍa—these are the eighteen Purāṇas.

64-65. The eleventh Liṅga Purāṇa was classified in Dvāpara. The following sages, thousands in number, wrote Smṛtis etc.—Manu, Atri, Viṣṇu, Hārīta, Yājñavalkya, Uśanas, Aṅgiras, Yama, Āpastamba, Saṃvarta, Kātyāyana Bṛhaspati, Parāśara, Vyāsa, Śaṅkha, Likhita, Dakṣa, Gautama, Śātātapa, Vasiṣṭha and others.

66-70. Absence of rain, death, the harassments of pestilence etc. occur. Indifference to worldly affairs results from various miseries, mental, verbal and physical. From this indifference they begin to think about their liberation from pain and misery. This process of thinking leads to detachment and from detachment they begin to realize the deformities and defects in the world. Thanks to this perception, perfect knowledge becomes possible in Dvāpara. This is due to the behaviour of mixed rajas and tamas. In the first yuga viz. Kṛta yuga dharma originates. In Tretā it begins to function. In Dvāpara it becomes distracted gradually and in Kali it perishes altogether.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The Purāṇas divide the vegetation life into three classes, viz. (i) grāmya, (2) grāmāraṇya, (3) yajñīya (cf. Vāyu) but this classification is very obscure.—Manu classifies the plant-world into (1) Vanaspati (trees not having flowers), (2) Vānaspatya (trees bearing fruits and flowers), (3) Oṣadhi (plants such as grass) and (4) Latā, Valli (creepers). Further, Viṣṇu (cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.) mentions fourteen oṣadhis by name. They are vrīhi, yava, māṣa, godhūma, aṇu, tila, priyaṅgu, kulittha, śyāmāka, nīvāra, jartila, gavedhuka, Veṇuyava, and markaṭaka.

[2]:

Brāhmaṇam. Brāhmaṇa literature comprises treatises such as Aitareya, Taittirīya, Gopatha, Śatapatha, etc, and their ancillaries Āraṇyakas and Upaniṣads which together with the mantra portion, called Saṁhitā constitute the Vedas. Cf. mantra-brāhmaṇayor veda-nāmadheyam.

[3]:

Kalpasūtras—kriyā-pratipādakasūtraṇi Śivatoṣiṇī. ritual treatises—Arṣeya, etc.

[4]:

Mantra-pravacanāni—mīmāṃsā-nyāyasūtrāṇi Śivatoṣiṇī., philosophical treatises such as mīmāṃsā and nyāya.

[5]:

On the authenticity, extent and number of the Purāṇas, see Introduction.