- According to Vedic astrology, humanity goes through vast cosmic cycles called Yugas that determine the nature of the time period. There are four main Yugas: Satya (Golden Age), Treta, Dwapara, and Kali (Iron Age). - The full cycle is approximately 24,000 years divided into the four ages, with each age experiencing a decline in true human intelligence from 100% to 25%. We are currently in an ascending Dwapara Yuga, transitioning from the Kali Yuga. - These cycles are influenced by the Sun's orbit relative to the galactic center, and its interaction with a hypothesized dark companion star that blocks cosmic intelligence from reaching Earth during dark ages.

1. Secrets of the Yugas or
World-Ages
June 13, 2012 by admin 0
The following article by David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is adapted
from Astrology of the Seers,by David Frawley -
Who knows now and who can declare the paths that lead to the God; only their lower
habitations are visible, who dwell in regions of supreme mystery. Rig Veda III.54.5
According to the Vedic seers, life on Earth is under the rule of vast cosmic forces that
originate from the stars. All that happens locally on our planet is a result of forces coming
from the distant regions of the universe. These are not just distant regions of the physical
world, but also of the cosmic mind, the mysterious origin of things from which the
underlying forces of creation arise. These forces determine the nature of the time in which
we live. Usually we are so involved in the transient events of our personal lives that we
miss these great powers altogether. Like fish, we fail to see the ocean.
Just as we resonate to the seasons of the year, so too are we individually and collectively
under the rule of various time cycles. Each person, each nation, and each humanity has
such a cycle, as does the planet itself. We exist at different stages in the processes of
birth, growth, decay and death, not just in our bodies but also in our minds and souls. Yet
this is not just a mechanical round that goes nowhere. Behind the cycle of time lies an
ongoing evolution of consciousness. Just as a tree has annual cycles of growth and retreat
but continues to grow year after year, so all things have an inner growth process in which
consciousness continues to develop through life after life.
The Lesser Cycle of World Ages
The main time cycle governing the human race, the seasons of humanity, is the
precessional cycle. This period of 25,000 years is about one year in the life of humanity.
According to some Vedic astrologers, it reflects the period of revolution of the Sun
around a dark companion. According to them, the Sun is a double star but its companion
appears to be a dark dwarf possessing no real luminosity of its own. Modern astronomers
have begun to suspect the existence of such a star and have postulated its existence to

2. explain irregularities in the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, which suggest the gravitational
influence of a more distant heavenly body within the solar system.
Besides the light from our own Sun, we also receive light from the center of the galaxy,
the galactic Sun. Much of the light of this greater Sun, however, is not in visible
frequencies. Some astronomers have suspected a central galactic light, like that of a
quasar, whose light may be obscured by dust or nebulae in the region of the galactic
center. According to Vedic astrology, the light from this galactic source has a special
influence upon Earth. It nourishes and sustains intelligence in human beings. This is not
the materialistic intellect but true intelligence, the capacity to perceive the real or divine
spirit in things and act according to the Divine Will.
When the Sun is located on the side of its orbit where its dark companion comes between
it and the galactic center, the reception of the cosmic light is reduced. At such times there
is a dark or materialistic age on Earth. When the Sun is on the opposite side of its orbit
and has an open reception to the light of the galactic Sun, there is a golden or spiritual age
on Earth. Humanity then acts in harmony with cosmic intelligence and with Divine
powers that are its functionaries and emissaries. The Sun’s dark companion appears to
possess a negative magnetic field that obstructs the cosmic light from the galactic center
from reaching the Earth. Through this it creates cycles of advance and decline in human
civilization.
Modern astronomy estimates this cycle at around 25,900 years. The rate of yearly
precession does not appear fixed, so this duration is only approximate. Manu, the great
Vedic lawgiver for the human race in the Golden Age, in his teaching the Manu
Samhita (I. 68-71, also note The Holy Science, Sri Yukteswar, p. 11), places this cycle at
24,000 (100 x 240) years. Other Vedic astrologers have placed it at 25,920 years (108 x
240, with 108 being the occult or mystic form of the number 100). While the exact details
are not known, the general affect of the cycle is certain.
Ancient astrology places humanity under the legendary four ages: the Golden, Silver,
Bronze and Iron ages. We find this idea among the Greeks as well as the Hindus, but the
time periods involved are not given. In Sanskrit these are called the yugas or world ages
of Satya (which means truth, also called the fourth age), Treta (the third), Dwapara (the
second) and Kali (the first). Manu fixed their duration at, respectively, 4000, 3000, 2000
and 1000 years, plus a transitional period of 1/10 of their respective length both before
and after.

3. This makes a total of 4800 years for the Satya Yuga, 3600 for the Treta Yuga Age, 2400
for Dwapara Yuga, and 1200 for Kali Yuga. The total for all four ages is 12,000 years.
Two cycles of the four ages make up the 24,000-year precessional cycle.
Each precessional cycle is divided into two halves: an ascending half, in which the Sun is
moving towards the point on its orbit closest to the galactic center, and a descending half,
when it is moving towards the point on its orbit furthest from the galactic center. In the
ascending half we move from Kali to Dwapara, Treta and Satya Yugas. In the descending
half we move from Satya to Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yugas. This creates a cycle,
ascending Kali, Dwapara, Treta and Satya Yugas, then descending Satya, Treta, Dwapara
and Kali Yugas. In this system we do not move directly from Kali to Satya Yuga, as some
other interpretations indicate, but must pass through all the intermediate ages.
The level of true intelligence on Earth diminishes one quarter for each world age. At the
high point of Satya Yuga it is 100%, at the low point of Kali Yuga 25%. In Dwapara
Yuga it is 50% and in Treta 75%. The bull of the dharma, who loses one leg during each
of the declining yugas, symbolizes this.
According to some Vedic astrologers, the point of the Sun’s orbit furthest from the
galactic center occurred around 500 AD. This was when the point of the vernal equinox
was at the first degree of Aries. This was the point of greatest darkness on Earth, since
which there has been a gradual increase of light. Variant views would place this date
sometime between 200-550 AD, as it is the same issue as that of the ayanamsha.
Therefore, while many Western astrologers already put us in the Age of Aquarius, Vedic
astrologers would place its advent up to 500 years in the future (though by other
measurements given here, some of them do agree that we are in a different world age this
century). The historical dates that correspond to the four Vedic world ages (as given by
Sri Yukteswar in his book The Holy Science, pp. 12-3) are as follows:
Descending Yugas
Satya 11,501 BCE – 6701 BCE
Treta 6701 BCE – 3101 BCE
Dwapara 3101 BCE – 701 BCE
Kali 701 BCE – 499 AD
Ascending Yugas
Kali 499 AD – 1699 AD

4. Dwapara 1699 AD – 4099 AD
Treta 4099 AD – 7699 AD
Satya 7699 AD – 12,499 AD
Considering the transitional periods, there is an intermediate age between Kali and
Dwapara Yugas at 1599-1899 AD. By this we see that we are in the ascending Dwapara
Yuga. This is the New Age into which we have just entered, as evidenced by the great
advances in science and technology. It is no longer the dark Kali Yuga, as some continue
to think, yet it is far from Satya Yuga as well. Moreover, Dwapara is still in its early
stages and has not presented its complete form at this stage. This may not occur for a few
centuries, perhaps not until the vernal equinox actually does enter into Aquarius. Until
then, some difficulties in moving into this new era will occur, with wars, pollution,
famine and possible cataclysms as indications of it. This system is approximate and may
have to be modified, but its general features are quite useful in helping us understand the
development of human history.