yugas

Hare Krsna.

There is a chronological order to the four millennia, namely Satya, Dvāpara, Tretā, and Kali. However, sometimes there is an overlap. During the reign of Vaivasvata Manu, there was an overlap in the twenty-eighth cycle of the four millennia, and the third millennium appeared before the second. In that particular millennium, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa also descended, and because of this, there was a specific alteration.

Thus, Prabhupāda appears to suggest that in most Mahāyugas, the order of the Yugas is Satya, Dvāpara, Tretā, Kali - but in the 28th Mahāyuga of the Vaivasvata Manvantara (the current Mahāyuga), the order is Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali. This seems to be a common belief within Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism (the sect to which Prabhupāda and ISKCON belong). The order of the Yugas was reversed in the present Mahāyuga so that Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Mahāprabhu (whom Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas regard as an incarnation of Viṣṇu) could be born close together.

There is a confidential reason why the cycle of Yugas was altered in this Chatur Yuga, with Tretā Yuga coming before Dvāpara Yuga.

So, although normally Dvāpara follows Satya Yuga and precedes Tretā, He reversed the order of the Yugas, and Dvāpara now came after Tretā and before Kali Yuga. This is because Lord Kṛṣṇa wished to distribute His Vṛndāvana love to all conditioned souls in the form of Lord Gaurāṅga [Caitanya Mahāprabhu] without a significant gap between these two appearances. By doing so, the Vṛndāvana pastimes would remain fresh in the hearts and minds. Hari Hari.

Replies

Govind Sharan July 13, 2025 at 1:51pm

Hare Krsna.

There is a chronological order to the four millennia, namely Satya, Dvāpara, Tretā, and Kali. However, sometimes there is an overlap. During the reign of Vaivasvata Manu, there was an overlap in the twenty-eighth cycle of the four millennia, and the third millennium appeared before the second. In that particular millennium, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa also descended, and because of this, there was a specific alteration.

Thus, Prabhupāda appears to suggest that in most Mahāyugas, the order of the Yugas is Satya, Dvāpara, Tretā, Kali - but in the 28th Mahāyuga of the Vaivasvata Manvantara (the current Mahāyuga), the order is Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, Kali. This seems to be a common belief within Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism (the sect to which Prabhupāda and ISKCON belong). The order of the Yugas was reversed in the present Mahāyuga so that Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Mahāprabhu (whom Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas regard as an incarnation of Viṣṇu) could be born close together.

There is a confidential reason why the cycle of Yugas was altered in this Chatur Yuga, with Tretā Yuga coming before Dvāpara Yuga.

So, although normally Dvāpara follows Satya Yuga and precedes Tretā, He reversed the order of the Yugas, and Dvāpara now came after Tretā and before Kali Yuga. This is because Lord Kṛṣṇa wished to distribute His Vṛndāvana love to all conditioned souls in the form of Lord Gaurāṅga [Caitanya Mahāprabhu] without a significant gap between these two appearances. By doing so, the Vṛndāvana pastimes would remain fresh in the hearts and minds. Hari Hari.

This reply was deleted.