The Yugas and Kalpas as Taught in the Purāṇas

By David Reigle on May 27, 2012 at 6:56 pm

For those who may not have easy access to all the relevant Indian texts, here is an article that gives the teaching on the yugas and kalpas as found in the Purāṇas, in comparison with that found in the Manu-Smṛti (The Laws of Manu), the epic Mahābhārata, and Sanskrit astronomical treatises (Jyotiṣa Siddhāntas) such as the Sūrya-siddhānta. The article is titled, “The Purāṇic Theory of the Yugas and Kalpas—A Study,” by Anand Swarup Gupta, published in Purāṇa [Half-yearly Bulletin of the Purāṇa Department, All-India Kashiraj Trust, Varanasi], vol. 11, no. 2, July 1969, pp. 304-323. It also includes the teaching on the manvantaras. At the end it gives the geological time scale taken from Principles of Physical Geology, by Arthur Holmes, originally published in 1944. For the link I have titled the file, Yugas and Kalpas – Puranic Theory of.

Category: Occult Chronology | 1 comment

  • Nicholas says:

    Just looking at the first couple of pages I note that Manu & Vayu Purana give the time in human years. So Sri Yukteshwar’s “new” insight does not appear so very new. Here is a link summary of this Kriya Yoga sage’s view:

    http://www.minsobooks.com/sri-yukteswar-about-yugas.html

    The fact that traditional Indian eras are based on a 4-fold ratio, suggests that HPB’s 7-fold ratio might just be correct.


  • Leave a Reply