Hindu Cosmology

1. Krita (Satya) Yuga – The Golden Age

• Duration:     1,728,000 years
• Presiding      Deity: Vishnu as Brahma, the Creator
• Dharma’s      Strength: Perfect, standing on all four feet

Characteristics:

• Abundance      without need for labor; gift-giving trees provided food and clothing.
• Human      beings were virtuous, selfless, and spiritually devoted.
• Meditation      was the highest virtue.
• No      sorrow, suffering, or conflict – life was pure bliss.

✨ Krita Yuga symbolizes an ideal world of truth, virtue, and spiritual perfection. 

  Duration:     1,296,000 years

• Presiding      Deity: Vishnu, the Preserver
• Dharma’s      Strength: On three feet

Characteristics:

• Knowledge      was considered the highest virtue.
• Gift-giving      trees began to vanish due to human greed.
• Hard      work for food and shelter became necessary.
• Social      inequality and land disputes arose.
• Greed,      resentment, and moral decline spread.

✨ Treta Yuga marks the first signs of moral and social deterioration from the golden ideal.

  Duration:     864,000 years

• Presiding      Deity: Vishnu, the Preserver
• Dharma’s      Strength: On two feet

Characteristics:

• Good      and evil stood in precarious balance.
• Sacrifice      was regarded as the highest virtue.
• Suffering,      disease, and death became common.
• Wars      and conflicts multiplied.
• Religious      doctrines developed to preserve dharma amid decline.

✨ Dvapara Yuga represents struggle – the constant battle between virtue and vice.

  Duration:     432,000 years

• Presiding      Deity: Vishnu as Rudra-Shiva, the Destroyer
• Dharma’s      Strength: On one foot

Characteristics:

• Dharma      is nearly extinguished; virtue is rare.
• Wealth      and power, not morality, define social status.
• Marriages      are based on passion rather than commitment.
• Deception      and dishonesty dominate society.
• Hunger,      disease, and fear are widespread.
• Only      the poor remain truly honest, and charity is the last surviving virtue.

✨ Kali Yuga is a time of great decline, where materialism overshadows spirituality. Yet, it is also believed to be the most accessible age for attaining liberation through sincere devotion (bhakti).

  Hindu cosmology offers not just a vision of the universe but a profound philosophy of life. It teaches that time itself is cyclical—an endless rhythm of creation, preservation, and dissolution—where nothing is permanent except the eternal Self (Ātman) and the Supreme Reality (Brahman). Within this grand cycle, humanity passes through the four Yugas, each reflecting the rise and fall of virtue, morality, and spiritual awareness.

Though the progression from Satya Yuga to Kali Yuga shows a gradual decline in dharma, Hindu thought does not view this as despair. Instead, it emphasizes hope and renewal. Just as night inevitably gives way to dawn, even Kali Yuga will ultimately be followed by the restoration of Satya Yuga, the golden age of truth.

At its heart, Hinduism affirms that all sects and traditions—Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakta, or Smarta—are diverse yet complementary paths to the same divine essence. Whether one worships Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, or the formless Brahman, the destination remains the realization of oneness with the eternal.

Thus, Hindu cosmology reminds us that beyond the flux of ages, beyond the rise and fall of civilizations, there is one abiding reality: the infinite divine, which is both the origin and the goal of existence.

🌸 Many paths, one God, one eternal cycle—this is the timeless message of Sanātana Dharma.

  Shaiva – Devotees of Lord Shiva

• Focus:     Shiva as the supreme ascetic, destroyer of ignorance, and source of cosmic      power.
• Practices:     Yoga, meditation, asceticism, temple worship, Shaiva Agamas.
• Main      Gurus / Philosophers:
  • Adi       Shankaracharya (though Advaita embraces Smarta philosophy, he also       upheld Shaiva devotion).
  • Abhinavagupta      – philosopher of Kashmir Shaivism.
  • Basava       (Basaveshwara) – reformer and founder of the Lingayat Shaiva       tradition.

     

  Focus:     Vishnu as preserver, worshipped through his avatars like Rama and Krishna.

• Practices:     Bhakti (devotion), chanting of names, temple rituals, study of Vaishnava      scriptures (Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana).
• Main      Gurus / Acharyas:
  • Ramanujacharya      – proponent of Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism).
  • Madhvacharya      – founder of Dvaita Vedanta (dualism).
  • Chaitanya       Mahaprabhu – leader of Gaudiya Vaishnavism (devotion to Krishna with       ecstatic love).
  • Nimbarkacharya      – philosopher of Dvaitadvaita.

• Focus:     Worship of the Divine Mother as the creative energy of the universe      (Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, Saraswati).
• Practices:     Tantra, mantra chanting, rituals of Devi, meditation on Shakti.
• Main      Gurus / Saints:
  • Adi       Shankaracharya – composed hymns like Saundarya Lahari in       praise of the Goddess.
  • Ramakrishna       Paramahamsa – 19th-century saint devoted to Kali, who taught the       unity of all religions.
  • Lalita       Tripurasundari tradition gurus – teachers of Sri Vidya (Shakta       Tantric lineage).

  Focus:     The formless Absolute (Brahman), with worship of multiple deities—Shiva,      Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesha, Surya—seen as manifestations of one reality.

• Practices:     Vedic study, Advaita Vedanta philosophy, household rituals, and the      Panchayatana puja (worship of five deities).
• Main      Guru:
  • Adi       Shankaracharya (8th century) – the great philosopher who systematized       Advaita Vedanta and re-established Smarta tradition.

Essence

While Shaivas, Vaishnavas, Shaktas, and Smartas may differ in their chosen deity or practices, all sects converge on the same truth: the realization of the Supreme, whether understood as Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, or the infinite Brahman.

🌸 The gurus of these traditions guided humanity to see that truth is one, though expressed in many forms.