Dvapara Yuga
The third age of the world — the age of Sri Krishna and the Mahabharata
The Dvapara Yuga is the third of the four ages of the world, following the Treta Yuga and preceding our present Kali Yuga. Lasting 864,000 years, it is the age in which dharma — the bull — stood on only two of its four legs, virtue having fallen to one half. It is the age of Sri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, of the great war of the Mahabharata at Kurukshetra, and of the song of the Bhagavad Gita. In this age the sage Vyasa divided the one Veda into four.
Interesting Facts
- ✦The Dvapara Yuga lasted 864,000 years — the third age, half the length of the Treta Yuga.
- ✦The name "Dvapara" means "two": dharma (the bull) now stood on only two legs, and just one half of virtue remained.
- ✦Sri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, lived in the Dvapara Yuga; his departure marks its end and the start of Kali Yuga.
- ✦The Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra and the Bhagavad Gita belong to the Dvapara Yuga.
- ✦The sage Vedavyasa divided the single Veda into four — Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva — to suit the lessened minds of the age.
- ✦Worship now centred on temples, deity images and ritual; human life had shortened to about 1,000 years.
The third of the four ages
After the long Satya and Treta ages comes the Dvapara Yuga, the third turn of the great wheel of time. It lasts 864,000 human years — half the length of the Treta Yuga before it. Its name comes from the Sanskrit for "two", for in this age the bull of dharma stood on only two of its four legs, and exactly one half of righteousness remained.
Now virtue and vice stood evenly balanced. Truth was still honoured, but doubt, desire and conflict had grown strong, and the perfect harmony of the earlier ages was gone. People could no longer attain the divine by meditation alone, nor by sacrifice alone, and so the worship of God through temples, images and ritual came to the fore.
Krishna and the Mahabharata
The Dvapara Yuga is forever the age of Sri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu — the cowherd of Vrindavan, the friend of the Pandavas, and the supreme teacher of the Bhagavad Gita. Born to destroy the tyrant Kamsa and to lighten the burden of the earth, Krishna stands at the very centre of this age.
The great war of the Mahabharata, fought on the field of Kurukshetra between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, took place at the close of the Dvapara Yuga. On the eve of that battle, when the warrior Arjuna was overcome with despair, Krishna spoke to him the Bhagavad Gita — the song of duty, devotion and the immortal Self. It remains the most beloved scripture of the Hindu world, the gift of the Dvapara Yuga to every age that follows.
The dividing of the Vedas and the end of the age
As the minds of people grew weaker through the age, the one great Veda could no longer be held and understood as a whole. So the sage Krishna Dvaipayana — known forever after as Vedavyasa, "the divider of the Veda" — separated it into four: the Rig, the Yajur, the Sama and the Atharva, and taught them to his disciples so that the sacred knowledge would not be lost.
The Dvapara Yuga ended with the departure of Sri Krishna from the earth. By tradition, the very moment he left his mortal form, the Kali Yuga — our present age — began, in the year corresponding to 3102 BCE. Thus the age of Krishna and the Gita gave way to the final and darkest of the four ages, in which we now live.
Related Mantras & Stotras
Frequently Asked Questions
How long did the Dvapara Yuga last?
The Dvapara Yuga lasted 864,000 human years — the third of the four ages, half the length of the Treta Yuga. It ended with the departure of Sri Krishna, around 3102 BCE, which began the Kali Yuga.
Which avatar of Vishnu came in the Dvapara Yuga?
Sri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, lived in the Dvapara Yuga — the cowherd of Vrindavan, friend and charioteer of the Pandavas, and the teacher of the Bhagavad Gita. His elder brother Balarama is also counted among the avatars of this age.
Did the Mahabharata happen in the Dvapara Yuga?
Yes. The great war of the Mahabharata at Kurukshetra and the speaking of the Bhagavad Gita took place at the close of the Dvapara Yuga, just before the present Kali Yuga began.
Why is it called Dvapara Yuga?
"Dvapara" comes from the Sanskrit for "two". In this age the bull of dharma stood on only two of its four legs — one half of righteousness remained — so virtue and vice were evenly balanced.