ABSTRACT
The mature Hindu cosmology consists of expansive cycles measured in the days of wakefulness and sleep of Brahma, the creator god. The cosmic process is 100 days of Brahma awake and another 100 days of Brahma asleep. One day is a kalpa, whose duration is 4,320,000,000 years. A kalpa consists of 1,000 mahayugas, and each mahayuga consists of four yugas, each weaker than the one before and lasting a shorter period of time. Thus a krita yuga lasts 1,728,000 years, has four legs, and stands for perfection, cosmic order, and effortless realization of dharma; a treta yuga lasts 1,296,000 years, has three legs, and stands for moral decline in which dharma must be learned with effort; a dvapara yuga lasts 864,000 years, has two legs, and stands for further decline into lust, greed, and false pride; a kali yuga lasts 432,000 years, has one leg, and stands for the triumph of materialism, ignorance, and ego.
