The Forthcoming End of the Kali Yuga: Unravelling Cyclical Time in Ancient India

Hinduism has a complex system of world ages and cycles of creation and destruction as its chief characteristics. The remarkable theory of the yugas has always played a prominent role within this elaborate system. The article explains why society is and what people should do if they want to live according to religious principles.

India’s yuga system was formed during a crucial period in its history, roughly from the 5th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. The dominant Brahmana Vedic tradition had to adapt and transform to survive. It was a period of profound change in all spheres: social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical.

Several challenges that confronted the authoritative religious traditions of the Time also led to revolutionary ideas that would become syncretic new religious traditions. During this period, Buddhism and Jainism emerged, and the reworked Brahmana religion we all know today as Hinduism. It was not precisely the need to confront these profound shifts in Indian religious traditions and social conditions that provided the fertile ground for a theory of world ages.