Satya-yuga (CC and Other Books)

Expressions researched:
"Krta-yuga" |"Satya-yuga"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 7.74, Purport:

The principles of the paramparā system were strictly honored in previous ages—Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga—but in the present age, Kali-yuga, people neglect the importance of this system of śrauta-paramparā, or receiving knowledge by disciplic succession. In this age, people are prepared to argue that they can understand that which is beyond their limited knowledge and perception through so-called scientific observations and experiments, not knowing that actual truth comes down to man from authorities. This argumentative attitude is against the Vedic principles, and it is very difficult for one who adopts it to understand that the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as good as Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa and His holy name are identical, the holy name is eternally pure and beyond material contamination. It is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a transcendental vibration. The holy name is completely different from material sound, as confirmed by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. The transcendental vibration of hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana is imported from the spiritual world. Thus although materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and the so-called "scientific method" cannot place their faith in the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, it is a fact that simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra offenselessly one can be freed from all subtle and gross material conditions.

CC Adi 7.76, Purport:

For progress in spiritual life, the śāstras recommend meditation in Satya-yuga, sacrifice for the satisfaction of Lord Viṣṇu in Tretā-yuga and gorgeous worship of the Lord in the temple in Dvāpara-yuga, but in the Age of Kali one can achieve spiritual progress only by chanting the holy name of the Lord. This is confirmed in various scriptures. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are many references to this fact. In the Twelfth Canto (3.51) it is said:

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ

kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

(SB 12.3.51)

In the Age of Kali there are many faults, for people are subjected to many miserable conditions, yet in this age there is one great benediction—simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one can be freed from all material contamination and thus be elevated to the spiritual world. The Nārada Pañcarātra also praises the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra as follows:

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 20.246, Purport:

All together these are fourteen in number, and of these, Yajña and Vāmana are also counted among the līlā-avatāras. All these manvantara incarnations are sometimes called vaibhava-avatāras.

The four yuga-avatāras are (1) śukla (white) in Satya-yuga (SB 11.5.21), (2) rakta (red) in Tretā-yuga (SB 11.5.24), (3) śyāma (dark blue) in Dvāpara-yuga (SB 11.5.27) and (4) generally kṛṣṇa (black) but in special cases pīta (yellow) as Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Kali-yuga (SB 11.5.32 and 10.8.13).

The śaktyāveśa-avatāras are categorized into (1) forms of divine absorption (bhagavad-āveśa), such as Kapiladeva or Ṛṣabhadeva, and (2) divinely empowered forms (śaktyāveśa), of whom seven are foremost: (1) Śeṣa Nāga in the Vaikuṇṭha world, empowered for the personal service of the Supreme Lord (sva-sevana-śakti), (2) Anantadeva, empowered to bear all the planets within the universe (bhū-dhāraṇa-śakti), (3) Lord Brahmā, empowered with the energy to create the cosmic manifestation (sṛṣṭi-śakti), (4) Catuḥsana, or the Kumāras, specifically empowered to distribute transcendental knowledge (jñāna-śakti), (5) Nārada Muni, empowered to distribute devotional service (bhakti-śakti), (6) Mahārāja Pṛthu, specifically empowered to rule and maintain the living entities (pālana-śakti) and (7) Paraśurāma, specifically empowered to cut down rogues and demons (duṣṭa-damana-śakti).

CC Madhya 20.329, Translation:

“O Sanātana, now hear from Me about the yuga-avatāras, the incarnations for the millenniums. First of all, there are four yugas—Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga and Kali-yuga.

CC Madhya 20.332, Translation:

“"In Satya-yuga the Lord appeared in a body colored white, with four arms and matted hair. He wore tree bark and bore a black antelope skin. He wore a sacred thread and a garland of rudrākṣa beads. He carried a rod and a waterpot, and He was a brahmacārī."

CC Madhya 20.334, Purport:

Kardama Muni was one of the prajāpatis. He married Devahūti, the daughter of Manu, and their son was Kapiladeva. The Supreme Lord was very pleased with Kardama Muni's austerities, and He appeared before Kardama Muni in a whitish body. This happened in the Satya-yuga millennium, when people were accustomed to practicing meditation.

CC Madhya 20.335, Translation:

“In Satya-yuga the people were generally advanced in spiritual knowledge and could meditate upon Kṛṣṇa very easily. The people's occupational duty in Tretā-yuga was to perform great sacrifices. This was induced by the Personality of Godhead in His reddish incarnation.

CC Madhya 20.345, Translation:

“"Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord"s lotus feet can also be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.’

CC Madhya 20.346, Translation:

“"Whatever is achieved by meditation in Satya-yuga, by the performance of yajña in Tretā-yuga or by the worship of Kṛṣṇa"s lotus feet in Dvāpara-yuga is also obtained in the Age of Kali simply by chanting the glories of Lord Keśava.’

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 7:

The four yuga-avatāras are also described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the Satya-yuga the incarnation of God is white; in the Tretā-yuga He is red; in the Dvāpara-yuga He is blackish; and in the Kali-yuga He is also blackish, but sometimes, in a special Kali-yuga, His color is yellowish (as in the case of Caitanya Mahāprabhu). As far as the śaktyāveśa-avatāras are concerned, they include Kapila, Ṛṣabha, Ananta, Brahmā (although sometimes the Lord Himself becomes Brahmā), Catuḥsana (the Kumāras, who are the incarnation of knowledge), Nārada (the incarnation of devotional service), King Pṛthu (the incarnation of administrative power) and Paraśurāma (the incarnation who subdues evil principles).

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 8:

After describing the Manu incarnations, Lord Caitanya described the yuga-avatāras to Sanātana Gosvāmī. There are four yugas, or millenniums—Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali—and in each millennium the Supreme Lord appears in an incarnation of a different color. In the Satya-yuga the color of the principal incarnation is white, in the Tretā-yuga the color is red, in the Dvāpara-yuga blackish (Kṛṣṇa), and in the Kali-yuga yellow (Caitanya Mahāprabhu). This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.8.13) by the astrologer Garga Muni, who calculated Kṛṣṇa's horoscope in the house of Nanda Mahārāja.

In the Satya-yuga the process of self-realization was meditation, and this process was taught by the white incarnation of God. This incarnation gave a benediction to the sage Kardama by which he obtained an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead as his son. In the Satya-yuga everyone meditated on Kṛṣṇa, and each and every living entity was in full knowledge. In the present age, the Kali-yuga, people who are not in full knowledge are still attempting various meditative processes not recommended for this age.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 18:

Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam/ kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā: "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way."

In three out of the four millenniums (namely Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga) people had the honor to strive to understand transcendence through the path of disciplic succession. But in the present age, due to the influence of Kali, people have no interest in the disciplic succession. Instead, they have invented many paths of logic and argument. This individual attempt to understand the supreme transcendence (called the ascending process) is not the Vedic way. The Absolute Truth must descend from the absolute platform. He is not to be understood by the ascending process. The holy name of the Lord—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—is a transcendental vibration because it comes from the transcendental platform, the supreme abode of Kṛṣṇa. And because there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His name, the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as pure, perfect and liberated as Kṛṣṇa Himself. Academic scholars, relying on logic and argument, have no entrance into the understanding of the transcendental nature of the holy name of God.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

All this we learn from the scriptures. We have great expectations that this science of pure love of Godhead will be propagated world-wide in the immediate future.

During the Satya-yuga the mode of goodness is in abundance. Or one can say that when the quality of goodness increases in a person to the extent that he becomes situated in his original constitutional identity as a servant of the Lord, thus making his human life a complete success, at that time he enjoys the bliss and tranquillity of the Satya-yuga. The three modes—goodness, passion, and ignorance—are always present in this material nature. According to the predominance of a particular mode, the yugas change from Satya to Tretā to Dvāpara to Kali. The jīvas in Kali-yuga are predominantly in the mode of ignorance, and with with the increase of this mode the threefold material miseries expand unlimitedly. Thus people today are afflicted by a short life-span, ill luck, warped intelligence, lethargy, disease, and many other sufferings.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

My dear king, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom. Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in the Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

The word hari-kīrtana used in these verses, which means "singing or chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa," could very well apply to the Bhagavad-gītā, the song sung by God Himself. The promulgation of the Bhagavad-gītā's knowledge on a world-wide scale will establish a foundation upon which the edifice of the science of love of God will be constructed. This edifice will be the repository of the sublime treasure of devotional service as taught by Lord Caitanya in Kali-yuga, and it will serve as a shining monument to the transcendental endeavors of the Lord's pure devotees.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

What is needed are exemplary spiritual actions and the espousal of the genuine path of self-realization, but these have not been properly instituted. Just as Bhagirātha brought down the Gaṅgā and liberated his forefathers, similarly, we must bring a deluge of love of Godhead that can extricate the conditioned souls from the clutches of gross materialism. At least for some time, we must create Satya-yuga, the age of reason and piety. We can easily accomplish this Herculean task simply by reintroducing Lord Caitanya's saṅkīrtana movement of the congregational chanting of Lord Kṛṣṇa's name and thus flooding the world with kṛṣṇa-prema. All living entities—the human beings, who are afflicted by Kali-yuga, as well as sub-human beings—must be drowned in the floodwaters of kṛṣṇa-prema.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 5, Purport:

As there are seasonal changes within a year, so there are changing ages in the duration of the manifest cosmic world. These changing ages are called yugas, or periods. As there are three modes of nature, there are also various ages dominated by these three modes. The period dominated by the mode of goodness is called Satya-yuga, the period of passion is called Tretā-yuga, the period of mixed passion and ignorance is called Dvāpara-yuga, and the period of darkness and ignorance (the last period) is called Kali-yuga, or the age of quarrel. The word kali means "quarrel." Kali-yuga is compared to the rainy season because many difficulties in life are experienced during this damp season.

In Kali-yuga there is a dearth of proper guidance. One may take guidance in the evening from the stars and moon, but in the rainy season the light of guidance comes from insignificant glowworms. The real light in life is the Vedic knowledge. Bhagavad-gītā affirms that the purpose of the Veda is to know the all-powerful Personality of Godhead. But in this age of quarrel there are quarrels even over the point of the existence of Godhead. In the godless civilization of the age of quarrel there are countless religious societies, them trying to banish God from religion.