Yuga Cycle in the context of "Treta Yuga"

Satya Yuga (a.k.a. Krita Yuga, IAST: Kṛta-yuga), in Hinduism, is the first and best of the four yugas (world ages) in a Yuga Cycle, preceded by Kali Yuga of the previous cycle and followed by Treta Yuga. Satya Yuga lasts for 1,728,000 years (4,800 divine years).

Satya Yuga is known as the age of truth, when humanity is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and humanity will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age". Dharma (depicted in the form of a bull) symbolizes morality and stood on all four legs during this period; the legs of Dharma reduce by one in each yuga that follows. As per Bhagavata Purana, the four legs of Dharma are Tapas lit. 'austerity', Śauca lit. 'cleanliness' (or Dāna lit. 'charity'), Dayā lit. 'compassion' and Satya lit. 'truth'.

Dvapara Yuga (IAST: Dvāpara-yuga) (Devanagari: द्वापर युग), in Hinduism, is the third and third-best of the four yugas (world ages) in a Yuga Cycle, preceded by Treta Yuga and followed by Kali Yuga. Dvapara Yuga lasts for 864,000 years (2,400 divine years).

According to the Puranas, this yuga ended when Krishna returned to his eternal abode of Vaikuntha. There are only two pillars of religion during the Dvapara Yuga: compassion and truthfulness. Vishnu assumes the colour yellow and the Vedas are categorized into four parts: Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.

The Epic-Puranic chronology is a timeline of Hindu mythology based on the Itihasa (the Sanskrit Epics, that is, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana) and the Puranas. These texts have an authoritative status in Indian tradition, and narrate cosmogeny, royal genealogies, myths and legendary events. The central dates here are the Bharata War and the start of the Kali Yuga.

These texts often discuss very long lengths of time, such as the widespread statement that Vaivasvata Manu lived 28 yuga cycles before the writer's time, which, if the usual yuga cycle of 4,320,000 years is meant, is 120 million years.

Pralaya (Sanskrit: प्रलय, romanized: Pralaya, lit. 'Destruction') is a concept in Hindu eschatology. Generally referring to four different phenomena, it is most commonly used to indicate the event of the dissolution of the entire universe that follows a kalpa (a period of 4.32 billion years) called the Brahmapralaya.

Pralaya also refers to Nityapralaya, the continuous destruction of all animate and inanimate beings that occurs on a daily basis, Prakritapralaya, the great flood produced by Prakriti (Nature) that ends all of creation after the completion of 1,000 Chaturyuga (four-age) cycles, and Atyantikapralaya, the dissolution of one's Atman (Self) due to its union with Brahman (Ultimate Reality). A concept that has been referenced in literature since the Upanishads, the concept of pralaya has been widely discussed in Hindu cosmology as well as philosophy.