YUGA DHARMA:
Our Puranas divide the duration of mankind on Earth into four Yugas; Satya Yuga which equals 1,728,000 Human years, Treta Yuga equals 1,296,000 Human years, Dvapara Yuga equals 864,000 Human years and Kali Yuga equals 432,000 Human years. The Yugas gradually undergo a reduction in dharma and likewise, mankind over the yugas undergo a decline in their dharmic values, wisdom, knowledge, lifespan and physical strength. The prescribed mode of worship is hence different for each yuga. The recommended form of worship for each yuga takes into account the ability of the people. In Satya Yuga, the Golden Age, the mode of worship is rigorous penance (tapas). The people of this age had the longest lifespan and could undertake tapas for thousands of years at a time. The next yuga, the Treta Yuga saw a reduction in dharmic values by 25% and the capacity of people too declined by 25%. During Treta Yuga, people worshipped Perumal by performing great yagnams like Ashwamedha, and Vajapeya yagams. The advent of Dwapara Yuga once again saw a reduction in dharmic values and the capacity of people deteriorated by another 25% and therefore the recommended mode of worship for people of the Dwapara Yuga was through archana. We are now in the last Yuga called Kali Yuga. Figuratively, we are balancing on just one leg as we have seen a reduction in dharmic values and our abilities by 75%. We can neither perform tapas nor perform yagnams. We can’t even perform archanas with focus as we have many things like a cell phone which distract us easily and hence the recommended mode of worship for us is the very simple but effective “Hari Nama Sankeerthanam”.
In Kali Yuga though our abilities has declined by 75%, our greed and materialistic attitudes has increased by 100%. Our wants are more and we want to fulfil our desires quickly and instantly. The people of this Yuga do not have the patience to work hard to earn good results. We want instant gratifications and this mental attitude drives people to perform yagams as the means to achieve their ends. One such homam is the “Kubera Homam”. Is it right to perform such homams? We will examine some details in this series.
To Be Continued:
