Treta Yuga

A particular age of the world in cosmic
time. According to traditional belief,
time has neither a beginning nor an end,
but alternates between cycles of creation and activity, followed by cessation
and quietude. Each of these cycles lasts
for 4.32 billion years, with the active
phase known as the Day of Brahma, and
the quiet phase as the Night of Brahma.
In cosmic time, the Day of Brahma is
divided into one thousand mahayugas
(“great cosmic ages”), each of which
lasts for 4.32 million years. Each
mahayuga is composed of four constituent yugas (cosmic ages), named the
Krta Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga,
and Kali Yuga. Each of these four yugas
is shorter than its predecessor and ushers in an era more degenerate and
depraved. By the end of the Kali Yuga,
things have gotten so bad that the only
solution is the destruction and recreation of the earth, at which time the
next Krta era begins.
The Treta Yuga is the second of the
four yugas, lasting for 1,296,000 years.
Although the Treta Age is still relatively
auspicious, it is less so than the Krta
Age, symbolized by its identification
with the metal silver—not as valuable as
the gold associated with the preceding
Krta Yuga, but more valuable than the
bronze and iron associated with the two
following yugas. In popular belief the
Treta Yuga is believed to be the time
when the god Rama reigned on earth.