Yuga

[1][2] In the Rigveda, a yuga refers to generations, a period of time (whether long or short), or a yoke (joining of two things).

[3] In the Mahabharata, the words yuga and kalpa (a day of Brahma) are used interchangeably to describe the cycle of creation and destruction.

[1][5][a] Yuga (Sanskrit: युग) means "a yoke" (joining of two things), "generations", or "a period of time" such as an age, where its archaic spelling is yug, with other forms of yugam, yugānāṃ, and yuge, derived from yuj (Sanskrit: युज्, lit.

[8] The term "yuga" has multiple meanings, including representing the number 4 and various periods of time.

In early Indian astronomy, it referred to a five-year cycle starting with the conjunction of the sun and moon in the autumnal equinox.