Story 19 The History of the Gita and “Calculation of the Yugas”

 Story 19

The History of the Gita and “Calculation of the Yugas”

Grandfather and Rahul are sitting in the courtyard on a winter day, enjoying the warm sunlight. Soft sunshine is falling on their faces.

Rahul (squinting his eyes and looking at the sun): Grandpa, the sun feels so nice, right? It gives us light and warmth. If there was no sun… life would be so difficult!

Grandfather (smiling): Yes, my child. Without the sun, life would not be possible at all.

Plants make their food using sunlight. Do you remember what this process is called?

Rahul: Yes, Grandpa—photosynthesis!

Grandfather: Very good! If plants cannot make food, they will not survive. And if there are no plants, how will animals and humans live?

Rahul (jokingly): By drinking water?

Grandfather (smiling): But water also comes from rain. And who brings the rain?

Rahul: Clouds! And I know how clouds are made.
The sun turns sea water into vapor, which forms clouds. Then clouds bring rain to the earth.

Grandfather: Now do you understand how important the sun is?

Rahul (surprised):  So Grandpa, the sun is like God, right?

Grandfather: Yes, my child. That is why we call the sun Surya Dev and respect it like a deity. We even offer water to the sun in the morning.

And Rahul, do you know something interesting?
Lord Krishna first gave the knowledge of the Gita to the Sun God.

Rahul (jumping in surprise): What! The Gita was first taught to the Sun God?
But Grandpa, the sun is a planet… okay, I’ll call it a deity for you… but it’s not a human like Arjuna, right?

Grandfather (gently explaining): My child, the Sun God is like the king of all planets. His light and heat reach everywhere. And because he is a king, he also has a name—Vivasvan.

Rahul (laughing): Oh! The Sun God has a name too!

Grandfather:  Yes, and I am not saying this on my own. Lord Krishna Himself says this in the Gita, Chapter 4. Listen—4.1

Shrī bhagavān uvācha
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha manur ikṣhvākave ’bravīt

The Supreme Lord Shree Krishna said: I taught this eternal science of Yog to the Sun God, Vivasvan, who passed it on to Manu; and Manu, in turn, instructed it to Ikshvaku.

Rahul (curiously): Grandpa, krishna says othernames too in this ,who are Manu and Ikshvaku?

Grandfather: Manu was the son of the Sun God and is known as the father of all humans.
In fact, the word “Manav” comes from his name Manu.
Manu then gave this knowledge to his son Ikshvaku, who was the ancestor of the Raghu dynasty.

Rahul (excited): Raghu dynasty! That means Lord Ram’s family, right?
“Raghukul reet sada chali aayi, pran jaye par vachan na jaye!”

Grandfather (smiling and nodding): Yes, very good! Lord Ram was born in that same family.

Rahul (thoughtfully): So Grandpa, just like you are teaching me the Gita, they also passed this knowledge to their children?

Grandfather (lovingly): Exactly, my child. Good knowledge is always shared from one generation to another. The Gita is not just for Arjuna—it is for every age.
Its wisdom is eternal and never changes. Time may change, ages may change, but its truth always stays the same.

So, it is our duty to share this precious knowledge with everyone.

(Grandfather looks at Rahul lovingly)

Rahul, do you know? After this, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna a question—just like you do!

Rahul (curiously): Really? Like me? What did Arjuna ask?

Grandfather: Arjuna asked, “You were born in this age, just like me. Then how did you teach the Gita to the Sun God long ago?”

Rahul: Yes, that’s a good question! What did Lord Krishna reply?

Grandfather: Lord Krishna said, “Many births have passed for both you and me, Arjuna.
I remember all of them, but you do not remember your past lives.”

Rahul: Why don’t we remember our past lives, Grandpa?

Grandfather: Because we are souls. We forget our past births.
But God is the Supreme Soul—He knows everything: every life, every soul, every age.

Rahul (softly): So… God knows everything about me too?

Grandfather (placing his hand on Rahul’s head):  Yes, my child. God knows everything about you, me, and everyone—because He lives inside all of us.

So we should always trust God and try to understand the wisdom of the Gita.

Rahul (eyes shining): Grandpa, I didn’t know the Gita is so ancient!

Grandfather: Rahul, do you know what “Yugas” (ages) are?

Rahul (thinking): They are very, very long periods of time.

Grandfather: Correct! There are four Yugas, and in every age, God takes different forms (avatars).

Rahul (excited): Four Yugas? Which ones?

Grandfather:

1.    Satya Yuga – the age of truth and goodness.
God took many forms like Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, and Narasimha.

2.    Treta Yuga – the age of ideals and values.
Lord Ram was born in this age.

3.    Dvapara Yuga – the age of struggle and the Mahabharata.

Rahul (quickly): That’s when Lord Krishna was born!

Grandfather: Very good!

4.    Kali Yuga – the present age we are living in.
Truth is less, selfishness is more. At the end of this age, Kalki Avatar will come.

Rahul:
Grandpa, I saw a movie about Kalki Avatar! It was amazing!

Grandfather (smiling): Yes, but movies are based on imagination. True knowledge comes from scriptures.

Rahul: Grandpa, how long are these ages?

Grandfather: Each Yuga has a different length.

• Kali Yuga – 432,000 years

Rahul (in English): Four hundred thirty-two thousand years?!

Grandfather: Yes! And, Dvapara Yuga is double of that. Can you calculate?

Rahul (thinking): 864,000 years!

Grandfather: Excellent! Now Treta Yuga is three times Kali Yuga.

Rahul: 1,296,000 years?

Grandfather: Correct! And Satya Yuga is four times Kali Yuga.

Rahul (holding his head playfully): Oh no, now I need paper and pen!

Grandfather (laughing): It is 1,728,000 years!

Grandfather: Now bring paper and pen , add all four Yugas together.

Rahul (writing and speaking):
432,000 + 864,000 + 1,296,000 + 1,728,000 =
4,320,000 years!

Grandfather: Very good! This is called one Chaturyuga (one full cycle of four ages).

Rahul: That’s such a long time!

How much of Kali Yuga has passed?

Grandfather: Only about 5,000 years have passed.

Rahul (quickly calculating): That means 427,000 years are still left!

Rahul (wide-eyed): Oh wow! It’s just the beginning!

Grandfather: And there is more!

71 Chaturyugas make one Manvantara.

Rahul (repeating slowly):  71 Chaturyugas = 1 Manvantara

Grandfather: And 14 Manvantaras make one day of Brahma.

Rahul (confused): Grandpa, now my head is spinning!

Grandfather (laughing): You are doing great today!

Rahul: Just tell me one thing—how long is one day of Brahma?

Grandfather: It is 4.32 billion years. This is called a Kalpa.

Rahul (amazed): Four billion three hundred twenty million years!!

And our life…?

Grandfather (gently): Our life is just about 100 years—very small compared to that.

Rahul (smiling softly): Grandpa, today you showed me how big time really is!

Grandfather (with a sparkle in his eyes): My child, when someone understands the ages of time, they also understand the value of life.

Rahul: Grandpa, our life is really very short… only about 100 years, right?

Grandfather: Yes, that’s why we should use our life in the best way.
We should do good things and make our life meaningful.

And remember, we are just a very small part of this huge creation,
so we should never feel proud or egoistic.

Rahul: Grandpa, let’s go inside now—
today we got plenty of sunshine and lots of knowledge too!

Grandfather (laughing): Yes Rahul, you are right.
Go, now you take some rest… and I will rest too.