The Pluto yugas theory
I have been searching for a mechanism behind yugas ever since I learned about them, and I believe I finally have the answer. The Pluto yugas theory proposes that Pluto and its nodes are the markers for defining what yuga we're in.
This post serves as a summary of everything I have found. I will be writing a separate blog post for each sub-topic over the coming weeks, so if you're interested to hear more, you can sign up to my newsletter:
Pluto – the mechanism behind yugas
Essentially, the theory assumes that the Puranas were talking about actual astronomical cycles when they were talking about the yugas, the manvantaras and kalpas. But over time as scriptures were rewritten, some things were adjusted, lost in translation, and as such we've ended up with the insanely long timescales of 432,000 years for Kali yuga and so on.
Sri Yukteshwar made a correction with his 24,000 year mahayuga cycle proposal, based on his understanding and intuition of the cycle. The Pluto yugas theory, as I see it, is another layer of corrections, tying the yugas cycle to scientifically observable astronomical cycles.
The dial of the yugas
Earth's polar axis aligning with the Pluto's descending node is what defines the beginning of a mahayuga, or the Satya peak.
While Earth's axis points towards the part of the Pluto's orbit which is North of the ecliptic, we're in the descending half of the yugas cycle. And while Earth's axis points towards the part of the Pluto's orbit which is South of the ecliptic, we're in the ascending half.
The exact yugas and timigs can be calculated by the Pluto's ascending node's tropical degrees on the ecliptic. 180 degrees of the ascending yuga lines up with when Pluto's node goes from 0° Cancer to 0° Capricor. Those 180 degrees are divided into 10 parts, 1 for Kali (0° Cancer to 18° Cancer), 2 for Dwapara (18° Cancer to 24° Leo), 3 for Treta, and 4 for Satya yuga.
The Pluto myth
The Earth's axis pointing to South side of Pluto showing a time of progress matches experientially with what we see when Pluto goes Out of Bounds (OOB). When Pluto goes OOB to the North, (WW2 the latest example) is when we get great atrocities and tyranny. While it goes OOB to the South is when we get revolutions and progress, latest example being the Revolutionary War in the USA and the French Revolution. And of course it goes OOB South from 2025 to 2035.
Pluto is appropriate symbolically, since its core myth is about descent to and ascent from the underworld. The planet of the underworld brings us Kali yuga, a time of darkness.
I believe that Pluto, which was not discovered while Sri Yukteshwar wrote down the timings of the yugas, was what he intuited to be the "binary star".
Our present day
Using this calculation, here's the timings for the yugas in our current mahayuga:
| Marker | Node longitude | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Descending Treta → Dwapara, proper begins | 39.0° | 3356 BC |
| Desc Dwapara → Kali sandhi begins | 69.0° | 1084 BC |
| Descending Dwapara → Kali | 72.0° | 859 BC |
| Desc Kali proper begins | 73.5° | 746 BC |
| Kali bottom (0 Cancer) | 90.0° | 490 AD |
| Asc Kali → Dwapara sandhi begins | 106.5° | 1718 AD |
| Ascending Kali → Dwapara | 108.0° | 1829 AD |
| Ascending Dwapara, proper begins | 111.0° | 2051 AD |
Notably, we're still in transition to Dwapara, the age of energy.
With this, it's quite possible that the descending Kali yuga may have literally started when Krishna died, at least according to some historians this matches the timing.
Manvantaras
Pluto's nodes take 3.7 million years to make a full circle themselves, during which we get (almost) exactly 142 mahayugas. That leaves us with 71 mahayugas for the ascending half, and 71 mahayugas for the descending half, each one manvantara. This finally explains why the scriptures say there's exactly 71 mahayugas in a manvantara, which seems like a pretty odd number, until you look at Pluto's nodes.
Using the Galactic Center as the beginning point of a manvantara, we would currently be in the 28th mahayuga of our current manvantara, which is exactly what the scriptures say.
Kalpas and Brahma's day/year/life
Scriptures tell us that a kalpa is 14 manvantaras, so with this system it lasts about 26Myr, two kalpas would make 52Myr. This is close to what the scientists say the Solar System takes to oscillate above and below the Galactic plane.
Brahma's year and day are where the scriptures and this system deviate. Scriptures tell us that 2 kalpas form a brahma's day (52 Myr) and 360 of those form a Brahma's year, giving us 18Byr which is already more than the measured age of the universe.
What I think was originally written down, is that two manvantaras form a Brahma's day - which would then be 3.7 Myr, one Pluto's nodal cycle. And then 60 of those would give us a Brahma's year. Because that's around 222Myr, which is about the time the Solar System takes to make one full circle around the Milky Way - a full Brahma's year.
If we take the conjunction between the Galactic Plane and the Galactic Center as the starting point of the Brahma's year, we would be in the 1st day of our current Brahma's year. Which is again, exactly what the scriptures say.
Finally, Brahma being 50 years old would suggest with this logic that we've got 50 circles around the Milky Way. Now the Solar System is much younger, having maybe gone 20 circles, but perhaps the dust cloud it was formed by, would approximately have gone 50 circles. This one is hard to measure and astronomical uncertainty is high enough for it to be plausible.
Conclusion
I personally find it quite enticing of a theory, especially due to the close alignment to Sri Yukteshwar's Kali bottom timing, and the natural emergence of getting 71 mahayugas per manvantara.
Excited to share the rest of the details that would not reasonably fit in one post.