By Jit Majumdar
- after two
- the third
- the third of the four cyclical epochs, ot yugas, that repeat each other in succession, and the duration of which is considered to be 2400 divine years, which is 864,000 earthly years, and is characterized by an equal balance of vice and virtue, and having an average human lifespan of 200 years as against predominance of virtue in the preceding Tretā yuga or the lack of any vice during the Satya Yuga. It is towards the closing end of this (the last occuring) epoch that the events narrated in the Mahābhārata epic is traditionally considered to have taken place.