Dvapara Yuga is the third out of four yugas, or ages, in the religion of Hinduism. This yuga comes after Treta Yuga and is followed by Kali Yuga. During this yuga, Shri Vishnu incarnates as Lord Krishna and the yuga ends with his death.

There are only two pillars left of religion in the Dvapara Yuga. Bhagwan Vishnu assumes the color yellow and the Vedas are categorized into four parts that is Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. During these times the Brahmins are knowledgeable of two, sometimes three Vedas, but rarely have studied all the four Vedas thoroughly. Accordingly, because of this categorization, different actions and activities come into existence.

The Roles of the Castes

All people in the Dvapara Yuga are zealous, valiant, courageous and competitive by nature and are engaged only in penance

The Role of the Brahmin

In this Yuga, the Brahmins are involved in Yagya, self-study, donation and teaching activities. They attain celestial bliss by engaging in penance, religion, control of senses and restraint.

The Role of the Kshatriya

The duties of Kshatriyas are the protection of their subjects. In this era, they are humble and performe their duties by controlling their senses. The Kshatriyas honestly execute all policies of law and order without being angry or cruel. They are devoid of greed and consequently attain bliss.

The king avails the advice of the learned scholars and accordingly maintains law and order in his empire. The king who is addicted to vices will definitely end up defeated. One or two or all from Sāma, Dāna, Danda, Bheda and Upeksha is/are brought into use and help attain the desired. Kings are diligent in

A few of the kings, however, surreptitiously plan a conspiracy along with the scholars. Strong people execute work where execution of policies is involved. The king appoints priests, etc. to perform religious activities, economists and ministers to perform monetary activities, impotents to take care of women and cruel men to execute heinous activities.

The Role of the Vaishya

The duties of Vaishyas are trade, poultry-culture and agriculture. Vaishyas attain higher planes through charity and hospitality.

The Role of the Shudra

The duty of Shudras is to serve the three upper classes. Although lower than the other three castes, the Shudras are not discriminated against. The most famous Shudra in this time period is Krishna, eighth avatar of Vishnu.

The Decline of Life

The living and moral standard of the people overall in the Dvapara Yuga drops immensely from the Treta Yuga. The average life expectancy of humans begins to fall to only 2,000 years in this era because of neglect of the Varnashram, Vedas and Yagyas. The Vedas especially become less active.