Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s4.1097

v2.c4.s4.1097

To the four ages, Kali, Dvāpara, Tretā, and Kṛta, there is no certain reference in Vedic literature, though the names occur as the designations of throws at dice (see Akṣa). In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa¹¹ the names occur, but it is not clear that the ages are really meant. Haug¹² thought that the dice were meant: this view is at least as probable as the alternative explanation, which is accepted by Weber,¹³ Roth,¹⁴ Wilson,¹⁵ Max Müller,¹⁶ and Muir.¹⁷ Roth, indeed, believes that the verse is an interpolation; but in any case it must be remembered that the passage is from a late book of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. Four ages—Puṣya, Dvāpara, Khārvā, and Kṛta—are mentioned in the late Ṣaḍviṃśa Brāhmaṇa,¹⁸ and the Dvāpara in the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa.¹⁹