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I saw a story in Ramanand Sagar's TV serial 'Krishna' (and this story should be from Shreemad Bhagavatam) which goes as follows.

When King Kakudmi and his daughter Revati came back from Bramhalok, to meet Lord Balarama, for marrying Revati with him, the height of Kakudmi and Revati was much greater than people in Dwapar Yuga, so Balarama had to touch his plough on Revati to get her down to his size. The difference in height was reasoned at the time as Kakudmi and Revati actually belonged to Satya yuga or Treta Yug.

So, my question is whether there is anything written in Hindu texts which explains the average height & weight of people in different yugas and also any reason why people are becoming shorter in height with each yuga.

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Aby
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    why people becoming shorter relates to biology. There are some texts, that refer about height. Example lord rama height was refered in sundarakanda. – Avis Dec 15 '14 at 19:24
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    I always had this doubt. Never got satisfactory answer.

    It is mentioned in different places , as the yuga progresses,height,mental capabilities , virtues , dharma decreases. But if it was the case , it should have discovered in different anthropological research. If we could able to get bones of dinosaurs, which became extinct 66 million years ago, why cant we get single human skeleton , which belonged to another yuga?

     – tekkk Dec 16 '14 at 07:14
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    If we map those 66 million years into yugas , it means dinosaurs started being getting destroyed in the middle of 16th kaliyuga before current one.

    66 million years = 16 mahayuga ( 1 mahayuga = 1 cycle of satya,treta,dwapara,kali yuga).

     – tekkk Dec 16 '14 at 07:14
  • Just a vague thought to provoke more thoughts. When people travel in space, their height and weight changes but coming back on earth, it comes back to original. This is all due to less/more gravity. Could this be a reason for bigger heights in olden times. Could this be a reason that people had the power to fly. Could this be a reason that even mountains were being lifted by different people. – Aby Dec 16 '14 at 08:10
  • @sysinit, i thought about your question of why a human skeleton could not have been found. One of the reason could be because in Hindus, generally human dead bodies are not graved but are burnt. So, after burning there's only ashes that are left. Also, as per the texts, most parts of the world were discovered later, so can't say whether there were different cremation traditions. – Aby Dec 18 '14 at 07:28
  • How sure are you that , all the people in older yugas had proper anthim samskar ? What about people lost in forest or met death accidently or died due to natural calamity – tekkk Dec 18 '14 at 18:37
  • @sysinit: I think...The last two ashrams that we call Vaanprastha (to relieve someone from the bondage of family, Society) and Sanyaas (to relieve someone from the bondage of Body itself), are just there to take care of the smooth Jeevatma Mukti. So in ancient Yugas, Antim Sanskar was NOT necessary at all. But with the general degradation of Humans, their bondage become so strong that even after performing these last duties, the soul may linger with its families, and around their subjects of attachment. Thus the Sanskar became a necessity in moder times. – Hindu Dec 18 '14 at 19:04
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    People who have met Ashwatthama also claimed that he is around 12 feet in height. People are becoming smaller and smaller as the time goes on. – Pinakin Oct 18 '15 at 05:50
  • I think tall people at that time were because of less atmospheric pressure on earth.. maybe due to some manly acts atmosphere of earth had changed leading to small height... –  May 03 '16 at 09:34
  • The people should have the similar heights as today's people. This can be guessed from the old temples & homes door - windows - bed sizes. The warriors might be taller compared to normal citizens. – iammilind Aug 26 '17 at 17:33
  • None of the . temples from Dwapara have survived till date. All the temples we have are built in kali yuga. So you cant say , what was their heights – tekkk Aug 26 '17 at 17:40
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    @sysinit, you're point is valid in that not all people might have had proper antima sanskaar. but it's a game of numbers.. there were several million dinosaurs, none of which were burnt, not even buried. even with that, we only find a few fossils rarely. Now think about humans. if only few humans were buried, what are the chances of finding their fossils ? – ram Aug 27 '17 at 01:12
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    sri rama ws 96 angula (thumb tip) tall, or 96 inches = 8 ft tall. this was towards end of treta yuga. now humans are 6 ft or 5ft. Bhavishya purana says towards end of kali, people will be like dwarves - 4ft or 3ft. – ram Aug 27 '17 at 01:14
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    first of all , there is no 100% scholarly agreement on , conversion of ancient metric to modern one(like angula etc). Even if it is the case , there should have been some bodies , which are found due to accidental deaths like in forests , which never had proper cremation. – tekkk Aug 27 '17 at 15:05
  • @ram I have had same doubts of you , regarding authenticity of those claims in the scriptures. Finally after lot of reading , I stumbled across "Lemurian Scrolls: Angelic Prophecies Revealing Human Origins" by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami . Then lot of its claims made real sense – tekkk Aug 27 '17 at 15:08
  • It talks about , what kind of bodies people in old yugas had. When satya yuga commens , people born to who are survived of old kali yuga. But they have some thing called "light body" . Which is like thin layer of covering around subtle / sooksha shareera . Each subsequent yugas , it becomes more and more dense , finallly to reach densest body in kali yuga – tekkk Aug 27 '17 at 15:11
  • That is the very reason , people could able to fly in old yugas like in satya and treta . But toward end of treta , due to hardening of light bodies , it was becoming impossible for them to fly . Height too started reducing. That is why escavation could find only people in kali yuga and hardened exceptions of old yugas like what we call neanderthals etc – tekkk Aug 27 '17 at 15:13
  • @tekkk "But if it was the case , it should have discovered in different anthropological research" have you comsidered that is just mythology? – Wikash_ May 18 '19 at 13:49

1 Answers1

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I am providing answer related to heights of humans in different yuga only

In the Skanda Purana, while explaining the greatness of the Yugas, their extent and special features, Brhaspati told the measurements for heights of humans in different yugas.

[KRTA YUGA]: ....They are as tall as five Talas(Palms).....

[TRETA YUGA]: ....They are one Tala (palm tree) in height....

[DVAPARA YUGA]: ....Some come to a height of five Hastas and others four Hastas.....

[KALI YUGA]: ....In the beginning of the Yuga, men reach the height of three and a half Hastas. From there they diminish in size even as Kali advances.....

[CHAPTER TWENTYSEVEN: Characteristics of the Four Yugas, Book VI: Nagara Khanda, Skanda Purana]

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