I shall tell you today the inner meaning of the different yugas – the Treta Yuga, the Dwapara Yuga and the present Kali Yuga. In the Treta Yuga, the Divine elements were on one side and the demonical elements on the other. At the time of the Rama avatar the divine elements were in Ayodhya and Kishkindha and the demonic forces were in the forest of Dandakaranya. The two elements were in separate regions. Rama waged a war against the Rakshasas in Dandakaranya and protected the Rishis. This is the inner meaning of the Rama avatar in the Treta Yuga.

In the Dwapara Yuga, the divine and the demoniac elements - namely, the Pandavas and the Kaurvas were in the same kingdom. In such situation Krishna gave his army to the Kauravas and without His wielding any weapon gave His support to the Pandavas in the great battle of Kurukshetra. He used others as instruments.

But today, these divine and demonic forces are battling in each human being. This is the mark of the Kali age. In Treta Yuga, Rama fought the battle in person. In Dwapara Yuga, Krishna played the role of a witness, using others as His instruments. He did not engage in the battle Himself. In Kali Yuga because the two opposing factors are in each individual, the Lord plays the role of a witness and as the conscience. Man has to use the power of discrimination given to him to fight the evil forces within him. He has to foster the divine elements in him by his own efforts and listening to the voice of his conscience. The freedom to choose has been given to man for this purpose. This freedom is to be used to discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil and to foster divine qualities. This is the unique feature of the Kali age. In this age, each individual has to fight against the demonic forces himself and vanquish them. When this is accomplished, man’s inherent divine nature will manifest itself of its own accord. (SSS Vol.20, pp. 122-124)