Significance of Yugadi

Yugadi is thought as the first day of the Indian calendar. Actually the word Yugadi is made of 2 wordsYuga and Adi. Yuga means era and Adi means the beginning. So Yugadi means – Beginning of an era. Why does a day that comes every year called the beginning of an era? To answer this question, we have to dig deeper.
Everything evolves. Minerals evolve into plants, plants into animals and animals into humans. The evolution of minerals, plants and animals depends on time. On the other hand, humans can control their rate of evolution and evolve faster than the slow pace determined by Nature – if they decide to do so. There are special times when the energies in Nature aid the beginning of a new era. These energies are available to one and all irrespective of their race or religion. To those who can use the energies, every year Yugadi is the beginning of a period when man can use the energies in Nature to hasten his own evolution. If one does not use these energies, the day remains a day when one celebrates a festival and eats good food.
There are 9 days between Yugadi and Ram Navami. We should realize that Ram Navami is not primarily about thebirth of a person called Ram. It is the day when the concept of Ram-Rajya, the ideal way of living was born. We too can develop the right way of living by using the energies in this period and move ahead in our evolution. Rama was a king of the dynasty of sun (SuryaVansh). He could use the energy of the sun to establish the rule of righteousness.
In fact, the source of all matter and energy on earth is sun. The sun, moon and fire are the three sources of energy on earth. The light of the moon is nothing but the reflection of sunlight on to earth. When one focuses sunlight onto a piece of cotton through a magnifying lens, it catches fire. Thus fire is nothing but concentrated solar energy.  Interestingly, the concept of time arises out of the rotation and revolution of Earth around the Sun. As the earth revolves round the sun, the cycle repeats again and again. That is why Yugadi – the special time to build a new era occurs every year. Hence, to achieve anything, the power of sun is necessary.
The  Gayatri Mantra is the means of using the power of sun for this purpose. This is why Gayatri is called the giver of right knowledge – sadbuddhi pradaata. Using the power of Gayatri, one has to intensify the talents one has and contribute to the development of the world. It is then that man moves ahead in evolution and the day of Yugadi would actually be the beginning of a new era.