the names of the four yugas of time—satya, treta, dvapara and kali—are named after "dice throws" from a game of dice popular during the vedic period. their order coincides with the favorability of each throw: satya is the best throw, whereas kali is considered the worst. during the mahabharata, king nala exorcises the disembodied spirit of kali to a "vibhīdaka" tree ("terminalia belerica"), whose fruits contain nuts which were used as the dice for the vedic dice game. therefore, not only kali's name, but his penchant for gambling and reputation as being evil comes from this dice game.