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Kali yuga
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'''Kali Yuga''' (
Devnagari DevnÄ?gari: काली यà¥?ग) (''lit. Age of Kali'', also known as ''Iron Age''), according to most interpretations of
Hindu scriptures, including the
Vedas, began at the end of
Krishna's bodily lifespan (approximately 5100 years ago,
32nd century BCE 3102 BCE) and will last exactly 432,000 years — placing its conclusion in the year
11th millennium and beyond 428,899 CE (it began with a
year zero year 0).
Kalki, the 10th and final
avatar of
Vishnu, is expected to appear at this time, riding a white horse and wielding a flaming sword with which to strike down the wicked.
Kali Yuga is the last of four
Yugas—upon its conclusion, the world will '
reboot' into a new
Satya Yuga (''Golden Age''). This involves the ''
end of the world as we know it'' and the return of Earth to a state of
paradise. Kali Yuga began at midnight (00:00) on
18 February 32nd century BCE 3102 BCE according to the ''
Surya Siddhanta'', which is an astronomical treatise that forms the basis of all
Hindu calendar Hindu and
Buddhist calendars.
Kali Yuga is sometimes referred to as the
Iron Age because it was also the time when forging iron was discovered. Throughout the Kali Yuga, Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates further.
Problems that arise
There is an increase in material technology but there is a huge decrease in spirituality. Kali Yuga is the only Yuga in which irreligion/atheism is more powerful and popular than religion. Only a quarter of each of the four virtues of
Dharma (penance, truthfulness, compassion and charity) is carried out by humans now. Nobility is determined only by the wealth of a person. Law and justice are determined by one's prestige and power. The poor become enslaved by the rich and powerful. Words such as charity and freedom are constantly used by the people, yet are never done.
Warfare
"Civilised" warfare is gone and humans fight like
Asuras and
Rakshasas. Unlike in the other Yugas where there would be a daily ceasefire by sunset to mourn the losses, cremate the victims, and to reflect on the war, Kali Yuga battles are fought constantly, just for the sake of winning.
Sadism also flourishes.
Nobility/respect
In Kali Yuga, people are no longer respected for intelligence, knowledge or spiritual wisdom. Instead, material wealth and, to a lesser extent, physical strength, are what make a person highly regarded. Even though respect is shown superficially among the people, no one sincerely respects anyone. Everyone believes that the ultimate goal in life is to be respected, hence becoming wealthy and physically strong.
Changes in the people
Throughout the age, humans become shorter in height and weaker physically as well as mentally and spiritually. There is false preaching of Gods, idols and gurus. Many people lie and claim themselves to be prophets and God-like beings. In addition, everybody will modify the definitions of fasting, meditation and austerity to suit their needs. However, by doing this, they are not following the strict moral code and law of the
Vedas, and will therefore hardly gain anything.
Changes in men
In Kali Yuga, men question the power of
Brahmins, religious ceremonies, the existence of Gods, and the authority of the
Vedas. There is no longer any respect towards elders or children. Jealousy grows in each man and they despise, hate, and are ready to kill one another over a few coins. The actions of men and savage beasts are alike.
Changes in women
Women in this era shall be immoral and licentious by nature because they are neglected and left unprotected by the men. Although earlier they are treated as inferior to the male and taken care of, later on they begin to dominate politics and other affairs which results in major ego clashes with the men. Women begin to betray their husbands by having affairs. Divorces increase with more and more children raised by one parent. Many women engage in adultery and prostitution.
Lives of each of the castes
Earlier on in Kali Yuga, there is discrimination among the
castes, particularly on the
Shudras. Gradually, however, this is inverted with the
Brahmin and
Kshatriyas becoming the most discriminated against. Eventually the only caste that remains is the Shudra.
Life of the Brahmin
Most of the Brahmins stop performing religious activities. Like everyone else, they lose all their morality, eat meat (even beef), and start to take in
intoxicants. Their respect and dignity is lost. When the ''
mleccha'' are meant to perform sacrifice, they do not. The sacrifices change from fruits, water, and other pure substances to drugs, meat and material wealth. Only a few will isolate themselves from the rest of the destructive world and follow God. This number will decrease nonetheless as the Kali Yuga goes on. Gradually the last remaining Brahmin family will be living in
Shambhala, where
Kalki will be born.
Life of the Kshatriya
Kshatriyas, the royal and warrior caste, become unwise and discard their religious duties, fail to follow the principles. They concentrate in accumulating wealth and spend time in drinking in the company of women. They fail to protect the people and disrespect
Brahmins. They gradually lose their political power and position in the hands of lower castes. Their leadership falls into the hands of unprincipled rogues, criminals, and terrorists, who use their power to exploit the people. They would rather steal from their citizens than protect and defend them. New leaders emerge from the labour class and begin to persecute religious people,
saints,
teachers,
intellectuals, and
philosophers.
Dictatorships are founded by the lower classes.
Life of the Vaishya
The
Vaishyas, who represent the
middle class,
merchants,
tradesmen and businessmen of society, are now the petty-minded people who conduct business transactions and merchants dishonestly. New types of business-related crimes are formed, such as fraud and counterfeiting. The traders become selfish and try to satisfy their wants before the consumer. The very few who are honest with their business are not successful and eventually become
unemployment unemployed. Eventually even they resort to cheating to be successful. Vaishyas too give up the religious activities and seclude themselves from the religious path for the search of wealth.
Life of the Shudra
Shudras no longer respect any of the higher castes. They are the most worshipped caste in Kali Yuga. After the first 10,000 years in the Yuga, they will be the sole
varna, or caste remaining on Earth. During this period, though they may change their occupations or external status, their thoughts, beliefs, wisdom, personality and spiritual insight do not change.
They quarell with each other, even inside the family and inside the community. Son kills father and siblings engage in congenital relationship. They question religious principles and are driven in the mode of darkness.
Exception
The Supreme Personality therefore comes to teach us how to act according to the Vedic principles. In this age of Kali, one of the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and preached that in this age the Vedic activities cannot be systematically performed because people are so fallen. He gave this recommendation from the sastras:
''"harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha"''
ISKON believe that "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." The Krisna consciousness movement is therefore teaching people all over the world how to chant the Hare Krisna mantra, and this has proved very much effective in all places at all times. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in order to teach us Vedic principles intended for understanding Him (vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah). We should always know that when Krisna appeared, he appeared in suddha-sattva bodies. One should not mistake the body of Krisna to be a material body like ours, for Krisna appeared as needed for the benefit of the entire human society. There were many others like
Adi Shankaracharya, Saint
Dyaneshwara,
Ramkrishna Paramhansa,
Narasinha Saraswati, Saint
Ramdas, Saint
Tulsidas, Saint
Kabir and Saint
Meerabai who guided spiritual souls on the right path.
During Kali Yuga, there are a minority of people who are still strong supporters of Lord (or "God"). However, by around 7000 CE, which is ten thousand years after Kali Yuga began, the devotees of God would all have received
moksha (liberation, gone to heaven), and evil on Earth and in humans and other creatures is
omnipresent. There is total chaos.
Other views of Kali Yuga
According to
Sri Aurobindo, Kali Yuga lasts far less than 432,000 years. The followers of the
Purna Yoga believe that
the Mother successfully solicited the early termination of the Kali Yuga in 1969, and the abolition of
pralaya (normal process of destruction of the universe at the end of a
kalpa – Cosmic Cycle of Creation-Destruction).
According to
Akilam Akilattirattu Ammanai the holy book of
Ayyavazhi religion and source of
Ayyavazhi mythology, this Kali Yuga is the seventh of the
Eight Yukams eight yugas. The Asura of this yuga
Kaliyan was the sixth-fragment of
Kroni the primordial manifestation of evil.
According to
Sri Yukteswar Giri, we are currently in
Dwapara Yuga, not Kali Yuga. In his book
The Holy Science, he explains that "the astronomers and astrologers who calculate the almanacs have been guided by wrong annotations of certain Sanskrit scholars (such as Kullu Bhatta) of the dark age of Kali Yuga, and now maintain that the length of Kali Yuga is 432,000 years, of which 4994 have (in A D. 1894) passed away, leaving 427,006 years still remaining. A dark prospect! And fortunately one not true."
The Holy Science includes his astronomical explanation for a shorter Yuga Cycle, in which Kali Yuga lasts only 2,400 years.
But these above views originated only during past few decades. They are not known widely and are not authorised in
Hinduism due to lack of substance and authority as compared to
Veda sastras.
See also
*
Metrics of time in Hinduism
External links
-
The Hindu concept of Time
-
Golden period of 10,000 years in current Kali-yuga
{{hinduism}}
Category:Four Yugas
Category:Eight Yugas
Category:Shabd paths
Category:Eschatology
Category:Prophecy
it:Kali Yuga
pl:Kali juga
pt:Kali Yuga
tr:Kali Yuga
see
Kali Yuga
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