38 verses
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Then, O King, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the age of Kali.
In Kali-yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man's good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one's power.
He who has wealth has good birth, good conduct and good qualities. This will be explained.
Men and women will live together merely because of pleasure, and business will be based on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one's expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brāhmaṇa just by his wearing a thread.
A person's superiority or inferiority in āśrama will be ascertained merely according to external symbols. Defeat of justice will be caused by inability to give bribes. Agitated speech will be considered learning.
Excellence or degradation in āśrama, not knowledge or proper conduct, will be judged by wearing deer skin, carrying a daṇòa or shaving the head. Inability to give bribes will cause defeat of justice. Agitated speech will be considered learning.
A person will be judged improper if he does not have money, and cheating will be accepted as a virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is properly attired if he has merely taken a bath.
A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one's hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.
As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas or śūdras is the strongest will become the king.
Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.
The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow, and by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.
The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.
pāṣaṇòa-pracure dharme dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu cauryānṛta-vṛthā-hiṁsā- nānā-vṛttiṣu vai nṛṣu
śūdra-prāyeṣu varṇeṣu
cchāga-prāyāsu dhenuṣu
gṛha-prāyeṣv āśrameṣu
yauna-prāyeṣu bandhuṣu
aṇu-prāyāsv oṣadhīṣu
śamī-prāyeṣu sthāsnuṣu
vidyut-prāyeṣu megheṣu
śūnya-prāyeṣu sadmasu
itthaṁ kalau gata-prāye
janeṣu khara-dharmiṣu
dharma-trāṇāya sattvena
bhagavān avatariṣyati
By the time the age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than youthfulness. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, and devoid of rain. Homes will be empty, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Lord will appear on the earth for rescuing dharma with body of śuddha-sattva.
Sthāsnuṣu means trees.
Lord Viṣṇu, the guru of all moving and nonmoving living beings, and the Supreme Soul of all, takes birth to protect the principles of religion and to liberate his devotees.
The birth will take place for liberating the devotees (karmāpanuttaye).
Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā.
vicarann āśunā kṣauṇyāṁ hayenāpratima-dyutiḥ nṛpa-liḍga-cchado dasyūn koṭiśo nihaniṣyati
With unrivalled effulgence, Kalki, the Lord of the universe, endowed with the eight powers, mounting his swift horse sent by the devatās by which he will destroy the wicked, will travel over the earth on his horse with a sword in his hand. He will kill millions of thieves who dress as kings.
He will mount a swift horse given by the devatās by which the demons are destroyed. He will kill thieves dressed as kings.
After all the thieves have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will develop clear minds from contacting the purifying breeze from the fragrances on the body of Vāsudeva.
When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Lord, appears in their hearts in his śuddha-sattva form, the creation of the population with strong sense of dharma will take place.
Sthaviṣṭhaḥ means strong because of being fixed in dharma.
When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga and creation of population in sattva-guṇa will begin.
Sūtiḥ means production.
When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspati simultaneously enter the constellation Puṣyā in Karkaṭa sign, Satya-yuga will begin.
This verse describes the beginning of Satya-yuga. Tiṣya means Puṣya constellation. Jupiter enters Cancer sign every twelve years (staying there for approximately a year) and during that time it is possible for two or three dark moons (conjunction of sun and moon) to conjoin with Jupiter. However, when all three planets enter Puṣya simultaneously, Satya-yuga begins.
Thus I have described in brief all the kingspast, present and futurewho belong to the dynasties of the sun and the moon.
This concludes the description what started in Canto Nine.
From your birth up to the coronation of King Nanda, 1,150 years will pass.
The years should be enumerated from Parīkṣit onwards. From kings like Mārjārī (grandson of Jarāsandha) contemporary to Parīkṣit to Nanda1 will be a little less than one thousand five hundred years, a sequence not including period when the kingdom was splintered.
tenaiva ṛṣayo yuktās tiṣṭhanty abda-śataṁ nṛṇām te tvadīye dvijāḥ kāla adhunā cāśritā maghāḥ
Of the seven stars forming the constellation of the seven sages, Pulaha and Kratu are the first to rise in the night sky. If a line running north and south were drawn through their midpoint, whichever of the lunar mansions this line passes through is said to be the ruling constellation for that time. The Seven Sages will remain connected with that particular constellation for one hundred human years. Currently, during your lifetime, they are situated in the constellation called Maghā.
A precise calculation of time is given in order to define the beginning of Kali-yuga and its progress. Between the first two stars (Pulaha and Kratu) of the seven sages, which is shaped like a cart when seen at night, the constellations starting from Aśvini appear. Each constellation will remain for a hundred years in that position. Now, during the time of Parīkṣit, the constellation was Maghā. When Kṛṣṇa was born the constellation between those to stars was Aśleṣa. When the two stars positioning in Aśleṣa was finished and they entered Maghā constellation, Kali-yuga began. When the seven sages reach Purvāṣāòha constellation Kali will be flourishing. This will be understood later in the text.
When the seven sages entered Maghā constellation, when Viṣṇu, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, the ray of Kṛṣṇa, went to Vaikuṇṭha, Kali entered this world, and people then began to take pleasure in sinful activities.
When the seven sages entered Maghā constellation, and the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, the ray (bhānuḥ) of Kṛṣṇa, who is completely famous as Kṛṣṇa, went to Vaikuṇṭha (while Kṛṣṇa remained aprakaṭa in Dvārakā and Vraja). According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, the word bhānuḥ means śuddha-sattva form since bhānuḥ means he who shines.
As long us Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the husband of Lakṣṁī, touched the earth with his lotus feet, Kali could not subdue this planet.
But it is said that, when Duryodhana began the gambling match during the Lords advent at the junction of Dvāpara-yuga, and when at the time he attempted to take off Draupadīs clothing, Kali, ordered by the Lord, took that auspicious moment to gain control of the earth. True, but at that time the influence was insignificant. When Kṛṣṇa was present the four legs of dharma were also present and people were completely happy. According to the statement of earth herself, the strength of dharma was greater than that of Tretā-yuga. What then is the question of Kali conquering at that time?
When the seven sages pass into the constellation Maghā, the age of Kali begins. Kali-yuga comprises twelve hundred years of the devatās.
When the seven sages enter Maghā constellation and Kṛṣṇa disappears, the next moment after that Kali-yuga begins. Twelve hundred years of the devatās includes the two sandhyās as well.2
When the seven sages enter Pūrvāsāòhā constellation,3 Kali will have his full strength, beginning from King Nanda and his dynasty.
This verse describes the time it took for Kali to become strong.
The ancients with knowledge have declared that on the very day that Kṛṣṇa departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the age of Kali began.
Well, some recent speculators have said that Kṛṣṇa made his appearance in the first sandhyā of Kali-yuga. This verse refutes that theory. The general rule is that next yuga enters during the concluding part of the closing sandhyā (called a sandhyāṁśa) of the previous yuga. However, because of the influence of Kṛṣṇa, Kali could not have any effect at that time.
After the one thousand celestial years of Kali-yuga, Satya-yuga will manifest again at the concluding sandhyā of Kali-yuga. At that time the minds of all men will become self-effulgent.
This verse describes the entrance time of Satya-yuga. Caturthe means in Kali-yuga. Here it actually means that Satya-yuga will begin during the sandhyāṁśa of Kali-yuga4.
Thus I have enumerated the families descended from of Manus on this earth. One can similarly enumerate the vaiśyas, śūdras and brāhmaṇas living in the various ages.
Just as the numbers in members in the families of Manu have been enumerated, the varṇas can be calculated, though they have not been mentioned here.
These great personalities are now known only by their names and their stories. Thus, only their fame remains on the earth.
Of those who are known by names (nāma-liḍgānām) and remaining stories, their glories alone survive.
Devāpi, the brother of Mahārāja Śāntanu, and Maru, the descendant of Ikṣvāku, both possessing great mystic strength, are living even now in the village of Kalāpa.
This describes the method of reviving the destroyed line of kings. Devāpi was in the moon dynasty.
At the end of the age of Kali, these two kings, having received instruction directly from Vāsudeva, will return to human society and establish varṇāśrama-dharma, just as it was before.
The cycle of four agesSatya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kalicontinues perpetually among living beings on this earth, in the same sequence.
This verse shows the cycle of four yugas.
O King Parīkṣit! All these kings I have described, as well as all other human beings, come to this earth and develop possessiveness, and at the end give up this world and meet their destruction.
Even though a person's body may now have the designation "king," in the end its name will be "worms," "stool" or "ashes." What can a person who injures other living beings for the sake of his body know about his own self-interest, since his activities simply lead him to hell?
He who is known by the name of king after death is known by the names worms, stool, and ashes. He commits violence for the sake of his body (tat-kṛte).
"The whole earth was held by my predecessors and is now under my sovereignty. How can I arrange for it to remain in the hands of my sons, grandsons and other descendants?"
Possessiveness is illustrated by emotional statements. Since the land was held by my predecessors, how can I arrange for it to pass to my sons?
Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as "me" and this earth as "mine," in every case they must abandon both their body and the earth and die.
Having accepted body as self and earth as mine, they give up both body and land at the end and die (adarśanam).
O King! All these kings who tried to enjoy the earth by their strength were reduced by the force of time to nothing more than topics in stories.
Thus ends the commentary on the Second Chapter of the Twelfth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Second Chapter, the faults of Kali-yuga, the appearance of Kalki, the characteristics of Kali and the beginning of Satya-yuga are described.