Kali Yuga (Sanskrit : कलियुग, translit. kaliyuga, lit. 'age of Kali ') in Hinduism is the last of the four stages (or ages or yugas) the world goes through as part of a 'cycle of yugas' (i.e. Mahayuga) described in the Sanskrit scriptures. [1] The other ages are called Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, and Dvapara Yuga.
Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation is the rendering of text from one language to another one word at a time with or without conveying the sense of the original whole.
According to Hindus, Kali is the reigning lord of the Kali Yuga and archenemy of Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu. In the Kalki Purana, he is portrayed as a demon and the source of all evil. In the Mahabharata, he was a gandharva who possessed Nala, forcing him to lose his Kingdom in a game of dice to his brother Pushkara. Kali is similar to the demon Kroni and his incarnation Kaliyan of Ayyavazhi mythology.
Hinduism is an Indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practised in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition", or the "eternal way", beyond human history. Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This "Hindu synthesis" started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE, after the end of the Vedic period, and flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India.
Kali Yuga is associated with the demon Kali (not to be confused with the goddess Kālī). The "Kali" of Kali Yuga means "strife", "discord", "quarrel" or "contention".
A demon is a supernatural and often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore.
According to Puranic sources, [2] Krishna's departure marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to 17/18 February 3102 BCE. [3]
The Dvapara Yuga, also spelled as Dwapara Yuga, is the third out of four Yugas, or ages, described in the scriptures of Hinduism. Dvapara in Sanskrit literally means "two ahead", that is, something in the third place. The Dvapara Yuga follows the Treta Yuga and precedes the Kali Yuga. According to the Puranas, this yuga ended at the moment when Krishna returned to his eternal abode of Vaikuntha. According to the Bhagavata Purana, the Dvapara Yuga lasts 864,000 years.
Common Era or Current Era (CE) is one of the notation systems for the world's most widely used calendar era. BCE is the era before CE. BCE and CE are alternatives to the Dionysian AD and BC system. The Dionysian era distinguishes eras using AD and BC. Since the two notation systems are numerically equivalent, "2019 CE" corresponds to "AD 2019" and "400 BCE" corresponds to "400 BC". Both notations refer to the Gregorian calendar. The year-numbering system utilized by the Gregorian calendar is used throughout the world today, and is an international standard for civil calendars.
According to the Surya Siddhanta , Kali Yuga began at midnight (00:00) on 18 February 3102 BCE. [4] This is also considered the date on which Lord Krishna left the earth to return to Vaikuntha. [5] This information is placed at the temple of Bhalka, the place of this incident (see photo).
The Surya Siddhanta is the name of a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy from the late 4th-century or early 5th-century CE. The text survives in several versions, was cited and extensively quoted in a 6th-century CE text by Varahamihira, was likely revised for several centuries under the same title. It has fourteen chapters. A 12th-century manuscript of the text was translated into English by Burgess in 1860.
The 4th millennium BC spanned the years 4000 through 3001 BC. Some of the major changes in human culture during this time included the beginning of the Bronze Age and the invention of writing, which played a major role in starting recorded history.
Vaikuntha, Vaikunthaloka, Vishnuloka, Paramam padam, Nitya Vibhuti or Vaikuntha Sagar is the celestial abode of Vishnu who is the principal deity of the Universes and known to be Godhead, as revered by all of pre-Battle Of Kuruksetra, and the supreme being in Vedic, Hinduism, and its Vaishnavism traditions. Vaikuntha is an abode presided over on high exclusively by him, accompanied always by his feminine partner, consort and goddess Lakshmi, his other expansions as well, represented by Balarama or brother, as well as a plurality of multitudinous offspring via those relationships to him but same as him: mother, father, sister, lover, consort, wife, attractor, sage, scribe, 10,008 palaces in which he resides simultaneously expanded into them all separately all doing different activities as himself separate but the same simultaneously, in one dancing with devotees picking fruit from a wish fulfilling tree, in another dancing with all the gopies who love him beyond our definition of love, in another playing a sitar with devotees who played their last eight lives as elevated humans as sitar players, becoming maestros then leaving material universe to play at Krisna's side, and so on in every palace and expansions with all the other liberated souls that have gained moksha. Blessed with pure bliss, happiness, no longer finite but infinitely expanded in the company of the supreme being for all eternity. According to Ramanuja, Parama padam or Nitya Vibhuti is an eternal heavenly realm and is the divine imperishable world that is the God's abode. It is the highest state beyond all worlds and nothing else beyond it. It is guarded by the twin deities, Jaya and Vijaya.
According to the astronomer and mathematician Aryabhatta the Kali Yuga started in 3102 BCE. He finished his book "Aryabhattiya" in 499 CE, in which he gives the exact year of the beginning of Kali Yuga. He writes that he wrote the book in the "year 3600 of the Kali Age" at the age of 23. As it was the 3600th year of the Kali Age when he was 23 years old, and given that Aryabhatta was born in 476 CE, the beginning of the Kali Yuga would come to (3600 - (476 + 23) + 1 (As only one year elapses between 1 BCE and 1 CE) = ) 3102 BCE. [6]
According to KD Abhyankar, the starting point of Kali Yuga is an extremely rare planetary alignment, which is depicted in the Mohenjo-Daro seals. [7] Going by this alignment the year 3102 BCE is slightly off. The actual date for this alignment is 7 February of 3104 BCE. There is also sufficient proof to believe that Vrdhha Garga knew of precession at least by 500 BCE. Garga had calculated the rate of precession to within 30% of what the modern scholars estimate. [8] [9]
Rishi (Saint) Garga was one of the most revered Vedic sages in ancient India, who was a preeminent scholar and a major benefactor to the field of Ayurveda. Author of Garga Samhita, he is considered one of the 18 most important contributors to the subject of astrology.
Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself. In other words, if the axis of rotation of a body is itself rotating about a second axis, that body is said to be precessing about the second axis. A motion in which the second Euler angle changes is called nutation. In physics, there are two types of precession: torque-free and torque-induced.
Most interpreters of vedic scriptures, as Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami and his recent disciple Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada believe that Earth is currently in Kali Yuga and lasts 432,000 years. Other authors, such as Swami Sri Yukteswar [10] and Paramhansa Yogananda, [11] believe that it is now an ascending Dvapara Yuga, indicating levels of cycles within each major Yuga period as each being a development, the smaller cycles within cycles eventually leading to full development of the qualities of the ages. The Kali Yuga is thought by some authors to last 6480 years although other durations have been proposed. [12]
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga, [13] which is referred to as the Dark Age because in it people are as far away as possible from God. Hinduism often symbolically represents morality ( dharma ) as an Indian bull. In Satya Yuga, the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, but in each age morality is reduced by one quarter. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the golden age, so that the bull of Dharma has only one leg. [14] [15]
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The Mahabharata War and the decimation of Kauravas thus happened at the "Yuga-Sandhi", the point of transition from one yuga to another. The scriptures mention Sage Narada to have momentarily intercepted the demon Kali on his way to the Earth when Duryodhana was about to be born in order to make him an embodiment of arishadvargas and adharma in preparation of the era of decay in values and the consequent havoc.
A discourse by Markandeya in the Mahabharata identifies some of the attributes of Kali Yuga. [16]
In relation to rulers, it lists:
With regard to human relationships, Markandeya's discourse says:
The Brahma Vaivarta Purana (related to Rathantara kalpa) mentions a ten thousand-year period, starting from the traditional dating of the Kali Yuga epoch, during which bhakti yogis will be present. [17] Lord Krishna foretold that Kali Yuga will be full of extreme hardships for people with ideals and values.
The Brahma-vaivarta Purana has words spoken by Lord Krishna to Mother Ganga just before the beginning of the Kali Yuga (the age of quarrel and strife). The Kali Yuga began approximately five thousand years ago, and it has a duration of 432,000 years, leaving us with 427,000 years until the end of the present age. Within this 432,000 year period, there is a period of 10,000 years that will be peaceful. That golden age is being described below by Lord Sri Krishna. Predicted in Brahma-vaivarta Purana 4.129. The fourth part of the Brahma-vaivarta is called Kṛṣṇa-janma-khanda. Chapter 129 is called Golokarohanam, because it describes how Krishna returns to His abode. This specific dialogue is between Lord Krishna and Mother Ganga. Verse 49 is a question by Ganga, verses 50–60 are Lord Sri Krishna's answer.
This text is taken from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana [14]
Text 59:
kaler daṣa-sahasrāṇi
madbhaktāḥ santi bhūtale
ekavarṇā bhaviṣyanti
madbhakteṣu gateṣu ca
"For 10,000 years of Kali such devotees of Mine will be present on earth. After the departure of My devotees there will be only one varna."
The above is supported in 4.90.32–33:
kalau daṣa-sahasrāṇi
haris tiṣṭhati medinī
devānām pratimā pūjyā
śāstrāni ca purāṇakam
"(Sri Krisna said:) Lord Hari will stay on this earth for the first ten-thousand years of Kali-yuga. Till then gods will be worshipped and the Puranas and scriptures will also be present."
Hence to protect ourself from Kaliman, it is believed that we should start doing japa, meditation, or any yoga such as Bhakti yoga, karma yoga, Raja yoga, and jnana yoga. But, chanting the holy name of God is the best path in Kali Yuga.
Kali is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and his nemesis is Kalki, the tenth and final Avatar of Lord Vishnu. According to the Vishnu Purana, Kali is a negative manifestation working towards the cause of 'the end' or rather towards eventual rejuvenation of the universe. [18] Kali also serves as an antagonistic force in the Kalki Purana. It is said that towards the end of this yuga, Kalki will return riding on a white horse to battle with Kali and his dark forces. The world will suffer a fiery cataclysm that will destroy all evil, and Shiva will destroy the universe. Brahma will create the universe a new, and then a new age (the next Satya Yuga of the following Mahayuga), will begin.
Some Shaivites maintain that the ill effects of Kali Yuga can only be moderated by the manifestation of Lord Shiva Himself. Shastriji, one of the followers of Haidakhan Babaji, gave the following narration:
"Once Parvati asked Lord Shiva, her husband: 'You have done good work for the people in all ages, but I am afraid for the people in the Kali Yuga; how will they safeguard themselves?' Then Lord Shiva told Parvati: 'I will appear in the Kali Yuga and I will create a new state, a new centre of religion - a most important place, where I will live and establish all the Gods there.'" [19]
Shastriji went further to suggest that this promise manifested through the person of Haidakhan Babaji. [20] One of the central tenets of Haidakhan Babaji's teachings is the message of Karma Yoga or hard work. In the context of Kali yuga Haidakhan Babaji explained:
"As I have told you before, the thing needed in this Age is work (karma). In every Age people have reached salvation through different types of action and sadhana (spiritual discipline), but in this Age one can reach liberation only through hard work. I want real, practical human beings and only he is a true human being who lives in accordance with this Age. We need not consider religion or caste, but look only to hard work." [21]
According to many Muslim historians and interpreters, The Islamic Prophet Muhammad is the Kalki avatar and the Islamic Golden Age is the most significant age of the Kali Yuga. Citation needed
In Sikhism, Kali Yuga is metaphorically[ citation needed ] used to describe the state of the world as was commonly understood in the 16th century. It is stressed that one should meditate as much as possible to reach the state of Nirvana and be liberated or be one with God. Guru Granth Sahib Ji on Ang:1185 says:
ab kaloo aaeiou rae : Now, the Dark Age of Kali Yuga has come.
eik naam bovahu bovahu : Plant the Name, the Name of the One Lord.
an rooth naahee naahee : It is not the season to plant other seeds.
math bharam bhoolahu bhoolahu : Do not wander lost in doubt and delusion. [22]
The Kali Yuga is an important concept in both Theosophy and Anthroposophy [23] [24] , and in the writings of Helena Blavatsky, W.Q. Judge, Rudolf Steiner, and traditionalist ideologues such as René Guénon and Julius Evola, among others. Rudolf Steiner believed that the Kali Yuga ended in 1900. [25] The traditionalists describe modern Western civilization as being in its Kali Yuga phase, in a state of degeneration and eventual collapse.
Kalki, also called Kalkin or Karki, is the tenth avatar of Hindu god Vishnu to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in endless cycle of existence (krita) in Vaishnavism cosmology. He is described in the Puranas as the avatar who rejuvenates existence by ending the darkest and destructive period to remove adharma and ushering in the Satya Yuga, while riding a white horse with a fiery sword. The description and details of Kalki are inconsistent among the Puranic texts. He is, for example, only an invisible force destroying evil and chaos in some texts, while an actual person who kills those who persecute others, and portrayed as someone leading an army of brahmin priest in some. His mythology has been compared to the concepts of Messiah, Apocalypse, Frashokereti and Maitreya in other religions.
Yuga in Hinduism is an epoch or era within a four-age cycle. A complete Yuga starts with the Satya Yuga, via Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga into a Kali Yuga. Our present time is a Kali Yuga, which started at 3102 BCE with the end of the Kurukshetra War.
Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyāsa or Krishna Dvaipāyana. He is generally considered the author of the Mahabharata, as well as a character in it and the scribe of both the Vedas and Puranas, also known as Puranik. Vyasa is also considered to be one of the seven Chiranjivins, who are still in existence according to Hindu belief.
Chiranjivi are seven immortal living beings in Hinduism who are to remain alive on Earth until the end of the current Kali Yuga
Vishnu Sahasranama, is a list of 1,000 names (sahasranama) of Vishnu, one of the main deities in Hinduism and the supreme God in Vaishnavism. It is also one of the most sacred and popular stotras in Hinduism. The Vishnu Sahasranama as found in the Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata is the most popular version of the 1,000 names of Vishnu. Other versions exists in the Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Garuda Purana. There is also a Sikh version of the Vishnu Sahasranama, found in the text Sundar Gutka. Each name eulogizes one of His countless great attributes.
Hindu eschatology is linked in the Vaishnavite tradition to the figure of Kalki, or the tenth and last avatar of Vishnu or Shiva names of the Supreme Being in Hinduism and before the age draws to a close, and Harihara simultaneously dissolves and regenerates the universe.
The Satya Yuga, also called Satyug, or Kṛta Yuga in Hinduism, is the first of the four Yugas, the "Yuga of Truth", when humanity is governed by gods, and every manifestation or work is close to the purest ideal and humanity will allow intrinsic goodness to rule supreme. It is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age". The Satya Yuga lasts 1,728,000 years. The goddess Dharma, which symbolises morality, stood on all four legs during this period. Later on in the Treta Yuga, it would become three, followed by two in the Dvapara Yuga. Currently, in the immoral age of Kali, it stands on one leg.
In Hindu cosmology, the universe is cyclically created and destroyed. Its cosmology divides time into four epochs or Yuga, of which the current period is the Kali Yuga.
The Kalki Purana is a prophetic work in Sanskrit that details the life and times of Kalki, the tenth and final of the Dashavatara of the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu. The narrative is set in near the end of the Kali Yuga or Dark Age, as revealed by the storyteller Suta.
Kalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning a relatively long period of time in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. The concept is first mentioned in the Mahabharata.
Koka and Vikoka are figures from Hindu mythology, twin generals who will aid the demon Kali in his battle against Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of the god Vishnu, whose coming will herald the end of the age. The story is told in the Kalki Purana, is a relatively recent text, although composed no later than 1804, the date which appears on a manuscript held by the University of Dhaka.
The Kumaras are four sages (rishis) who roam the universe as children from the Puranic texts of Hinduism, generally named Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, and Sanatkumara. They are described as the first mind-born creations and sons of the creator-god Brahma. Born from Brahma's mind, the four Kumaras undertook lifelong vows of celibacy (brahmacharya) against the wishes of their father. They are said to wander throughout the materialistic and spiritualistic universe without any desire but with purpose to teach. All four brothers studied Vedas from their childhood, and always travelled together.
Goloka also known as Goloka Vrindavana, Krishnaloka or Gokula, is the eternal supreme abode of Lord Krishna and Radha. In the Bhagavata Purana, is especially portrayed as the highest person who resides in Goloka.
Hindu texts describe units of Kala measurements, from microseconds to Trillions of years. According to these texts, time is cyclic, which repeats itself forever.
The Puranic chronology gives a timeline of Hindu history according to the Hindu scriptures. Two central dates are the Mahabharata War, which according to this chronology happened at 3138 BCE, and the start of the Kali Yuga, which according to this chronology started at 3102 BCE. The Puranic chronology is referred to by proponents of Indigenous Aryans to propose an earlier dating of the Vedic period, and the spread of Indo-European languages out of India.
Vyasa is the title given to the sage or Rishi who divides the Hindu holy scripture Vedas in every Dvapara Yuga of every Yuga cycle. Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyāsa, the one who divides the Vedas into four parts. The name of Rishi who currently holds the Vyasa title is Krishna Dvaipāyana Vyasa, referring to his complexion and birthplace and sometimes he is simply called Vyasa. He was born in Tanahun district of Nepal, in a city currently named Damauli. According to Hindu beliefs, Krishna Dvaipāyana Vyasa is an incarnation of the god Vishnu. During each Dvapara Yuga, in every Kalpa, Lord takes incarnation as Veda Vyasa and effects the division of Vedas for the benefit of human beings. Guru Drona's son Rishi Aswatthama will become the next Vyasa, who in turn divide the Veda in 29th Mahayuga of 7th Manvantara.
Bhalka Tirtha located in the Veraval in Saurashtra on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is the place where Krishna was hit by an arrow shot by a hunter named Jara, after which he is said to have left the earth for the heavenly abode, an act referred to in the Puranas as Shri Krishn Neejdham Prasthan Leela .