03.188
Vaiśampāyana said.
When thus addressed, the sons of Pṛthā, as well as the two sons of Yama, noble among men, together with Draupadī, offered their obeisance to Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa). (03-188-1)
He, the tiger among men, conciliated these worthy ones with the most sweet and proper words, considering their honor as appropriate. (03-188-2)
But Yudhiṣṭhira, son of Kuntī, again questioned the great sage Mārkaṇḍeya about the future course of the world and the state of sovereignty. (03-188-3)
O best of speakers, O sage Bhārgava, what wondrous event of yours concerning the origin and dissolution at the beginning of the age we have heard. (03-188-4)
Even in this age of Kali, again I am curious: when dharmas are so disturbed, what indeed will remain? (03-188-5)
What will be the strength of humans there, what food and habits will they have, what will be their lifespan, and with what clothing will they exist at the end of the age? (03-188-6)
O sage, having obtained which log again will the accomplished act be possible? Tell in detail here about the various things you are speaking of. (03-188-7)
Thus addressed, the great sage again spoke, delighting both the tiger among the Vṛṣṇis and the Pāṇḍavas. (03-188-8)
Markandeya said.
O best of the Bharatas, know from me the narrative of the coming events of all the worlds as told when impure times have arrived. (03-188-9)
In the Kṛta (first) age long ago, among men, Dharma, established as the four-footed, complete and entirely free from deceit or limiting conditions bull, prevailed. (03-188-10)
But in the Tretā age, righteousness is established afflicted by three parts of adharma; in the Dvāpara age, it is said that righteousness is intermixed by half. (03-188-11)
But adharma, by three parts, prevails throughout the worlds. Dharma, by the fourth part, attends to humans. (3-188-12)
O Pāṇḍava, know from me that the life span, strength, intellect, physical power, and vitality of humans decline with each passing age. (03-188-13)
O Yudhiṣṭhira, kings, Brahmins, Vaiśyas and Śūdras—all men who wear the semblance of dharma—will practice dharma by means of pretenses. (03-188-14)
In the world, those who think themselves wise abridge the truth. Therefore, because of their abandonment of truth, their lifespan will become short. (03-188-15)
Because of declining life, they will be unable to learn knowledge; and those who lack knowledge, due to absence of discernment, will also be overcome by greed. (03-188-16)
Deluded humans, devoted to greed and anger, attached to desire, and bound by enmity, will seek to destroy one another. (03-188-17)
Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas, becoming mingled with one another, will become like śūdras, devoid of austerity and truthfulness. (03-188-18)
At the end of the age, when that time arrives, those who are now last will become the middle, and those who are now in the middle will become those who end last. Such will be the state of the world. (03-188-19)
At the end of the age, the best clothes will be made of hemp, millets will be considered grains, and men will be friends of their wives. (03-188-20)
At the end of the age, when cows are destroyed, men will live on fish and meat and will also milk goats and sheep. (03-188-21)
At the end of the age, people will plunder and harm one another; they will become those who do not recite (sacred formulas), atheists, and thieves. (03-188-22)
At the end of the age, people will sow medicinal herbs on river banks using hoes, but even those will yield little for them. (03-188-23)
Even those men who always remain firm in vows, participating in śrāddha and divine sacrifices, here too, united by greed, will consume one another. (03-188-24)
The father partakes of his son's food, and similarly the son of the father's. In the end times, things that have been consumed will return at the dissolution of the age. (03-188-25)
Brāhmaṇas who disparage the Veda will not perform observances. Deluded by reasoning, they will neither perform sacrifices nor offer oblations. (03-188-26)
Men will cultivate agriculture in lowlands, they will yoke female calves to the plough; they will also make one-year-old calves carry loads. (03-188-27)
If a son kills his father, or a father kills his son likewise, one who speaks greatly and is unperturbed does not incur blame. (03-188-28)
The entire world, having become mleccha, inactive, and without sacrifice, will become devoid of joy, celebration, and all such things. (03-188-29)
Generally, humans here will take away the wealth even of the miserly, those with relatives, and of widows. (03-188-30)
Men of little strength and power, arrogant, given over to greed and delusion, satisfied with merely talking about giving, even if they belong to the wicked, will accept possessions, being engaged in sinful practices and acquisition. (03-188-31)
O Kaunteya, at the end of the age, kings of evil intellect, assembling together, intent on mutual destruction, fools who think themselves wise, the Kṣatriyas will become the scourge of society. (03-188-32)
At the end of the age, people will be without protectors, greedy, inflated with pride, ego, and arrogance; only those who delight in punishment will prevail. (03-188-33)
O Bhārata, the pitiless will, even as they weep, seize and enjoy the wives and wealth of the virtuous. (03-188-34)
At the end of the age, when the time arrives, no one will request a girl, nor will any girl be given; girls will choose their own partners. (03-188-35)
At the end of the age, when it arrives, unsatisfied kings with deluded minds will take away the wealth of others by all possible means. (03-188-36)
O Bhārata, the entire world will become impure, and, at the end of the age, when that time arrives, one hand will steal from another. (03-188-37)
Truth is condensed in the world by those who think themselves wise: there are the old with childish understanding, and children with the wisdom of the old. (03-188-38)
At the end of an era, cowards, those who consider themselves heroes, true heroes, and the fearful and dejected, all do not trust one another. (03-188-39)
The entire world is easily overpowered and is subject to greed and delusion. Unrighteousness greatly increases, while righteousness does not prevail. (03-188-40)
O ruler of people, Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, and Vaiśyas will not remain; at the end of the age, the world will become of one caste. (03-188-41)
A father will not forgive his son, nor will the son forgive his father; and no wife will render service to her husband. (03-188-42)
Those peoples living on barley and wheat, they will take refuge in those regions when the end of the age arrives. (03-188-43)
At the end of the age, O lord of men, men and women, indulging themselves in food, will not tolerate each other when that time arrives. (03-188-44)
O Yudhiṣṭhira, all the world will become mleccha; men will no longer satisfy their ancestors even by śrāddha rituals. (03-188-45)
No one will be a listener to anyone, no one will be a teacher to anyone. Then the world will be enveloped in darkness, O king. (03-188-46)
And at that time, the maximum lifespan will be sixteen years; then, at the approach of the end of the age, lives will depart. (03-188-47)
A daughter is born during the fifth or sixth year, and then, when she is seven or eight years old, men beget offspring with her. (03-188-48)
O king, at the end of the age, a woman will not find satisfaction in her husband, nor a man in a woman, O tiger among kings. (03-188-49)
At the end of the age, people will be poor, bear false symbols, and violence will prevail; no one will give anything to anyone. (03-188-50)
At the end of the age, regions will be full of sharp-piked (weapons), crossroads will have spears belonging to Śiva, and even women will possess sharp-pointed hair. (03-188-51)
In the future time, there will be humans who are foreigners, cruel, eat all things, fierce in all actions; of this there is no doubt. (03-188-52)
O best of the Bharatas, at the end of the age, during buying and selling, everyone will deceive everyone due to greed for livelihood. (03-188-53)
At the end of the age, when it has arrived, knowledges and actions are performed without being known, and beings act according to their own will. (03-188-54)
When the end of the age arrives, all people will by nature be cruel in actions and suspicious towards one another. (03-188-55)
They will destroy pleasure-grounds and also trees without any pain; there will be destruction of the lives of embodied beings in the world. (03-188-56)
Thus, when overcome by greed, they will act upon this earth; and the brāhmaṇas will arise, and they will enjoy brahmanical properties. (03-188-57)
The twice-born, making cries of distress, afflicted by fear and tormented by base men, not finding a protector, will indeed wander over this earth. (03-188-58)
When men become destroyers of life, fierce, cruel, and harmful to living beings, then the age will be shortened. (03-188-59)
O best of the Kuru race, the brahmins, being terrified, will run swiftly and seek refuge even in rivers, mountains, and rough places. (03-188-60)
O king, the best among the twice-born (brāhmaṇas), being oppressed by bandits, are like crows, and are always oppressed by bad kings through the burden of taxes. (03-188-61)
O king, when the age ends in devastation, the servants of the Śūdras, having abandoned fortitude, will perform evil deeds. (03-188-62)
Śūdras will declare the dharma, while Brāhmaṇas become attendants; and the listeners will be established with authority. (03-188-63)
And the world will become reversed, with the lower rising above. The ignorant will be worshiped, and the gods will be shunned. At the end of the age, Shudras will not serve the twice-born. (03-188-64)
In the hermitages of the great sages, in the dwellings of Brāhmaṇas, in the temples and sacred shrines, and in the abodes of the nāgas. (03-188-65)
When the age is diminished, the earth will be marked by graves and not adorned with temples; that is a characteristic of the end of the age. (03-188-66)
When men are always cruel, devoid of dharma, eating meat and drinking intoxicants, then the age (yuga) will be shortened. (03-188-67)
O king, when a flower contains another flower, and when a fruit contains another fruit attached, then, O great king, the era will be shortened. (03-188-68)
When the age has passed, the clouds will cause rain at the wrong time. Among humans, activities will be without order. Shudras will go in opposition together with brahmins. (03-188-69)
Soon the earth will be filled with foreigners; then, out of fear of the burden of taxation, the Brāhmaṇas will disperse to all ten directions. (03-188-70)
The people who live on fruits and roots, when the territories are indiscriminately afflicted by drought, will seek refuge in hermitages. (03-188-71)
Thus, in such a greatly disturbed world, restraint will not exist. Nor will unruly students remain in the teachings. (03-188-72)
The deposit with the teacher will indeed remain; immediately after, friends, relatives, and kinsmen will depart with good reason. At the end of the age, there will be disappearance of all beings. (03-188-73)
All directions are blazing, the stars are moving, the luminaries are adverse, and the winds are also disturbed; many meteors are falling, showing signs of great danger. (03-188-74)
The Sun, together with six others, will shine fiercely. Everywhere, there will be loud, roaring sounds and the burning of the directions. At that time, the Sun, concealed within the body, will rise and set. (03-188-75)
At that time, Indra will cause unseasonal rains; and when the end of the age has fully come, crops will not grow. (03-188-76)
At that time, women, being constantly harsh in speech, rough, and fond of weeping, will not remain obedient to the words of their husbands. (03-188-77)
At the end of the age, sons will kill their mother and father; and women who are unprotected will destroy their husbands and sons. (03-188-78)
O great king, Rāhu will seize the Sun on a day that is not a festival; at the end of the age, fire will also blaze everywhere. (03-188-79)
Begging for water and food, the travelers at that time, unable to obtain shelter, being driven away, lie down on the road. (03-188-80)
When the end of an age is present, thunderbolt-crows, snakes, birds, together with beasts and twice-borns, will utter harsh words. (03-188-81)
At that time, even friends and relatives will abandon men; both a person and his attendants, too, when the end of the age arrives. (03-188-82)
Then, when the end of the age arrives, countries, regions, and ancient towns and cities will gradually be taken refuge in, one after another. (03-188-83)
Then, crying out terribly, with words like, "Alas, father! Alas, son!" people will wander the earth, lamenting to each other. (03-188-84)
Then, when the age is ending and tumultuous gatherings occur, the world, led by the twice-born, will gradually emerge. (03-188-85)
Then, at another time, once more for the increase of the world, the divine will, favourable, will again occur by chance. (03-188-86)
When the moon, the sun, Tiṣya (the star Pushya), and Bṛhaspati (Jupiter) all come together in the same zodiac sign, then the Kṛta age will begin. (03-188-87)
"The rain will fall in proper season, and the rain-clouds; the stars will be auspicious, and the planets too will move in favorable courses. There will be well-being, abundant food, health, and freedom from disease." (03-188-88)
The twice-born named Kalki, son of Viṣṇuyaśā, impelled by time, will arise endowed with great valor and great intelligence and might. (03-188-89)
After being born in the auspicious Brāhmaṇa residence in the village of Sambhala, by thought alone, all vehicles, weapons, warriors, missiles, and armours will be present for him. (03-188-90)
He will be a righteous conqueror, a king, a universal monarch. He will also bring clarity to this world full of confusion. (03-188-91)
The risen and radiant Brāhmaṇa, noble in mind and ending all destruction, is truly the concise summary and the transformer of the whole age. (03-188-92)
That twice-born, surrounded by Brāhmaṇas, will then destroy all groups of Mlecchas and mean persons wherever they have gone. (03-188-93)
