When will Kali Yuga end?
Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, that is marked with violence, deceit, and overall spiritual degeneration is the last of the four ages (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali). We have presented in detail in our previous article how both the Vedic texts and the astronomical calculations infer that the commencement of Kali Yuga was about 5000 years ago in the year 3102 B.C. In this article, we are going to discuss in detail about the end of Kali Yuga, its symptoms and Kalki avatar. Below are the duration of each of the four ages ( Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali) as per Vedic calculations-
- Satya Yuga (entirely characterized by virtue, enlightenment, spirituality) – 1,728,000 years
- Treta Yuga (characterized with a 25% loss of virtue, enlightenment, spirituality than Satya Yuga at its onset) – 1,296,000 years
- Dvapara Yuga (characterized with a 50% loss of virtue, enlightenment, spirituality than Satya Yuga at its onset) – 864,000 years
- Kali Yuga (characterized with a 75% loss of virtue, enlightenment, spirituality than Satya Yuga at its onset)- 432,000 years
A thousand cycles of these four ages comprise a single day of Brahma, the creator of this universe. Brahma lives for 100 such years. At the end of these 100 years, the universe shall dissolve into the causal ocean. Hence, these 100 years of Brahma amount to about 311 trillion and 40 million earthly years [1000 * (1,728,000+1,296,000+864,000+432,000)]. Returning to our immediate discussion, since Kali Yuga lasts for 432,000 years, it shall come to a close in the year 428,899 A.D.
Symptoms of Kali Yuga
With the progress of Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, all good qualities of men shall steadily depreciate and their impure features shall be on the ascent. Atheism and irreligion shall become predominant, replacing Vedic rules. The rulers shall behave like thieves, and the citizens shall primarily be employed in menial affairs. Below is a summary of the symptoms of Kali Yuga, as described in Bhagavata Purana (canto 12, chapter 2). As the age progresses, genuine saintly or spiritually advanced souls shall disappear from the face of the earth. That is the time when the dark influence of the age of Kali will become very dominant, unleashing all of its influence. The below prophecies shall then become manifest –
- Religion, honesty, purity, kindness, tolerance of the people will decrease day by day.
- Hypocrisy shall be practiced as a virtue.
- People will suffer from a lack of physical strength, weak memory, and a shortened duration of life.
- The maximum span of human life will be reduced to fifty years.
- In the age of Kali, wealth alone shall be considered as one’s sign of noble birth, decent behavior, and excellent qualities.
- Might will be deemed right. Brute power will determine law and justice in this age of Kali.
- Men and women will live together merely because of shallow superficial attraction. The institution of marriage will degenerate.
- By the end of Kali Yuga, family ties will extend to no further than the immediate bindings of marriage.
- Business shall be conducted and success achieved based on deception.
- Manliness and womanliness would be decided based on one’s expertise in sexual intercourse.
- A person’s spiritual position shall be defined based on his externals. It is on this same basis, that people will change from one spiritual order to the next.
- A person’s status in society will be determined by his wealth. If he does not earn much, he/she would be deemed unholy.
- One who is very clever at juggling words will be judged a good scholar.
- One’s hairstyle would come to define one’s beauty.
- Filling the belly would become the ultimate goal of life.
- Principles of religion will simply be observed for the sake of reputation.
- A holy place would simply be considered to be a pool of water located at a distance.
- As the earth becomes populated with such wicked people, whoever exhibits himself to be the most powerful, will gain political power.
- Losing their wives and properties to these leaders, who are no better than thieves, citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.
- Devastated with famine and excessive taxes, people would resort to eating roots, leaves, flesh, honey, flowers, seeds, etc.
- By the end of Kali Yuga, all creatures including trees shall be considerably reduced in height.
- By the end of Kali Yuga, the religious principles of Varnasrama (class and order) shall be completely destroyed.
- By the end of Kali Yuga, the path of Vedas will be completely forgotten and the human society will be largely atheistic and animalistic.
- Deception, lying and unnecessary violence will become the primary occupations of men.
Lord Vishnu appears as Kalki Avatar at the end of Kali Yuga
At the end of Kali Yuga, the Supreme Lord Vishnu shall appear as Kalki avatar to annihilate the miscreants and re-establish the postulates of eternal religion. He will appear as the son of Vishnuyasha, an eminent brahmana of a village named Shambhala. By this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers. Mounting upon His swift horse, Devadatta, and bearing a sword in His hand, Kalki avatar shall travel all over the world exhibiting His eight mystic opulence and unmatched effulgence. Appearing as the Supreme chastiser, He shall kill by millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings. The Agni Purana (16.7-9) also explains that when the miscreants, posing as kings, start devouring righteous men and feed on human beings, Kalki, the son of Vishnuyasha, and Yajnavalkya His priest and teacher, will destroy these miscreants with His weapons. He will establish the principles of eternal religion once again, and the people will return to the path of righteousness. After the earth is rid of all imposters, the citizens shall be able to smell the winds carrying the most sacred fragrance of sandalwood paste and other paraphernalia of Lord Vishnu. Thus their body and mind shall become purified. This will mark the beginning of Satya Yuga, an era of virtue, enlightenment, and spirituality. At that specific moment the sun, moon, and Jupiter (Brihaspati) shall collectively be at the constellation of Cancer (Karkata). These three shall together enter into the lunar mansion of Pushya (Pushya Nakshatra).
By His irresistible might, Lord Kalki will slay all the imposters and thieves, and all those whose minds are devoted to sin. He will reestablish righteousness upon earth, and the minds of those who survive at the end of the Kali age shall grow spiritually awakened. The pious men who survive the Kali Yuga shall bear the seeds of the future, giving birth to those who shall follow the laws of the Satya Yuga, the age of purity. After making way for the next age of Satya-yuga and delivering the earth of the sinful, Lord Kalki shall return to His eternal spiritual abode along with His army. We should make a note here that as the Vedic literatures explain when the Supreme Lord kills anyone, that person is instantly purified by His divine touch. The concerned person remains focused on the Supreme Being while leaving his body. Thus, that person attains the same destination (after death) as the yogis who spend years controlling their mind to leave their bodies staying focused on the Supreme. So being killed by the Supreme Lord is a great fortune for those of a demoniac mentality who would have otherwise only attained lower realms of existence or even hellish planets in their subsequent lives. Therefore, those miscreants who would be vanquished by Kalki avatar at the end of Kali-yuga, would also be fortunate to attain liberation from their material existence.