In Hinduism, a Yuga means an era within a four-age cycle. A complete Yuga starts with the Satya Yuga (Satyug), followed by Treta Yuga (Tretayug), Dwapara Yuga (Dwaparyug), and Kali Yug (Kalyug). The present yuga is a Kali Yuga, started in 3102 BCE with the end of the Mahabharata War (which happened in Kurukshetra). The later ages experience a gradual decline of Dharma, Wisdom, Knowledge, Intellectual Capability, Life Span, Emotional and Physical strength.
Kali Yuga
Kali Yuga is associated with the Demon Kali. The Kali of Kali Yuga means Strife, Discord, Quarrel, or Contention. It was said that it would be the last age, the age of darkness and ignorance. Souls would become sinners and lack virtue; they would be slaves to their passions and are barely as powerful as their earliest ancestors in the Satya Yuga.
Society would fall into disuse and people become liars and hypocrites, knowledge would loss and scriptures would diminish. Humans would eat forbidden and dirty food. The environment would corrupt, and water and food would be scarce. Families would become non-existent and poor. When the Kali Yuga would be at its end, the average lifespan of humans would be as low as 70 years.
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga which refers to the Dark age because, in it, there would be atheism; people are as far away as possible from God. Hinduism often symbolically represents morality as an Indian bull. By the age of Kali, the morality would decrease by a quarter of that of the golden age, then the bull of Dharma would have only one leg.
When did Kali Yuga start?
In the conversation between Lord Krishna and Mother Ganga just before the beginning of the Kali Yuga which is also mentioned in the Brahma-Vaivarta Puraan. It was said that the departure of Krishna would mark the end of Dwapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga. The Kali Yuga has already begun approximately five thousand years ago and has a duration of 4,32,000 years.
Few Predictions for Kali Yuga:
- 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 good birth, proper behavior, and fine qualities. And the law and justice will be applied only based on one’s power.
- Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and business success will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and the person wearing holy thread will be considered as Brahmins.
- A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis, people will change from one spiritual order to the next.
- A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if they are not able to earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a scholar.
- A person will be treated unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as a virtue. Marriage will be organized simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is ready to appear in public if he merely has a bath.
- As the earth thus becomes would be crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of their social classes will able to showcase himself the strongest, will gain political power.
- There will be harassment of famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers, and seeds. Struck by drought, society will be ruined completely.
How will the End begin?
For the past 2,700 years, we have been evolving through the ascending Kali Yuga, and this Yuga is coming to an end. And The end of the yuga will inevitably become after the cataclysmic of Earth and civilization will collapse, as characteristic of the transitional periods. At the end of the age, living creatures will diminish, and the brightness of the Stars will reduce. Heat on the Earth would increase. Hence, we may anticipate far-reaching changes in our surroundings, and possibly in our cosmic neighborhood.
Lord Vishnu will then descend on the Earth to end the Kali and that will be the time when Vishnu’s avatar Kalki will be born when the sins by people on Earth will be beyond being repairable. Lord Kalki will be born in Sambhal Village of Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh. Kalki would be the fifth child of his parents Vishnuyasha and Sumati. He will grow to be a very powerful, intelligent, and brave man. His avatar will be immaculate and ultimate divine.
He will have the ability of divine qualities for destroying all the evil from society. In the battle, he is mention holding two swords in his hands. In the battle, he is mentioned to hold two swords in his hands. Kalki is said to be the last and the most powerful avatar of Lord Vishnu on Earth. He will be born to kill all the evils. Hence, the Satya Yuga will start again.
Also Read: The Chakras and The Human Body
