The Sages Describe Kali Yuga

Opening verse

He is auspicious from beginning to end, without origin, with no equal in feeling, the noble one, immortal Isha without old age, the god of the self, five-faced, who brings delight and good conduct to the five elements. May the leanings of my mind sink into Shankara, Ambikesha.

Vyasa said

At the confluence of the Ganga and the Kalindi lies a great sacred field, a field of dharma. This is the holy Prayaga, the road to Brahma's world. Sages who had mastered their selves and loved the dharma of truth, very fortunate and full of energy, were holding a sacrifice there. Hearing of it, Vyasa's disciple, the great sage Suta, supreme among reciters of the Puranas, went there and saw those lords among the sages. Seeing him come, the sages were delighted. They honoured him by the rules with cheerful minds. Humbly joining their hands, they spoke to him, after praising the great-souled one gladly.

The sages said

Romaharshana, all-knowing one, by your good fortune and the honour shown you, you know all the Puranas, having received their whole meaning from Vyasa. You are a vessel of accounts that people find wonderful. Their substance is like jewels, and you are the ocean, the store of jewels. Nothing in past, present or future, nothing in the three worlds, is unknown to you. It is our good luck that you have come to meet us. Your coming should not be in vain, and you should not go without doing us a kindness. We have already heard everything, the auspicious and the inauspicious, yet we are not content and want to hear again and again. Suta, of virtuous leaning, one thing remains to be heard. If you are kindly disposed toward us, please tell us this secret.

The terrible kali yuga has come and people lack everything auspicious. All are drawn to wicked conduct and have turned their faces from the true ways. They are busy criticizing others, covet others' belongings, set their minds on others' wives and harm others. Those foolish unbelievers think the body is the self, with understanding like animals'. They hate their mothers and fathers. Wives become their gods and they are servants of desire. Brahmanas, overtaken by greed, sell the Vedas to earn a living. All their learning is for earning wealth, and they are deluded and insolent. They have given up the duties of their own jati and generally cheat others. They do not keep sandhya at the three times of day, know nothing of the brahman, have no compassion, think themselves learned, and have dropped their vows in conduct. They farm, they are cruel by nature, and their minds are filthy. In the same way all the kshatriyas are busy abandoning their dharma. They keep company with the wicked and are absorbed in sin, addicted to adultery. They are not brave and dislike fighting, preferring to run. They take up the wicked livelihoods of shudras, such as theft. Their minds serve desire, they lack knowledge of texts and weapons, do not protect cattle and brahmanas or those who take refuge, and always look for chances to dally with women. They do not follow the virtuous dharma of protecting their subjects. They are devoted to pleasures, wicked and destroy their subjects, delighting in doing violence to beings. The vaishyas do not follow the samskaras. They are busy leaving their own dharma and have taken evil means to earn, cheating with scales. They are wicked in understanding and have no devotion to gurus, gods and brahmanas, and do not feed brahmanas. Generally they are misers with tight fists, inclined to be paramours of women, addicted to desire, with filthy minds. Greed and delusion overwhelm them and they have lost interest in works of public good and other good deeds.

The shudras are much the same, but some of them act like brahmanas, putting on radiant looks. Those fools are keen to leave their own dharma. To become lords and take away brahmanas' energy, they practise much austerity. Intoning mantras, they cause infants' deaths. They worship the shalagrama stone and other objects and offer oblations, but their thoughts are contrary: crooked, hating brahmanas. The wealthy do wicked deeds. The learned take to debating. Those who speak of worship and expound dharma are themselves the ones who subvert dharma. The insolent seek to become excellent kings. Those who give much do so with great pride. Taking themselves to be their own masters, they treat brahmanas and others as servants. Those fools give up their own dharma and, wicked in understanding, cause a confusion of varnas. Always full of great pride, they destroy the four varnas; thinking they were born in a fine line, they change the four varnas; foolish and doing wicked deeds, they ruin all the varnas. Women are generally deviant and disrespectful to their husbands. They oppose their fathers-in-law, fearlessly eat filth, and are addicted to wicked coquetry. Evil in conduct and overcome by desire, they always take lovers and turn their faces from their own husbands. Sons are evil, without devotion to mother and father. They always read what should not be read, and disease grips their bodies. So understanding is destroyed and they give up their dharma. Suta, how can they gain a proper destination in this world or the next? This thought always troubles our minds. There is no dharma equal to doing good for others. You know all the means of success. So out of compassion, tell us the easiest way now to destroy this torrent of sins.

Vyasa continued

Suta heard these words from the sages with cleansed selves. He remembered Shankara in his mind and answered them.