The Attitude of Approaching Kali Yuga

2020-07-26
by Radhika Vallabh Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty


SB 12.02.10
śīta-vātātapa-prāvṛḍ-
himair anyonyataḥ prajāḥ
kṣut-tṛḍbhyāṁ vyādhibhiś caiva
santapsyante ca cintayā

Translation:
The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.

SB 12.02.11
triṁśad viṁśati varṣāṇi
paramāyuḥ kalau nṛṇām

Translation:
The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.

SB 12.02.12-16
kṣīyamāṇeṣu deheṣu
dehināṁ kali-doṣataḥ
varṇāśramavatāṁ dharme
naṣṭe veda-pathe nṛṇām
pāṣaṇḍa-pracure dharme
dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu
cauryānṛta-vṛthā-hiṁsā-
nānā-vṛttiṣu vai nṛṣu
śūdra-prāyeṣu varṇeṣu
cchāga-prāyāsu dhenuṣu
gṛha-prāyeṣv āśrameṣu
yauna-prāyeṣu bandhuṣu
aṇu-prāyāsv oṣadhīṣu
śamī-prāyeṣu sthāsnuṣu
vidyut-prāyeṣu megheṣu
śūnya-prāyeṣu sadmasu
itthaṁ kalau gata-prāye
janeṣu khara-dharmiṣu
dharma-trāṇāya sattvena
bhagavān avatariṣyati

Translation:
By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.

Purport:
Significantly, these verses point out that most so-called religions in this age will be atheistic (pāsaṇḍa-pracure dharme). In confirmation of the Bhāgavatam’s prediction, the United States Supreme Court has recently ruled that to be considered a religion a system of belief need not recognize a supreme being. Also, many atheistic, voidistic belief systems, often imported from the Orient, have attracted the attention of modern atheistic scientists, who expound on the similarities between Eastern and Western voidism in fashionable, esoteric books.

These verses vividly describe many unsavory symptoms of the Age of Kali. Ultimately, at the end of this age, Lord Kṛṣṇa will descend as Kalki and remove the thoroughly demonic persons from the face of the earth.

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