Sunday, June 26, 2016
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Kali Yuga
of Sant Tulasidas, Uttar-kanda, verses 96-103
The Tulasi Ramayana
Kakbhushundi said: In the Kali-Yuga, the hot-bed of sin, men and women are all steeped in unrighteousness and act contrary to the Vedas. In the age of Kali, every virtue had been engulfed by the sins of Kali-Yuga; all good books had disappeared; impostors had promulgated a number of creeds which they had invented out of their own wit. The people had all fallen prey to delusion and all pious acts had been swallowed by greed. Now listen, while I describe a few peculiarities of Kali-Yuga.
No one follows the duties of one's own caste, and the four Ashrams or stages of life also disappear. Every man and woman takes delight in revolting against the Vedas. The Brahmans sell the Vedas; the kings bleed their subjects; no one respects the injunctions of the Vedas. The right course for every individual is that which one takes a fancy to; a man of erudition is he who plays the braggart. Whoever launches spurious undertakings and is given over to hypocrisy, him does everyone call a saint. He alone is clever who robs another of his wealth; he who puts up false appearances is an ardent follower of established usage. He who is given to lying and is clever at joking is spoken of as a man of parts in the Kali age. He alone who is a reprobate and has abandoned the path of the Vedas is a man of wisdom and dispassion in the Kali age. He alone who has grown big nails and long locks of matted hair is a renowned ascetic in the Kali age.
They alone who put on an unsightly garb and ornaments and eat anything and everything, no matter whether it is worth eating or not, are ascetics; they alone are perfect men and they are worth adoring in the Kali age. They who are of maleficent conduct are held in great esteem and they alone are worthy of honour. Even so they alone who are babblers in thought, word and deed are orators in the Kali age.
Dominated by women, all men dance to their tune like a monkey controlled by its trainer. Sudras instruct the twice-born (Brahman, Kshatriya and Vaishya) in spiritual wisdom and wearing the sacred thread, accept the worst type of gifts. All men are given over to sensuality and greed and they are irascible and hostile to the gods, to the Brahmans, to the Vedas as well as to the saints. Unfortunate wives desert their accomplished and handsome husbands and bestow their hearts on a paramour. Wives having their husbands alive have no ornaments on their person, while widows adorn themselves in the latest style. The disciple and the preceptor severally resemble a deaf man and a blind man: the one would not listen, while the other cannot see. A spiritual guide who robs his disciple of money but fails to rid him of his sorrow is cast into a terrible hell. Parents call their children and teach them such religion as may fill their belly.
Men and women talk of nothing else than the knowledge of God (Brahma-Gyana); while in their greed they would kill a Brahman, or for that matter, kill even their own spiritual guide for the sake of a single shell. Sudras argue with the twice-born : "Are we in any way inferior to you? A good Brahman is he who knows the truth of God!" and defiantly glower at them.
They alone who are covetous of another's wife and are clever at wiles and steeped in delusion, malice and worldly attachment are enlightened men swearing by the identity of the individual soul with God. Such is the practice I have seen in every Kali age. Doomed themselves, such people bring ruin even to those rare souls who tread the path of virtue. They who find fault with the Vedas by dint of logic are condemned to each hell for a whole Kalpa (cycle of time). People of the lowest grade in society get their heads shaved and enter the order of Sannyasa (renunciation) when their wives are no more in this world and they have lost their household properties. They allow themselves to be worshipped by the Brahmanas and bring ruin to themselves here as well as hereafter.
As for the Brahmanas, they are unlettered, grasping, lascivious, reprobate and stupid and marry low-caste women of lewd character. Sudras on the other hand practice Japa (the muttering of prayers) and austere penance, undertake sacred vows of various kinds and expound the Puranas from an exalted seat. All men follow a course of conduct of their own imagination; the endless variety of wrong-doing cannot be described in words.
In the Kali age there ensues a confusion of castes (due to promiscuous intermarriages) and every one infringes the sacred laws. Men perpetrate sins and reap suffering, terror, disease, sorrow and desolation. Overcome by delusion they walk not in the path of devotion to Sri Hari, conjoined with dispassion and wisdom - a path which has the approval of the Vedas, - and invent diverse creeds of their own.
The so-called recluses build themselves houses and furnish them at considerable expense. Dispassion is no more to be seen in them, the same having been wiped out by their sensuality. The so-called ascetics grow wealthy and householders go penniless; the freaks of the Kali age are beyond all telling. Men drive out a well-born and virtuous wife and bring home some servant-girl, casting to the winds all good usage. Sons respect their fathers and mothers only so long as they have not seen the face of their wives. From the time they take a fancy to their wives kinsfolk they begin to look upon their own people as their enemies.
Kings get addicted to sin and cease to have anything to do with piety. They ever persecute their subjects by inflicting unmerited punishment on them. The meanest churl, if he is rich, is accounted noble. A Brahman is known only by his sacred thread, and an ascetic by his naked body. He who refuses to recognise the Vedas and Puranas is counted as a true saint and a servant of Sri Hari in the Kali age. In the Kali age, those who find fault with others' virtues can be had in any number, but no one possessing virtues.
In the Kali age famine are of frequent occurrence and for want of food grains people perish en masse.
In the age of Kali duplicity, perversity, hypocrisy, malice, heresy, pride, infatuation, concupiscence and arrogance etc. pervade the whole universe. Men practice Japa, austere penance and charity, perform sacrifices and undertake sacred vows with some unholy motive. The gods rain not upon the earth and food grains sown in the soil do not germinate.
In the age of Kali there is no contentment, nor discernment, nor composure. People of all classes, whether high or low, have taken to begging. Envy, harsh words and covetousness are rampant; while evenness of mind is absent. The duties and rules of conduct prescribed for the four orders of society and stages in life are neglected. Self-control, charity, compassion and wisdom disappear while stupidity and fraud multiply to a large extent. Men and women all pamper their body; while slanderers are diffused all over the world.
The age of Kali is a store house of impurities and vices but it has many virtues too. Final emancipation is possible in the Kali age without any exertion. Moreover, the same goal which is reached through worship of God, performance of sacrifices or the practice of Yoga in the Satyayuga and in the Treta and Dwapara yuga, men are able to attain through the name of Sri Hari in the Kali age. No other age can compare with the Kali age provided a man has faith (in its virtue); for in this age one can easily cross the ocean of transmigration simply by singing Sri Ram's holy praises.
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