Kali-Yuga

Yuga is a time scale used in the Indian subcontinent. As we refer to one century as a hundred years, hundreds of centuries become one Yuga. Hindu texts say there are four Yuga which equal one Maha-Yuga.

Chapter Two of Canto 12 of the Srimad Bhagavatam or Srimad Bhagavata Purana talks about the Kali Yuga of 864000 solar years. In this chapter, you can find the list of predictions and prophecies about the dark times of the Kali-Yuga.

Signs Of The Kali-Yuga:

Verse 1

sri-suka uvaca
tatas canu-dinam dharmah
satyam saucam ksama daya
kalena balina rajan
nanksyaty ayur balam smrtih

SB 12.2.1

Sukadeva Gosvami said: Then, O King, 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.

Verse 2

vittam eva kalau nrnam
janmacara-gunodayah
dharma-nyaya-vyavasthayam
karanam balam eva hi

SB 12.2.2

In Kali-Yuga, wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior, and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only based on one’s power.

Verse 3

dampatye ’bhirucir hetur
mayaiva vyavaharike
stritve pumstve ca hi ratir
vipratve sutram eva hi

SB 12.2.3

Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a Brahmana just by his wearing a thread.

Verse 4

lingam evasrama-khyatav
anyonyapatti-karanam
avrttya nyaya-daurbalyam
panditye capalam vacah

SB 12.2.4

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 he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.

Verse 5

anadhyataivasadhutve
sadhutve dambha eva tu
svikara eva codvahe
snanam eva prasadhanam

SB 12.2.5

A person will be judged unholy if he does not have money, and hypocrisy will be accepted as a virtue. Marriage will be arranged simply by verbal agreement, and a person will think he is fit to appear in public if he has merely taken a bath.

Verse 6

dure vary-ayanam tirtham
lavanyam kesa-dharanam
udaram-bharata svarthah
satyatve dharstyam eva

hidaksyam kutumba-bharanam
yaso ’rthe dharma-sevanam

SB 12.2.6

A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.

Verse 7

evam prajabhir dustabhir
akirne ksiti-mandale
brahma-vit-ksatra-sudranam
yo bali bhavita nrpah

SB 12.2.7

As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.

Verse 8

praja hi lubdhai rajanyair
nirghrnair dasyu-dharmabhih
acchinna-dara-dravina
yasyanti giri-kananam

SB 12.2.8

Losing their wives and properties to such avaricious and merciless rulers, who will behave no better than ordinary thieves, the citizens will flee to the mountains and forests.

Verse 9

saka-mulamisa-ksaudra-
phala-puspasti-bhojanah
anavrstya vinanksyanti
durbhiksa-kara-piditah

SB 12.2.9

Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers, and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.

Verse 10

sita-vatatapa-pravrd-
himair anyonyatah prajah
ksut-trdbhyam vyadhibhis caiva
santapsyante ca cintaya

SB 12.2.10

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.

Verse 11

trimsad vimsati varsani
paramayuh kalau nrnam

SB 12.2.11

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

Impact of Kali-Yuga (Verse 12-16)

ksiyamanesu dehesu
dehinam kali-dosatah
varnasramavatam dharme
naste veda-pathe nrnam

SB 12.2.12

pasanda-pracure dharme
dasyu-prayesu rajasu
cauryanrta-vrtha-himsa-
nana-vrttisu vai nrsu

SB 12.2.13

sudra-prayesu varnesu
cchaga-prayasu dhenusu
grha-prayesv asramesu
yauna-prayesu bandhusu

SB 12.2.14

anu-prayasv osadhisu
sami-prayesu sthasnusu
vidyut-prayesu meghesu
sunya-prayesu sadmasu

SB 12.2.15

ittham kalau gata-praye
janesu khara-dharmisu
dharma-tranaya sattvena
bhagavan avatarisyati

SB 12.2.16

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 Varnashrama will be ruined. The path of the Veda will be completely forgotten in human society, and the 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 Sudra. 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 sami trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses.