Kalki Returns to Vaikuṇṭha

This is the last episode of the Kalki Purāṇa, in the Tritīyāmśa. Bhagavān Kalki has ruled the Kṛtayuga kingdom from Śambhala for one thousand years. The devas and Brahmā come to his court, praise him and ask him to return to Vaikuṇṭha, because his work is done. Kalki agrees. He crowns his sons, speaks to his citizens, and goes with his two wives, Padmāvatī and Rāmā, to the Himālaya. On the bank of the Gaṅgā he takes his four-armed Vishṇu form and rises to Vaikuṇṭha.

The devas arrive at Śambhala

Kalki had ruled in Śambhala for one thousand years. In that time the city had become a place of great beauty and dharmic order. It held sixty-eight tīrthas within its limits. It had groves and gardens with many kinds of flowers. It shone like Amarāvatī and was full of flags and banners. Kalki had spent his time in great joy with his wives. He rode Indra’s divine chariot across rivers, mountains, forests and islands. With Padmāvatī, Rāmā and a thousand women he entered a crystal cave filled with indranīla gems, and came out again and went back. He lived as the jagannātha (lord of the world) who was also a loving and devoted householder.

Then the devas came.

Brahmā led all the groups of devas to Śambhala in their divine chariots, with the maharshis, gandharvas, kinnaras and apsarases. They entered the great assembly hall and saw Kalki. He was blue-dark as a new rain cloud. His eyes were like lotus petals and his arms were long and strong. He shone with a blazing crown and wore earrings that lit his moon-like face. He smiled with great joy. The devas were filled with bhakti and praised him with a great stotra.

The devas’ stotra

The devas spoke together:

“O Devadeva! O Viśveśa! O Bhūtanātha! You are ananta, the limitless one in whom all states rest. You are the blazing fire that burns the dry grass of all the troubles of saṃsāra. By the light of your feet, set with gems, you have crushed the pride of all kings. O Deva, victory to you!

“O Śrī Hari! You light the three worlds. The Kaustubha jewel shines on your chest. Your dark body, like a rain cloud, is your form. O Deva, we have come with our wives to take shelter in you. Protect us.

“O Parameśvara! If you have mercy on us, leave this earth, where dharma and satya (truth) are no longer broken, and return to Vaikuṇṭha.”

Kalki agrees and names his successors

Kalki heard the devas’ plea with a full heart. His work was indeed finished. Kali was beaten, dharma stood on four feet, the dynasties were founded again, and the Kṛtayuga was set up. He agreed to leave.

He called his sons before the assembly: Jaya and Vijaya, born of Padmāvatī, and Meghamāla and Bāhuka, born of Rāmā. All were dharmic, loved by the people, and full of courage and strength. Kalki crowned them kings with the rājyābhisheka ceremony. He then called his citizens.

The farewell to the citizens

The citizens came at Kalki’s call: brāhmaṇas, kshatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, women, children and elders. He told them plainly: “I am leaving for Vaikuṇṭha at the devas’ request. My work in this birth is done.”

The citizens wept. They said: “O nātha! You know all the dharmas. You should not leave us. Wherever you are, there we will go. In this saṃsāra house, wealth and children are all dear to us, but our prāṇas (life-breaths) want to follow you, O yajñapurusha, into both worlds.”

Kalki was moved. He comforted them with sadvacanas (words of truth and comfort) and quieted them. Then, with a tender heart and a calm mind, he left with both his wives.

The ascent from the Himālaya and the Gaṅgā

Kalki went to the Himālaya. It is the home of the munis, full of the water of the Gaṅgā, honoured by the devas, and it fills the mind with joy. He came to the bank of the Gaṅgā with the devas gathered around him. There, in front of all, he took his four-armed Vishṇu form (catur-bhuja Vishṇu-rūpa), the form of the all-pervading Nārāyaṇa, holding the śaṅkha (conch), cakra, gadā and padma (lotus).

Having taken his true form, Kalki meditated on himself as Paramātmā. This meditation gathered his radiance until he blazed like a thousand suns. The śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and the bow Śārṅga, in bodily form, praised him. The devas showered him with flowers and drums sounded. He was cheered again and again. Then Kalki entered the Vaishṇava-pada, the supreme abode of Vishṇu.

As he merged into the formless Nirākāra beyond all worlds, all the lokas saw it and were overcome with silence. All beings were drawn inward.

Padmāvatī and Rāmā enter the fire

At that moment Kalki’s two wives, Padmāvatī (an avatāra of Lakshmī) and Rāmā (an avatāra of Satyabhāmā), both entered the fire to follow their lord. This agni-praveśa (entering the fire) was their last act of devotion. It was a willing ascent, not a sorrowful death. As they entered it, they were united with Bhagavān Vishṇu in Vaikuṇṭha.

The world after Kalki

The Kalki Purāṇa tells what followed Kalki’s departure.

  • Dharma and Kṛtayuga, the two beings who had been Kalki’s constant companions, wandered the earth freely and without hindrance for a long age. The earth that Kalki had set right stayed in dharmic order.
  • Maru and Devāpi, the two great kings who had waited so long, ruled the earth as Kalki had appointed them. They protected the people for a long time.
  • Viśākhayūpa, the king of Mahishmatī, had been Kalki’s loyal general throughout the Digvijaya. When he heard that Kalki had gone to Vaikuṇṭha, he gave his whole kingdom to his son and went to the forest. The pain of parting from Kalki made him turn away from the royal throne, as it did other kings.
  • Other kings, overcome by viraha (the ache of separation) from Kalki, gave up their thrones and sat in dhyāna (meditation), chanting Kalki’s name.
  • Śuka and other ṛshis told the story of Kalki and then went to the āśrama of Nara and Nārāyaṇa.
  • Mārkaṇḍeya and other munis meditated on Kalki’s māhātmya (greatness) and honoured him.

The Kṛtayuga under Kalki

During Kalki’s thousand-year reign the whole earth lived under the full rule of dharma:

  • There was no cheating, stealing or lying among the people.
  • There was no ādhi (mental anguish) and no vyādhi (disease).
  • Brāhmaṇas knew the Vedas.
  • Women were pativratās (devoted to their husbands) who did pūjā and homa.
  • Kshatriyas performed yajñas.
  • Vaiśyas traded in keeping with dharma.
  • Śūdras served the brāhmaṇas and chanted the names of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa.

The sixty-eight tīrthas of Śambhala made the whole region holy, so that all who died there reached moksha. The pāpasthānas (places and people of pāpa) had no place in Kalki’s realm. These were the adharmic, the short-lived, those who were poor because of earlier karma, the pākhaṇḍas and the kapaṭas (deceivers).

Sources

  • Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 19 (the devas’ arrival, the stotra, the farewell, the ascent, the world after Kalki)
  • Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapters 18–19 (the Kṛtayuga under Kalki)