The Kali Yuga in the Narasiṃha Purāṇa
The Sanātana Dharma tradition divides time into four great ages called yugas. The Kali Yuga is the last and darkest of them. Chapter 54 of the Narasiṃha Purāṇa gives that text’s fullest description of this age. It comes straight after the account of the Kalki avatāra. The chapter describes how all four varṇas (social classes) and all āśramas (stages of life) break down, how the proper order of society is turned upside down, how rulers fail, how morals decline, how the weather goes wrong, and finally how the name of Bhagavān Viṣṇu is completely forgotten at the end of the age.
The chapter offers one single remedy. Only Viṣṇu-bhaktas (devotees of Viṣṇu) will be untouched by the troubles of Kali. Nāma-saṃkīrtana, the singing of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa’s names, is declared the highest sādhanā (spiritual practice) of this age. In one day it achieves what ten years of tapas (spiritual discipline) achieved in the Kṛta Yuga.
Signs of the Kali Yuga
Brāhmaṇas and Learning
- Brāhmaṇas will give up Vedic study and turn to music and entertainment
- Brāhmaṇas will work as employees of śūdras (the labouring class), and śūdras will become teachers of dharma
- Brāhmaṇas will perform pūjās and yajñas (fire offerings) only for show and personal gain, not for dharma
- They will sell the merit of dāna (giving), yajña and japa (repeating mantras) for money
- They will accept gifts from caṇḍālas (outcastes) and other unfit donors
- People who drink alcohol will teach brahma-jñāna (knowledge of Brahman, the Absolute)
- Brāhmaṇas will become attached to eating food given by others (para-bhukti-para)
The Order of Varṇas
- All four varṇas will mix, and the distinctions between them will collapse completely
- There will be varṇa-saṅkara (mixing of classes) on a large scale, and the difference between guru and śiṣya (teacher and student) will vanish
- Śūdras will wear the marks of sannyāsīs (renunciants), such as kaṣāya (saffron) robes, jaṭā (matted hair) and bhasma (sacred ash), for their own comfort and worldly gain
- Sons will hate their fathers, pupils will disrespect their teachers, and women will disrespect their husbands
Kings and Government
- Kings and their soldiers will harass and oppress the people for wealth instead of protecting them
- Thieves will wait openly on the roads
- No one will respect elders, and everyone will claim to know everything
Society
- Women will be unfaithful to their husbands
- Everyone will be driven by greed, and wicked deeds will increase
- Wealth alone will decide a person’s honour in society, not birth, learning or dharma
- Dogs will outnumber cows
- Clouds will not rain evenly, and some regions will suffer drought
Dharma
- People who follow dharma will be laughed at and envied
- Vratas (religious vows) will not be kept
- Brāhmaṇas will criticise the Vedas and reject yajña and homa (fire offerings) through clever reasoning (hetuvāda)
- In the first quarter of the Kali Yuga, people will already begin to speak ill of Bhagavān Śrī Hari
- At the very end of the Kali Yuga, no one will even remember Hari’s name
The Remedy: Harināma-Saṃkīrtana
After this full description of the breakdown of civilisation, the Narasiṃha Purāṇa at once declares the remedy in plain words:
“Viṣṇu-bhaktas alone will not be afflicted by Kali.”
The chapter compares the main sādhanā of each yuga and how quickly it bears fruit:
| Yuga | Main sādhanā | How its merit compares |
|---|---|---|
| Kṛta | Tapas | 10 years achieves a result |
| Tretā | Dhyāna (meditation) | 1 year achieves what 10 years achieves in the Kṛta |
| Dvāpara | Yajña | 1 month achieves what 1 year achieves in the Tretā |
| Kali | Nāma-saṃkīrtana | 1 day achieves what 1 month achieves in the Dvāpara |
The same idea is also put another way. What the Satya Yuga achieves through dhyāna, the Tretā through yajña, and the Dvāpara through arcana (pūjā of sacred images), the Kali achieves simply by saying Nārāyaṇa’s name.
The Divine Names
The chapter names eleven names of Bhagavān Viṣṇu in particular. Saying even one of them protects the devotee from all the troubles of Kali:
Śrī Hari, Keśava, Govinda, Vāsudeva, Jaganmaya, Janārdana, Jagatpālaka, Pītāmbara, Acyuta, Nārāyaṇa, Mādhava
The Wider Circle of Blessing
Even people who simply keep company with a devotee of Viṣṇu, or who hear the nāma (name) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, are blessed. In the Kali Yuga, doing harināma-japa, kīrtana and pūjā, even imperfectly, frees the devotee without any doubt. As its highest fruit, harināma-saṃkīrtana also gives Viṣṇu-sāyujya, union with Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself.
Link with the Kalki Avatāra
The Narasiṃha Purāṇa places this description of the Kali Yuga straight after the story of Kalki, and this is on purpose. The conditions described above are exactly what Kalki will meet at the end of the age. Kalki is born at Śambhala, destroys the mleccha armies (foreign forces outside the Vedic way of life), performs the Bahukāñcana yajña, and begins a new Kṛta Yuga. This formally ends the conditions of decline described in this chapter.
Sources
- Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 54