Kalki Charitra: Life of Bhagavān Kalki

The Kalki Charitra is the account of Bhagavān Kalki, the tenth avatāra (descent) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. It follows his whole life and mission across three aṃśas (parts) of the Kalki Purāṇa. The Prathamāmśa gives the family of Kali Purusha, Kalki’s birth and schooling, and the story of Padmāvatī. The Dvithīyāmśa tells of the journey to Siṃhala Dvīpa, the marriage, Ananta Muni’s vision of māyā, the return to Śambhala and the first great battle at Kīkaṭapura. The Tṛtīyāmśa tells the full conquest of the world (digvijaya), the defeat of Kali Purusha, the battles with Koka and Vikoka and at Bhallāṭanagara, the freeing of Sulocanā, and Kalki’s thousand-year reign in the Kṛtayuga before he returns to Vaikuṇṭha.

The Prathamāmśa

The frame and how the account was passed down

In Chapter 1, the assembled ṛshis at the holy forest of Naimishāraṇya, led by Śaunaka, wait in great hope. They go to Sūta, son of Romaharshaṇa. Sūta knows the past, the present and the future, and has heard all the Purāṇas. The ṛshis ask him: “Tell us who Kali is, where he was born, how he came to rule the world, and how he destroyed eternal dharma. And tell us of the divine avatāra who will undo all this.”

Sūta is full of joy and deep in meditation on Bhagavān Mahāvishṇu. He receives their words with respect and begins. The account was first told by Śuka Mahāṛshi, after the death of King Parīkshit, to the munis gathered at the forest āśrama. What Śuka spoke in that holy grove is what Sūta now tells at Naimishāraṇya. The line of transmission runs: Nārada, Brahmā, Vyāsa, Śuka, the forest ṛshis, Sūta, and then Śaunaka with the assembly at Naimishāraṇya.

The family of Kali

Chapter 1 goes on. After the dissolution of an age, the world was made new by Brahmā. The great Prajāpati shaped all beings from his body. From the back of his body he shaped Adharma, a dark and dreadful form that stands for all wrongdoing. Adharma’s wife was Mithyā (falsehood). Their son was the proud and powerful Dambha (hypocrisy). Dambha’s sister was Māyā (illusion).

Dambha and Māyā had two children: Lobha (greed, a son) and Nikṛti (deception, a daughter).
Lobha and Nikṛti had Krodha (anger) and his sister Hiṃsā (violence).
Krodha and Hiṃsā had Kali, and Kali’s sister Duruktī (evil speech).
Kali and Duruktī had Bhaya (fear, a son) and Mṛtyu (death, a daughter).
Bhaya and Mṛtyu had Niraya (hell).
Niraya and his sister Yātanā (torment) had thousands of children. They are the agents who destroy dharma, and they spread and multiplied over the world.

Kali is black as collyrium (eye-paint). He has a belly like a snake, a terrible face and a tongue that darts about. His body gives off a foul smell. He loves gambling, wine, women and gold. He keeps holding his private part with his left hand. His sister Duruktī is always with him. Kali and all his kin, the children and grandchildren of Adharma, roam the world in swarms. They bring every kind of suffering: disease, old age, fear, grief, addiction and the breakdown of sacred order.

The four pādas of Kali Yuga

Still in Chapter 1, Sūta tells how adharma slowly covers the world through the four pādas (quarters) of the Kali Yuga.

In the first pāda, the wickedness described above shows itself fully. Brāhmaṇas become corrupt, kshatriyas become proud, merchants become dishonest and śūdras become insolent. Family bonds fall apart, and people stop respecting elders and teachers.
In the second pāda, people stop saying the name of Śrī Kṛshṇa.
In the third pāda, the four varṇas collapse into one mixed mass. Varṇa-saṅkara (mixing of varṇas) becomes universal.
In the fourth and last pāda, even the knowledge of Bhagavān Vishṇu is lost. The praṇava (Oṃ), the Vedic recitation, the yajñas, svāhā, svadhā and vashaṭ all vanish from the world. All karmas (rites) stop. The devas get no havis (offerings) and no ritual food, so they grow thin and miserable. Together with Bhūdevī, the earth devī, who trembles with sorrow, they go to Brahmaloka. Brahmaloka is full of the sound of Vedic recitation and the smell of yajña smoke. Brahmā sits there with Sanaka, Sanandana and the other sons born from his mind. The devas bow to Brahmā and tell him their grief.

The devas ask Vishṇu for help

In Chapters 1 and 2, Brahmā hears the devas’ cry and leads them all to Goloka, the divine home of Bhagavān Vishṇu. They praise the lotus-eyed Bhagavān Vishṇu and bow low before him. Brahmā explains the matter. Bhagavān Vishṇu, who as Padmanābha rests in eternal ease, answers with kindness.

“O Brahmā! Very soon I will come down to earth. I will be born in Śambhala, in the house of the brāhmaṇa Vishṇuyaśa, in the womb of his wife Sumatī. I will be born with four brothers of the same family. You, O devas, must come down to earth in your partial forms (aṃśas) and help me in this work. Padmā, who is Lakshmī herself, will be born as the daughter of Bṛhadratha, king of Siṃhala Dvīpa, and his queen Kaumudī. She will have eyes like lotuses. After I have destroyed Kali, I will give the rule of the earth to Devāpi of the Candra (lunar) dynasty and Maru of the Sūrya (solar) dynasty. Then I will return to Vaikuṇṭha.”

At these words, Brahmā and all the devas bow with joy. They go back to their own homes and get ready to take partial births on earth, as Bhagavān Vishṇu has told them.

The birth of Kalki

Chapter 2 tells of the birth. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa enters the village of Śambhala. All the planets, nakshatras (lunar stars) and rāśis (zodiac signs) come together at the most auspicious moment. Sumatī, wife of the brāhmaṇa Vishṇuyaśa, conceives. Good marks appear on her body.

At the moment of the avatāra’s birth, all creation is filled with joy. Rivers and oceans rejoice. Mountains stand glad. Things that move and things that do not are full of delight. The ṛshis and devas celebrate. The pitṛs (ancestors) dance with happiness, the Gandharvas play divine music and the Apsarās dance. Bhūdevī, the earth herself, pours out amṛta (the nectar of life) in the form of milk. The Saptamātṛkās (seven mothers) speak words of blessing.

In the delivery room, Bhagavān Kalki first appears in his divine four-armed form, holding the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and padma (lotus). Brahmā hears of this and sends Vāyu, the deva of the wind, to the room with a message for Bhagavān Kalki: “O Deva! Even the devas cannot reach your four-armed form. Please take the human form with two arms.” Vāyu enters the room as a cool, gentle breeze and gives Brahmā’s message. At once Bhagavān Kalki draws back two arms and appears as a shining baby with two arms. His parents, overcome by Vishṇumāyā (Vishṇu’s power of illusion), believe they have always seen him with two arms. Their joy has no limit.

The whole village of Śambhala celebrates. Sumatī has received Bhagavān Vishṇu, master of all worlds, as her own son. In her thanks she gives a hundred cows to brāhmaṇas. Vishṇuyaśa arranges the nāmakaraṇa, the naming ceremony.

Four immortal cirajīvins come to the naming ceremony dressed as wandering beggars:

Paraśurāma, son of Jamadagni, of the Bhṛgu line
Kṛpācārya, the eternal teacher
Vyāsa Mahāṛshi, who arranged the Vedas
Aśvatthāman, son of Droṇa

They shine like suns. Vishṇuyaśa receives them with honour. They look at the divine baby and know that he is the avatāra who has come to destroy Kali. They bow to him and name him Kalki. When the saṃskāra (rite) is done, they leave.

Childhood and companions

Still in Chapter 2, Kalki grows day by day like the moon in the bright fortnight, fed by his mother’s love. He has three elder brothers:

Kavi
Prājña
Sumantra

All three please their parents by their right conduct. Learned brāhmaṇas serve the household. Three companions, Gārgya, Bhārgya and Viśāla, are noble brāhmaṇas who were born into the same community before Kalki came. They are devoted to Kalki from the start. They follow him everywhere and are made pure just by seeing him. The whole region is ruled by King Viśākhayūpa from his capital Mahishmatī.

When it is time for the upanayana (sacred thread ceremony), Kalki asks his father about the nature of the Veda, the Gāyatrī and the Yajñopavīta (the sacred thread). Vishṇuyaśa teaches him. The Veda came from the mouth of Śrī Hari himself. The Gāyatrī is the mother of all Vedic knowledge. The Yajñopavīta stands for the three guṇas (sattva, rajas and tamas), and it is the mark by which a brāhmaṇa goes beyond the bonds of saṃsāra. He describes the ten saṃskāras that give true brāhmaṇatva (the state of a brāhmaṇa). He describes how brāhmaṇas worship Śrī Hari by reciting the Gāyatrī three times a day, and through yajña, dāna (giving) and tapas. He says he wishes to hold the upanayana on an auspicious day.

Kalki receives the sacred thread. His father then tells him that even the few brāhmaṇas who still follow dharma in the Kali age are growing weak. They are ruled by bodily desire and by service to śūdras. When Kalki hears this, the young avatāra firmly decides that Kali must be destroyed. He sets out for the gurukula (the teacher’s school).

Education under Paraśurāma

In Chapter 3, as Kalki is setting out, Paraśurāma, the eternal Bhārgava ṛshi who lives on Mahendra Parvata, appears before him. He says: “I know who you are. I will be your guru. I will teach you all the vidyās (branches of knowledge). I am Jamadagni’s son, of the Bhṛgu line. I know all the Vedas with their aṅgas, and I am a master of Dhanurveda. In the past I cleared the earth of kshatriyas twenty-one times and gave the earth to brāhmaṇas. Now I live on Mahendra Parvata in tapas. Come, learn from me.”

Kalki is full of joy. He bows to Paraśurāma and accepts him as his ācārya (teacher). At Mahendra Parvata, Kalki studies:

The four Vedas with their six Vedāṅgas: śikshā, kalpa, vyākaraṇa, nirukta, candas and jyotisha
Dhanurveda, the whole science of archery and war
The sixty-four arts (catusshashti kalās)

When the schooling is over and Kalki wants to give guru-dakshiṇā (a teacher’s fee), Paraśurāma shows that he knows who Kalki really is. He says: “You are Vishṇu himself, who has come down to destroy Kali. This is my guru-dakshiṇā: let me see your divine work, your destruction of Kali and the return of dharma. That sight will be my reward.”

He then foretells what will happen:

Kalki will receive a divine horse and a Śuka (a parrot) from Bhagavān Śiva.
He will win Padmā of Siṃhala Dvīpa, who has no equal, as his wife.
He will conquer the earth in a great digvijaya.
He will destroy the kings who have fallen from dharma and joined Kali.
He will wipe out the Bauddhas, who have spoiled the Vedic path.
He will then set Devāpi and Maru on the throne and return to Vaikuṇṭha.

Kalki worships Śiva and receives divine gifts

Also in Chapter 3, following Paraśurāma’s instructions, Kalki goes to the shrine of Bilvodeśvara Śiva and honours Mahādeva. He composes and recites a stotra (hymn of praise) of seven verses. In it he praises Bhagavān Śiva as:

Gauranātha and Viśvanātha, the lord of the universe
The one who wears Vāsuki as a necklace
The three-eyed, five-faced one
The lord of yogīs, who destroyed Kāmadeva
The one whose matted locks (jaṭājūṭa) hold the Gaṅgā flowing always from his head
Mahākāla, who wears the crescent moon
The one who lives in the cremation grounds, among bhūtas and pretas (spirits)
The one at whose command Vāyu blows, Agni burns, Sūrya shines, Candra and the stars keep their courses, the earth carries all things, and the devas send rain in season
Īśāna in the form of the whole universe (Viśvarūpa), who is both beyond the world and within it

Bhagavān Śiva is quick to be pleased, and the praise pleases him at once. He appears before Kalki with Pārvatī and gently touches Kalki’s limbs with his hand. He says: “Ask for the vara (boon) you wish. And know this: whoever recites this stotra on earth will receive all they desire.”

Bhagavān Śiva gives Kalki three gifts without being asked:

The divine horse. It is swift as Garuḍa, can take many forms, and can go anywhere it wishes. It becomes Kalki’s chief steed in his work.
The Śuka (a divine parrot). It knows everything and knows the meaning of all the śāstras. It is honoured in the courts of the devas and Gandharvas, goes where it likes and speaks the human tongue.
The jewel-studded sword (ratna-khacita khaḍga). It is a fearsome weapon that can remove the heavy load of pāpa (sin) that weighs down the earth.

Kalki mounts the horse and quickly returns to Śambhala. There he tells his parents, brothers and companions all that has happened. Gārgya, Bhārgya, Viśāla and the whole family are filled with joy.

Viśākhayūpa visits Kalki

In Chapters 3 and 4, King Viśākhayūpa of Mahishmatī hears of the divine events in Śambhala. He understands that Śrī Hari has taken the form of Kalki, and decides to go and see him. He enters Śambhala and bows to Kalki’s elder brothers Kavi, Prājña and Sumantra. Then he sees Kalki, seated among his companions Gārgya, Bhārgya and Viśāla. Kalki shines like the moon among stars, like Indra seated on Uccaiḥśravas. The moment Viśākhayūpa sees him, he is filled with great devotion and becomes a devotee of Vishṇu. He spends several days with Kalki.

Kalki teaches Viśākhayūpa the basics of how the cosmos is ordered.

“When the world is dissolved, everything enters into me, Brahmā too. When creation begins, I alone exist. From me came the Virāṭpurusha, who has thousands of heads, eyes and feet. From the Virāṭpurusha came Brahmā, who always recites the Veda. Brahmā is a part of me. He acts by my command, together with prakṛti (nature), kāla (time) and māyā, and creates all living beings, the Manus and the Prajāpatis. All of them are parts of me, but under the pull of the three guṇas they take up countless activities. Everything born from māyā is also a part of me. At pralaya (dissolution) all returns into me.

Brāhmaṇas are born from my body. They worship me through yajña, svādhyāya (study of the Veda), tapas and dāna. They are the Veda itself in human form. They speak the Veda with their mouths. They carry all the tīrthas (holy places) in their own bodies. Even I, in my sāttvika (pure) form, bow before brāhmaṇas. Those parts of me who have fallen under the power of Kali will be made pure by being near me. Now, Viśākhayūpa, perform the Rājasūya and Aśvamedha yajñas. After I destroy Kali, Devāpi of the lunar dynasty and Maru of the solar dynasty will rule the earth through the Satya Yuga.”

After the king leaves, the Śuka flies to Siṃhala Dvīpa. This is the first of many journeys that will bring Kalki and Padmāvatī together.

Padmāvatī

Chapter 4 turns to Siṃhala Dvīpa, far across the ocean. The great and brave king Bṛhadratha rules there. His queen is Kaumudī. Their daughter is Padmāvatī, an avatāra of Lakshmī Devī herself. Her beauty is so great that it seems Brahmā gathered the beauty of the three worlds and put it into one form.

From childhood Padmāvatī is a keen devotee of Śiva. With her companions she honours Parameśvara, as Pārvatī honours Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva knows she is Lakshmī’s avatāra. He appears before her with Pārvatī and offers her varas. Padmāvatī is overcome with shyness. She stands with her head bowed and says nothing. Bhagavān Śiva speaks of his own accord: “O auspicious one! Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa will be your husband. He alone is fit for you in all three worlds. And this is my protection for you: any male, whether deva, asura, nāga, Gandharva, cāraṇa or human, who looks at you with desire will at once become a woman. Only Nārāyaṇa is safe from this. Give up your tapas and go home in peace.” Padmāvatī bows to Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī and goes home.

The svayaṃvara and its strange result

In Chapter 5, when Padmāvatī is old enough to marry, King Bṛhadratha grows anxious and decides to hold a svayaṃvara (a bride’s own choice of husband). He talks it over with Queen Kaumudī. She reminds him of Bhagavān Śiva’s vara, that Śrī Hari alone will be Padmāvatī’s husband. The king does not fully see how this will come about. He decides to hold the assembly and trust that Śrī Hari will appear.

Kings and princes from all over the known world are invited. All are of good family, handsome, learned and brave. They come on horses and elephants and in great chariots, dressed in gold and jewels, with their weapons shining, and with armies and banners. The svayaṃvara hall of Siṃhala Dvīpa is a grand sight. The kings named are Rucirāśva, Sukarmā, Madirāksha, Dhṛḍhāśuga, Kṛshṇasāra, Pārada, Jīmūta, Kraramardana, Kāśu, Kuśamba, Vasumāna, Śaṅku, Krodhana, Sañjaya, Gurumitra, Pramadhi, Vijṛmbha, Sṛñjaya and Akshama, and many more.

Padmāvatī enters the maṇḍapa (hall) holding the marriage garland. She wears red silk and ornaments of pearl and coral. Her anklets ring as she walks with the grace of a swan. Hundreds of companions and servants go with her. She moves from king to king and listens to their good qualities, while every eye in the hall is on her.

Then it happens. Every king, overcome by desire (kāma) he cannot resist when he sees her, feels the world spin. Their weapons fall from their hands. They fall to the ground. When they get up, they are women, with rounded waists and full bodies. Confused and ashamed, they do not even dare to look at each other. Afraid of their enemies and grieving over their change, they follow Padmāvatī as if they had always been her attendants. In their new forms they worship Śrī Hari.

The Śuka sits unseen on a nearby tree and sees it all. He goes back to Kalki and gives him a full report.

The Śuka as messenger

In Chapters 5 and 6, Kalki hears the Śuka’s account of Padmāvatī and is moved. He sends the Śuka back to Siṃhala Dvīpa as his own messenger. He says: “Go to her. Describe my form and my qualities. Give her my message. Bring her message back to me. She is my beloved and I am her husband. This union is the divine will. Through you it will be carried out.”

The Śuka flies across the ocean. He bathes and rests in the pure waters of the island and enters the palace gardens. He settles on a nāgasampige tree near the inner rooms. He sees Padmāvatī worn thin with sorrow, her ornaments taken off, her body unwashed with grief as if covered with dust, yet still shining like gold. In human speech the Śuka praises her as a form of Lakshmī Devī.

Padmāvatī is surprised to hear a parrot speak like a human, and asks who it is. The Śuka tells her about himself. He knows everything, goes where he likes and is honoured in all divine courts, and he has come especially to see her. He urges her to tell him her sorrow. Padmāvatī pours out her grief. She tells of Bhagavān Śiva’s vara from her childhood, her father’s svayaṃvara, the change of every king in the assembly, and her present despair. She fears that perhaps Bhagavān Śiva’s words were not true and that Śrī Hari will never come for her.

The Śuka comforts her and asks: “Tell me the way of worshipping Śrī Hari that Bhagavān Śiva taught you. Let me hear it.”

The teaching on Vishṇu bhakti

In Chapter 7, Padmāvatī is reassured. She tells the Śuka the full method of Vishṇu pūjā and the sixteen-verse dhyāna-stotra (a hymn for meditation) that Bhagavān Śiva himself taught her. She says this teaching destroys even the worst pāpas, including the killing of cows (go-hatyā) and of brāhmaṇas (brahma-hatyā).

The pūjā method. Rise at the auspicious hour and bathe. Do the daily observances. Wash the hands and feet and do ācamana (sipping water). Sit facing east on a proper seat (āsana). Hold the mind still. Do aṅga-nyāsa and kara-nyāsa (placing the mantras on the limbs and hands). Do bhūta-śuddhi (cleansing of the elements of the body). Offer arghya (water of welcome). Do the Keśava-kīrtyādi nyāsa so as to become deeply absorbed. Invite Keśava into the lotus of the heart. Offer pādya (water for the feet), arghya, ācamanīya (water for sipping), snāna (bath), vastra (cloth) and ābharaṇa (ornaments), in that order. Then meditate on Nārāyaṇa from head to feet with the great mantra:

Oṃ namo Nārāyaṇāya svāhā.

This means: Oṃ, I bow to Nārāyaṇa. Svāhā.

The sixteen-verse dhyāna. It moves in order from the lotus feet of Bhagavān Vishṇu up to his crown.

The feet. The nails are raised and red. The feet wear golden anklets and are bathed in water of the Gaṅgā. Devotees serve them as bees drink honey from Tulasī.
The calves. They are the colour of a blue gem at Garuḍa’s throat. The nails are red as Garuḍa’s beak.
The knees. A cloth from his shoulders falls to touch them, while Garuḍa sings the Sāmaveda.
The waist. It is wrapped in golden silk and is the home of Brahma-Yama-Kāma.
The navel. It is round, with three lines and fine hair, and is the source of Brahmā’s lotus.
The chest. It is adorned with Lakshmī’s kumkuma, the light of the Kaustubha jewel, the Śrīvatsa mark, sandalwood and the vanamālā (garland of forest flowers).
The right hands. They hold the cakra and the gadā, and can slay terrible asuras without effort.
The left hands. They hold the padma and the śaṅkha. They are long as elephant trunks, and their red fingers touch the knees. They delight Lakshmī, and they are the very hands that killed the asura Murā.
The throat. It is circled by the vanamālā and has three lines like a conch. It is the source of the mantras that give moksha.
The face. It is a red lotus of unspeakable sweetness, with white teeth, red lips and words of amṛta.
The nose. It is like a tender shoot, set below curved brows, and it is able to carry out the three works of creation, keeping and dissolution.
The ears. They are adorned with makara-kuṇḍalas (shark-shaped earrings) that shine in all directions, framed by curling locks.
The forehead. It bears a tilaka (mark) scented with gorocanā, which binds the heart of everyone who sees it, and is crowned by the jewelled crown (kirīṭa).
The hair. It is dark as rain-clouds, wavy and scented with fragrant flowers, and it is the pride of Lakshmī Devī.

The whole vision is this. Bhagavān Vishṇu is dark as rain-clouds and shines like crores of suns and moons. His brows are like a rainbow and his eyes like lotus petals. He wears silk that flashes like lightning. He has no beginning and is eternal. He is the only refuge of his devotee.

The phala-śruti (the fruit of the teaching). Whoever offers these sixteen verses as sixteen flowers to Bhagavān Vishṇu, with full devotion, meditating, worshipping, thinking on him and bowing to him, becomes pure, reaches moksha and knows the bliss of Brahman. By hearing, reciting or teaching this stotra, one gains puṇya (merit), long life (āyushya), fame (kīrti) and the worlds of svarga (heaven). In the end one gains dharma, artha, kāma and moksha.

The Dvithīyāmśa

Kalki’s journey to Siṃhala Dvīpa

In Chapters 1 and 2 of the Dvithīyāmśa, after the events of the Prathamāmśa, the divine Śuka goes back to Padmāvatī with a full account of Kalki. Padmāvatī sends him back to bring Kalki to her. Kalki receives the Śuka’s message and at once rides Bhagavān Śiva’s divine horse to Siṃhala Dvīpa. He reaches the city of Kārumatī.

The Śuka announces his arrival to Padmāvatī. She comes to the holy lake for water-play (jala-krīḍā) with her eight chief companions (sakhīs): Vimalā, Māriṇī, Lolā, Kamalā, Kāmakandala, Vilāsinī, Cārumatī and Kumudā. At the lake she sees Kalki resting on a jewelled platform (maṇivedi). His dark blue body, yellow robe (pītāmbara), Śrīvatsa and Kaustubha, and arms that reach his knees make him plainly the Bhagavān Vishṇu she saw in her meditation. Kalki wakes, aware of her presence, and speaks to her with tenderness. Padmāvatī knows him as Śrī Hari himself.

The marriage at Siṃhala Dvīpa

In Chapter 3, Padmāvatī tells her father Bṛhadratha that Kalki has come. Bṛhadratha comes to the lake in a grand procession. He sees Kalki on the maṇivedi, does pūjā to him and leads him to the palace. The vivāha (wedding) of Kalki and Padmāvatī is held.

The kings who were changed at the svayaṃvara come to Kalki. He tells them to bathe in the river Revā, and they get back their male forms. The restored kings offer the Daśāvatāra stotra, praising Kalki as the high point of all ten descents of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Kalki teaches them varṇa-dharma and pravṛtti-nivṛtti-dharma (the way of action and the way of turning away from action). Later they reach moksha.

Ananta Muni’s vision of māyā

In Chapters 4 and 5, the kings ask Kalki a deep question about what it is to be a woman or a man, and about all the dualities of life in saṃsāra. Kalki calls Ananta Muni, a brāhmaṇa who has directly known Vishṇumāyā. Ananta tells his story.

He was born neither male nor female (napuṃsaka) in Purī, to the muni Vidrumuḍu and his devoted wife Somā.
Bhagavān Śiva gave him manhood (paurusha) through his father’s prayer.
He married twice, first Māṇinī, and then, after a shipwreck, Cārumatī.
He lived a whole second life within the span of a single bath in the sea. It was then shown to be Vishṇumāyā.

A paramahaṃsa (a renouncer of the highest order) then explained the teaching on Vishṇumāyā and the order of creation: mahattattva, then ahaṃkāra, then the three guṇas, then the five tanmātras and the five bhūtas (elements).

The ten indriya-devatās (devas of the senses) appeared to Ananta: Dik, Vāyu, Sūrya, Varuṇa, Aśvinī, Agni, Indra, Upendra, Mitra and Prajāpati. They told him to follow bhakti (devotion) rather than tapas. They said that Kalki’s darśana (sight) would give him moksha. The darśana then came.

Return to Śambhala

In Chapter 6, Kalki and Padmāvatī leave Siṃhala Dvīpa. On Indra’s command, Viśvakarmā has built a grand palace of seven yojanas at Śambhala. It has halls (prāsādas) of jewels and crystal and svastika-shaped buildings with the faces of swans, lions and Garuḍas, and the whole city shines like Amarāvatī. Bṛhadratha gives a dowry of 10,000 elephants, 2,000 chariots, 1 lakh horses, 200 female servants (dāsīs), fine cloths and gems.

Kalki sends the Śuka ahead. Viśvakarmā’s Śambhala is described as seven yojanas wide and filled with all four varṇas. Vishṇuyaśa and Viśākhayūpa receive the news and decorate the city. Kalki and Padmāvatī arrive and touch the feet of Vishṇuyaśa and Sumatī. Sumatī feels that all her wishes have come true.

The children of the household are:

Kavi’s sons: Bṛhatkīrti and Bṛhadbāhu
Prājña’s sons: Yajña and Vijña
Sumantraka’s sons: Śāsana and Vegavat
Padmāvatī’s sons by Kalki: Jaya and Vijaya, called the Jayavijayas

The battle of Kīkaṭapura

In Chapters 6 and 7 of the Dvithīyāmśa and Chapter 1 of the Tṛtīyāmśa, Vishṇuyaśa decides to perform the Aśvamedha yajña. Kalki offers to conquer kingdoms and win the wealth needed. He marches to Kīkaṭapura, a city of huge Buddhist temples, nāstikas (unbelievers) and mleccha adharma. Its king is Jina.

There is a fierce battle. Jina attacks Kalki’s horse, steals his armour (kavaca) and wrestles with him (malla-yuddha). Kalki kills Jina with a single blow of the fist (mushṭi-ghāta).

Jina’s brother Śuddhodhana then brings Māyādevī, a great divine power whose very sight stuns all beings. But Māyādevī is a part (aṃśa) of Lakshmī. When she sees Kalki, she knows him as her beloved (priya) and merges into him. The Buddhist monks weep at the loss of their “mother”. Kalki brings his army back to life with a glance and goes on with the battle. The weapons themselves speak a discourse on philosophy. The mleccha women fighters are taught karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga, and they reach moksha.

The Tṛtīyāmśa

Cakratīrtha and the battle with Kuṭhodarī

In Chapters 2 and 3 of the Tṛtīyāmśa, after the Kīkaṭapura campaign, Kalki sets the kingdom’s rule in order and marches with his army. He stops at Cakratīrtha, the holy lake near Naimishāraṇya, and bathes as a rite. There he meets the Vālakhilya ṛshis in great distress. These ascetics, no bigger than a thumb-nail, have been driven off the mountain forest paths by the mighty breath of Kuṭhodarī. She is the daughter of Nikumbha and the granddaughter of Kumbhakarṇa, and her breath is strong enough to hurl elephants and trees. Kalki leaves the main army at the foot of the Himālaya and uses fire to clear the mountain paths. He goes on alone to face the rākshasī.

Kuṭhodarī swallows Kalki, and his whole army with him. Inside her belly, Kalki calls on Bhagavān Śiva’s sword and makes fire, which kills Kuṭhodarī from within. He then uses Brahmā’s weapon to kill Karaṃja, her son, who attacks to take revenge. After the victories, the Vālakhilya ṛshis who had taken shelter at Cakratīrtha come forward with praise and blessings before Kalki leaves for Haridvāra.

Haridvāra, where Maru and Devāpi meet Kalki

In Chapters 3 to 5, at the holy ghāts of Haridvāra, Kalki is met by two great figures who have waited for this moment through the ages. Maru is of the Sūryavaṃśa (the Ikshvāku line) and has been kept alive by yoga in the Himālaya. Devāpi is the elder brother of Śantanu, of the Candravaṃśa, and has been kept alive by tapas. Both are cirajīvins. They lived through the Kali Yuga in the village of Kalāpa, kept alive by their yogaśakti (power of yoga), waiting for Kalki’s command to rule the new Kṛtayuga. They had married before the Digvijaya began and are now fully ready.

Kalki receives them with honour. The solar and lunar dynasties are recited in full: the Sūryavaṃśa from Manu through the Ikshvāku kings to Rāma, and the Candravaṃśa through the great Paurava and Bharata lines. Then Kalki gives his upadeśa (teaching) to Maru and Devāpi and formally gives them the rule of the earth in the coming Kṛtayuga.

The defeat of Kali Purusha at Viśasana Pura

In Chapters 5 to 7, as the Digvijaya goes on, Kalki’s companions Dharma-Purusha and Kṛtayuga meet Kali and his family in open battle. Kali has set out from his capital, Viśasana Pura. It is a city of terrible form, with the foul smell of cow-flesh, streets ruled by crows and jackals, homes governed by women, and public places given over to gambling and addiction. Kali rides a chariot with an owl on its banner. His lieutenants are Lobha, Krodha, Bhaya, Niraya, Ādhi, Vyādhi and Jarā. Each of them is set against one of Dharma’s matching virtues.

Dharma and Kṛtayuga defeat Kali in battle. Kali, bleeding and with his chariot smashed, runs back to Viśasana Pura and hides in a house governed by women. Dharma then enters Viśasana Pura and burns it to ash with a fire of arrows. Kali’s whole family, his wives, children and followers, die. Only Kali lives. He flees weeping and unseen into exile, with no city, no family and no power.

Koka and Vikoka

In Chapter 7, among the last enemies before Bhallāṭanagara are Koka and Vikoka. They are twin dānavas of great power, sons of Vṛkāsura. Each can bring the other back to life just by looking at his fallen brother, so no weapon can kill both at once. Brahmā sees Kalki’s difficulty and tells him the secret: strike both at the same moment with bare fists, with the mushṭi-ghāta given at exactly the same time. Kalki defeats both together by this method.

The battle of Bhallāṭanagara

Chapters 8 to 13 tell of the most remarkable meeting of the Digvijaya, at Bhallāṭanagara, the kingdom of Śaśidhvaja. Śaśidhvaja is not a mleccha enemy. He is a deeply thoughtful kshatriya and devotee of Vishṇu who fights Kalki out of devotion. He wants to die at the hands or by the weapons of Bhagavān Kalki, knowing that such a death gives moksha. Before the battle he tells his assembled kings that a true devotee meets Bhagavān Vishṇu in battle with the same love as in worship.

The battle is fierce. At its height, Śaśidhvaja strikes Kalki senseless with powerful blows of the fist (mushṭi-ghāta). He carries the lying avatāra, with Dharma and Kṛtayuga, to his own palace. There he finds his queen Suśānta in the Hari-gṛha (the room of Bhagavān Vishṇu), singing Bhagavān Vishṇu’s qualities with a group of women devotees. Śaśidhvaja tells her: “Bhagavān Kalki has come here by māyā to see your devotion. Worship him.”

Suśānta then sings the Suśānta Stotra. It joins praise of the beauty of Kalki’s divine form, an understanding of his place in the cosmos, a defence of her husband and her own feeling. At its end Kalki rises, like a warrior from his bed of battle. With a little embarrassment he asks who she is and how he came to be there. The talk that follows is one of the most tender in the whole Purāṇa.

A grand assembly of kings follows in the sabhāmaṇḍapa. Śaśidhvaja tells of his most remarkable past life. He was a vulture who died on a Śālagrāma stone in a temple of Vishṇu. Because he had touched that holy stone, he was born as Satrājit in the Dvāpara Yuga. Satrājit was the one who spread false charges against Kṛshṇa over the Śyamantaka jewel. That karma kept him from moksha in that life. He was born again to fight Kalki and to receive death by his Sudarśana cakra. Hearing this, Kalki bows his head in slight embarrassment.

The Bhallāṭa episode ends with Kalki taking Ramā, Śaśidhvaja’s daughter and an avatāra of Satyabhāmā, as his wife. The wedding is celebrated with all the assembled kings, and the city is changed from a battlefield into a wedding ground.

Kāñcanīpura and the freeing of Sulocanā

In Chapter 14, from Bhallāṭanagara Kalki goes to Kāñcanīpura. It is a mountain fortress of rare beauty and danger. Mountain ranges surround it and poisonous snakes guard it. Its inside is adorned with jewel-work and golden wall-paintings and lined with haricandana trees, and only nāgakanyās (snake maidens) live in it. A voice from the sky (ākāśavāṇī) warns his army that only Kalki may enter. Anyone else who goes in will be killed by the gaze of the vishakanyā, the poison maiden.

Kalki enters alone. There he finds Sulocanā, wife of the Gandharva Citragrīva, beautiful and sad. On Mount Gandhamādana an offended muni, whom she had mocked in her youth and beauty, laid a śāpa (a curse) on her. It gave her a poisonous gaze (visha-dṛshṭi). She is shut up in Kāñcanīpura as a prisoner of her own power. She cannot live with her husband and has killed every warrior who tried to reach her. She knows at once that Kalki’s gaze is amṛta (life-giving). His gaze frees her from the śāpa, and she rises in a blazing vimāna (flying chariot) to her husband’s world.

After she is freed, Kalki makes Mahāmati king of Kāñcanīpura. The line of kings that follows makes Kāñcanīpura the source of Ayodhyā’s Kṛtayuga line: Mahāmati, Amarsha, Sāhasra, Asi, the Bṛhannala kings, and Mannu, who is made king of Ayodhyā.

Kalki also makes Devāpi king of five kingdoms (Avisthal, Vṛkasthal, Makanda and the Hastināpura region are named). He gives Kavi, Prājña and Sumantraka kingdoms in the south and east: Śaumba, Pauṇḍra, Pulinda, Surāshṭra and Sugandha. He gives Viśākhayūpa the kingdoms of Kañjaka and Kalāpaka. Sūryaketu, the brave son of Śaśidhvaja, is made king of Mathurā.

Vishṇuyaśa’s moksha and Sumatī’s entry into the fire

In Chapter 16, when Kalki returns to Śambhala after the Digvijaya, Nārada comes to Vishṇuyaśa’s assembly with Tumbura. He tells the brāhmaṇas and kings gathered there the full truth: Kalki is Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself, come down in human form. When Vishṇuyaśa hears this, he is filled with great joy and performs a grand Aśvamedha yajña in honour of his divine son. He then asks Kalki’s leave to go and live in the forest.

With Kalki’s blessing, Vishṇuyaśa goes to Badarikāśrama and does hard tapas, meditating on Paramātmā. He merges into Paramātmā and leaves the world. Kalki carries out all the proper funeral rites with honour. Sumatī, Kalki’s mother, then enters the fire (agni-praveśa) and follows her husband, joining him in the sacred way of a devoted wife.

The Rukmiṇī Vrata

In Chapters 17 and 18, Paraśurāma comes to Śambhala and initiates Kalki’s wife Ramā into the Rukmiṇī Vrata, a great Vaishṇava vrata (vow of observance) for women. The vrata’s origin is traced through an unbroken line of great women:

Śarmishṭhā, who was taught by Viśvāmitra
Sītā and Sarāmā in Aśokavana, who were taught by Śarmishṭhā
Draupadī, who received it from Sītā

From Draupadī it passed down through the tradition to Paraśurāma’s line of teaching.

The pūjā method is a shoḍaśopacāra pūjā (worship with sixteen offerings) with an eight-petalled lotus (ashṭadala-padma) laid out, a full offering of food (naivedya) and the recitation of set mantras. Ramā begins the vrata on Vaiśākha Śukla Dvādaśī and keeps it for four years. When the vrata ends, she bears Kalki two sons, Meghamāla and Bāhuka. These two, with the Jayavijayas (the sons of Padmāvatī), become Kalki’s heirs in the Kṛtayuga.

The Kṛtayuga reign in Śambhala

In Chapters 18 and 19, Kali is defeated, Dharma stands on all four feet and the Kṛtayuga has fully come. Kalki rules at Śambhala for 1,000 years. The Purāṇa describes the state of this reign. Dharma walks on four pādas. The devas do their works in the cosmos and give rain in season. All brāhmaṇas know the Veda. Kshatriyas perform yajñas. Vaiśyas follow honest trade. Śūdras serve and praise Nārāyaṇa. There is no deceit, theft or falsehood. All beings are free from illness of mind and body.

During these 1,000 years Kalki visits 68 tīrthas. Padmāvatī and Ramā live with him in the grand palace Viśvakarmā built, and their lives are full. The city of Śambhala shines with its crystal palace and its garden groves, and the sound of Vedic recitation never stops.

The return to Vaikuṇṭha

In Chapters 19 to 21, Brahmā comes to Śambhala at the head of all the devas, with divine Gandharvas and music. He formally asks Kalki to return to Vaikuṇṭha. The devas sing a long stotra in his praise. Kalki agrees that the purpose of his avatāra is done and consents to leave. He calls a last assembly, formally crowns his sons and heirs, shares out the kingdoms and comforts the weeping citizens. They say they would rather follow him wherever he goes than stay behind.

Kalki leaves Śambhala with both his wives, Padmāvatī and Ramā, and goes to the Himālaya. On the holy bank of the Gaṅgā, Kalki takes his four-armed (catur-bhuja) form as Bhagavān Vishṇu, holding the śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and padma, and sits in meditation. He then enters Vaikuṇṭha, shining like a thousand suns. The devas rain flowers. Drums (dundubhis) sound. All the worlds fall silent in awe. Padmāvatī and Ramā see him go, enter the fire and follow him into the divine realm.

After Kalki’s going up:

Dharma and Kṛtayuga wander the earth freely, with no one against them.
Maru and Devāpi rule the earth and protect the people for long ages.
Viśākhayūpa gives his kingdom to his son and goes to the forest.
The ṛshis of Naimishāraṇya, Śaunaka and the assembled maharshis, heard these kathās (accounts) from Sūta Romaharshaṇaputra, and in time reached Brahmaloka.

Sources

Kalki Purāṇa, Prathamāmśa, Chapters 1–7
Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāmśa, Chapters 1–7
Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāmśa, Chapters 1–21