View source for Kali Yuga

{{Other uses|Kalyug (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|text = [[Kali|goddess Kali]]}}
{{short description|Last of the cycle of yugas in Hinduism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{lead rewrite|date=April 2019}}

In [[Hinduism]], '''Kali Yuga''' ({{lang-sa|कलियुग|kaliyuga|age of [[Kali (demon)|Kali]]}}) is the last of the four stages (or ages or [[yuga]]s) the world goes through as part of a 'cycle of yugas' (i.e. ''[[Yuga Cycle|mahayuga]]'') described in the [[Hindu texts|Sanskrit scriptures]].<ref name=smithjohnd>[[w:John D. Smith|Smith, John D.]] (2009). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0YULAQAAMAAJ The Mahābhārata: an abridged translation]''. [[w:Penguin Classics|Penguin Classics]] ({{ISBN|978-0-670-08415-9}}), p. 200</ref> The other ages are called [[Satya Yuga]], [[Treta Yuga]], and [[Dvapara Yuga]]. The "Kali" of Kali Yuga means "strife", "discord", "quarrel" or "contention" and Kali Yuga is associated with the [[Kali (demon)|demon Kali]] (not to be confused with the [[Kali|goddess Kālī]]).

According to [[Purana|Puranic sources]],<ref name="ReferenceA">The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' (1.18.6), ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' (5.38.8), and ''[[Brahma Purana]]'' (2.103.8) state that the day [[Krishna]] left the earth was the day that the ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' ended and the ''Kali Yuga'' began:<br>— {{Cite book|title=Bhagavata Purana Part I|url=https://archive.org/details/BhagavataPuranaMotilalEnglish/page/n141/mode/1up|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited|year=1950|page=137|quote=(1.18.6) On the very day, and at the very moment the Lord [Krishna] left the earth, on that very day this Kali, the source of irreligiousness, (in this world), entered here.}}<br>— {{Cite book|first=H. H.|last=Wilson|author-link=Horace Hayman Wilson|title=The Vishnu Purana|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47536/page/n73/mode/1up|publisher=S.P.C.K. Press|year=1895|page=61|quote=(5.38.8) The Parijata tree proceeded to heaven, and on the same day that Hari [Krishna] departed from the earth the dark-bodied Kali age descended.}}<br>— {{Cite book|title=Brahma Purana Part 2|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98294/page/n285/mode/1up|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1955|page=515|quote=(2.103.8) It was on the day on which Krishna left the Earth and went to heaven that the Kali age, with time for its body set in.}}</ref> [[Krishna|Krishna's]] departure marks the end of [[Dvapara Yuga]] and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to 17/18 February 3102&nbsp;[[Common Era|BCE]].<ref>See: Matchett, Freda, "The Puranas", p 139 and Yano, Michio, "Calendar, astrology and astronomy" in {{cite book|editor-first=Gavin|editor-last=Flood|editor-link=Gavin Flood|publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]]|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKBxa-MNqA8C&lpg=PA139&vq=yuga&pg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=2003|isbn=0-631-21535-2|pages=139-140, 390}}</ref>

Based on a starting year of 3102 BCE and a duration of 432,000 years (1200 divine years), Kali Yuga began roughly {{formatnum:{{NEXTYEAR|3101}}}} years ago and has {{formatnum:{{sum|432000|-{{NEXTYEAR|3101}}}}}} years remaining as of {{CURRENTYEAR}} CE. Kali Yuga will end in the year 428,899 CE.{{sfn|Godwin|2011|p=301|ps=: The Hindu astronomers agree that the Kali Yuga began at midnight between February 17 and 18, 3102 BCE.{{refn|See ''Surya-Siddhanta: A Textbook of Hindu Astronomy,'' trans. Ebenezer Burgess, ''Journal of the American Oriental Society,'' 6 (1860): 161-168. Reprinted Minneapolis: Wizards Book Shelf, 1978.}} Consequently it is due to end about 427,000 CE, whereupon a new Golden Age will dawn.}}

==Possible starting and ending dates==
[[File:BHALKA-03.jpg|thumb|Information kiosk at [[Bhalka]], the place from where Krishna returned to his heavenly abode]]
According to the ''[[Surya Siddhanta]]'', Kali Yuga began at midnight (00:00) on 18 February 3102 BCE.<ref>The Induand the Rg-Veda, Page 16, By Egbert Richter-Ushanas, {{ISBN|81-208-1405-3}}</ref> This is also considered the date on which [[Krishna]] left the earth to return to [[Vaikuntha]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lord Krishna lived for 125 years.|work=The Times of India |date= 8 September 2004|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lord-Krishna-lived-for-125-years/articleshow/844211.cms|accessdate=31 December 2015 }}</ref> This information is placed at the temple of [[Bhalka]], the place of this incident (see photo).

According to the astronomer and mathematician [[Aryabhata]] the Kali Yuga started in 3102 BCE. He finished his book ''Aryabhattiyam'' in 499 CE, in which he gives the exact year of the beginning of Kali Yuga. He writes that he wrote the book in the "year 3600 of the Kali Age" at the age of 23. As it was the 3600th year of the Kali Age when he was 23 years old, and given that Aryabhata was born in 476 CE, the beginning of the Kali Yuga would come to (3600 - (476 + 23) + 1 (As only one year elapses between 1 BCE and 1 CE)) =  3102 BCE.<ref>H.D. Dharm Chakravarty Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. [http://www.encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/articles/51_the_bhartiya_chronology.htm Encyclopedia Of Authentic Hinduism] The True History and the Religion of India, Hardbound, 2nd Edition, 2003, {{ISBN|0967382319}} Retrieved 2015-01-21</ref>

According to K. D. Abhyankar, the starting point of Kali Yuga is an extremely rare planetary alignment, which is depicted in the [[Mohenjo-daro]] seals.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Astronomical significance to two Mohenjodaro seals|bibcode=1993BASI...21..475A |page= 477|author=Abhyankar, K. D.|journal=Astronomical Society of India, Bulletin|volume = 21|issue = 3–4|year = 1993}}</ref> Going by this alignment the year 3102 BCE is slightly off. The actual date for this alignment is 7 February 3104 BCE. There is also sufficient proof to believe that Vrdhha [[Garga (sage)|Garga]] knew of [[precession]] at least by 500 BCE. Garga had calculated the rate of precession to within 30% of what the modern scholars estimate.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Astronomical significance to two Mohenjodaro seals|bibcode=1993BASI...21..475A|page =475|author=Abhyankar, K. D.|journal=Astronomical Society of India, Bulletin|volume = 21|issue = 3–4|year = 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5f_19.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2015-02-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214201609/http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5f_19.pdf |archivedate=2015-02-14 }}</ref>{{Better source|reason=Citations are a bulletin from a journal.|date=July 2020}}

==Attributes==
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga.<ref>[[Dimitri Kitsikis]], ''L'Orocc, dans l'âge de Kali'', Editions Naaman,1985, {{ISBN|2-89040-359-9}}</ref> Common attributes and consequences are spiritual bankruptcy, mindless hedonism, breakdown of all social structure, greed and materialism, unrestricted egotism, afflictions and maladies of mind and body.

Hinduism often symbolically represents morality (''[[dharma]]'') as an Indian bull. In [[Satya Yuga]], the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, but in each age morality is reduced by one quarter. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the golden age, so that the bull of Dharma has only one leg.<ref name=Mahabharata>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03189.htm |title=The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Markandeya-Samasya Parva: Section CLXXXIX |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |date= |accessdate=2013-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{IAST|Bhāgavata Purāṇa}} 1.16.20</ref>

===References in the Mahabharata===
The [[Kurukshetra War]] and the decimation of [[Kaurava]]s thus happened at the ''Yuga-Sandhi'', the point of transition from one yuga to another.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Epic lessons for Kali Yuga: Rereading the ‘Mahabharata’ in our contemporary moment|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/epic-lessons-for-kali-yuga-rereading-the-mahabharata-in-our-contemporary-moment/article28196232.ece|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=The Hindu}}</ref> The scriptures mention [[Narada]] as having momentarily intercepted the demon Kali on his way to the Earth when [[Duryodhana]] was about to be born in order to make him an embodiment of ''[[arishadvargas]]'' and ''[[adharma]]'' in preparation of the era of decay in values and the consequent havoc.

====Prophesied events====
A discourse by [[Markandeya]] in the [[Mahabharata]] identifies some of the attributes of Kali Yuga.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03189.htm Mahabharata SECTION CLXXXIX]</ref>

In relation to rulers, it lists:
* Rulers will become unreasonable: they will levy taxes unfairly.
* Rulers will no longer see it as their duty to promote spirituality, or to protect their subjects: they will become a danger to the world.
* People will start migrating, seeking countries where [[wheat]] and [[barley]] form the staple food source.
* "At the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of [[God]], even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher ''[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]]s'' (''[[guna]]'' or [[temperament]]) and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser." (Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.7)

It is also scheduled that [[Origin of the Bhagavata Purana|the Bhagavata Purana]] will be composed.

==10,000 year "Golden Age"==
The [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]] (related to [[Ratha]]ntara [[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpa]]) mentions a ten thousand-year period, starting from the traditional dating of the Kali Yuga epoch, during which [[bhakti]] yogis will be present.<ref name=Chaturvedi_Nagar>Ramesh Chaturvedi, Shantilal Nagar. {{cite book  | title = ''Brahmavaivarta Purana''  | publisher = Parimal Publications | isbn = 978-81-7110-170-2| year = 2001 }} [http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/kaliyuga.htm Online Book 4, Chapter 129, versus 49–60]</ref> Krishna foretold that Kali Yuga will be full of extreme hardships for people with ideals and values.

The Brahma-vaivarta Purana has words spoken by Krishna to Mother [[Ganga]] just before the beginning of the Kali Yuga (the age of quarrel and strife). The Kali Yuga began approximately five thousand years ago, that golden age is being described below by Krishna. Predicted in Brahma-vaivarta Purana 4.129. The fourth part of the Brahma-vaivarta is called Kṛṣṇa-janma-khanda. Chapter 129 is called [[Goloka]]rohanam, because it describes how Krishna returns to His abode. This specific dialogue is between Krishna and Mother Ganga. Verse 49 is a question by Ganga, verses 50–60 are Krishna's answer.

This text is taken from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana [14] Text 59:

{{blockquote|kaler daṣa-sahasrāṇi

 madbhaktāḥ santi bhūtale

 ekavarṇā bhaviṣyanti

 madbhakteṣu gateṣu ca

"For 10,000 years of Kali such devotees of Mine will be present on earth. After the departure of My devotees there will be only one varna."}}

The above is supported in 4.90.32–33:
{{blockquote|kalau daṣa-sahasrāṇi

haris tiṣṭhati medinī

devānām pratimā pūjyā

śāstrāni ca purāṇakam

"(Sri Krisna said:) Lord [[Hari]] will stay on this earth for the first ten-thousand years of Kali-yuga. Till then gods will be worshipped and the [[Purana]]s and scriptures will also be present."}}

==Personification==
[[File:Kalki1790s.jpg|thumb|[[Kalki]] and his horse, Devadatta.]]
Kali is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and his nemesis is [[Kalki]], the tenth and final [[Dashavatara|Avatar of Vishnu]]. According to the [[Vishnu Purana]], Kali is a negative manifestation working towards the cause of 'the end' or rather towards eventual rejuvenation of the universe.<ref name=sacred>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp041.htm#fr_212 |title=Chap. Vii |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |date= |accessdate=2013-01-20}}</ref>

==In Shaivism==
Some [[Shaivites]] maintain that the ill effects of Kali Yuga can only be moderated by the manifestation of [[Shiva]] himself. Shastriji, one of the followers of [[Haidakhan Babaji]], gave the following narration:
"Once [[Parvati]] asked Lord Shiva, her husband: 'You have done good work for the people in all ages, but I am afraid for the people in the Kali Yuga; how will they safeguard themselves?'
{{check quotation}}Then Lord Shiva told Parvati: 'I will appear in the Kali Yuga and I will create a new state, a new centre of religion - a most important place, where I will live and establish all the Gods there.'"<ref>''The Teachings of Babaji'', 25 December 1981.</ref>
{{check quotation}}
Shastriji went further to suggest that this promise manifested through the person of Haidakhan Babaji.<ref>"Having some doubt, [[Kartikeya]], son of Lord Shiva, once asked what would happen to man during the Kali Yuga when there would be so much trouble in the world. The Holy utterance of Lord Shiva was that he would manifest in the Kali Yuga to uplift the world and liberate those who turn to God. Shiva now lives among us in Shri Babaji, who is doing the services for mankind now from Herakhan Vishwa Mahadham." ''The Teachings of Babaji''. 30 October 1982.</ref> One of the central tenets of Haidakhan Babaji's teachings is the message of [[Karma Yoga]] or hard work. In the context of Kali Yuga Haidakhan Babaji explained:

"As I have told you before, the thing needed in this Age is work ([[karma]]). In every Age people have reached [[salvation]] through different types of action and [[sadhana]] (spiritual discipline), but in this Age one can reach liberation only through hard work. I want real, practical human beings and only he is a true human being who lives in accordance with this Age. We need not consider religion or caste, but look only to hard work."<ref>''The Teachings of Babaji''. 21 March 1983.</ref>

==In Sikhism==
In [[Sikhism]], Kali Yuga is metaphorically used to describe the state of the world as was commonly understood in the 16th century.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} It is stressed that one should meditate as much as possible to reach the state of ''[[Moksha|mukti]]'' and be liberated or be one with God.

[[Guru Granth Sahib]] on Ang:1185 says:
{{blockquote|
ab kaloo aaeiou rae : ''Now, the Dark Age of Kali Yuga has come''.

eik naam bovahu bovahu : ''Plant the Name, the Name of the One Lord''.

an rooth naahee naahee : ''It is not the season to plant other seeds''.

math bharam bhoolahu bhoolahu : ''Do not wander lost in doubt and delusion''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=4214 |title=Enabling Gurmat Knowledge |publisher=SikhiToTheMAX |date= |accessdate=2013-01-20}}</ref>}}

==Other usage==
The Kali Yuga is an important concept in both [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]] and [[Anthroposophy]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Spiritualism, Madame Blavatsky & Theosophy: An Eyewitness View of Occult History : Lectures by Rudolf Steiner|editor= Christopher Bamford|isbn=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Across the Great Border Fault: The Naturalist Myth in America|author= Kevin T. Dann |publisher=Rutgers University Press|date= 2000}}</ref> and in the writings of [[Helena Blavatsky]], [[W.Q. Judge]], [[Rudolf Steiner]], and [[Traditionalist School|Traditionalist]] philosophers such as [[René Guénon]] and [[Julius Evola]], among others. [[Rudolf Steiner]] believed that the Kali Yuga ended in 1900.<ref>{{cite book|title=Spiritualism, Madame Blavatsky & Theosophy: An Eyewitness View of Occult History : Lectures by Rudolf Steiner|editor= Christopher Bamford|isbn=}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Hindu units of time]]
* [[List of numbers in Hindu scriptures]]
* [[Metrics of time in Hinduism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Glass, Marty ''Yuga: An Anatomy of our Fate'' (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2004)
* Guénon, René ''The Crisis of the Modern World'', translated by Arthur Osborne, Marco Pallis and Richard C. Nicholson (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2004)
* [[Martin Lings|Lings, Martin]] ''The Eleventh Hour: The Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World in the Light of Tradition and Prophecy'' (Cambridge, UK: Archetype, 2002)
* Sotillos, Samuel Bendeck "New Age or the ''Kali-Yuga''?" ''AHP Perspective'', April/May 2013, pp.&nbsp;15–21.
* [[Charles Upton (poet)|Upton, Charles]] ''Legends of the End: Prophecies of the End Times, Antichrist, Apocalypse, and Messiah from Eight Religious Traditions'' (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2005)

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wiktionary-inline|Kali Yuga}}

{{Brahmanda}}
{{Doomsday}}

[[Category:Eight Yugas]]
[[Category:Four Yugas]]
[[Category:Hindu eschatology]]
[[Category:Kali (demon)]]
[[Category:Prophecy]]