Harivamsha 116

English (machine translation) 116

Language: English

116.1

Janamejaya said:
Whether the time is near or far, if we do not know,
therefore, after the destruction of the Dvāpara, I long for the end of the yuga.

116.2

For we have reached that time through this thirst for dharma;
and we have attained our own dharma easily through little action.

116.3

The end of the yuga, causing distress to creatures, has arrived;
therefore, when the distressing end of the yuga is at hand,
O knower of dharma, you should tell the signs of lost dharma.

116.4

The Sūta said:
Thus questioned, considering the course of the future in truth,
thus meditating on the future course through yoga alone,
the lord then spoke of the portents at the end of the yuga.

116.5

Vyāsa said:
At the end of the yuga, rulers of the earth will be non-protectors,
takers of their share of tribute, devoted only to protecting themselves.

116.6

And kings will be non-kṣatriyas, brahmins will make their living from śūdras,
and śūdras will adopt the conduct of brahmins at the destruction of the yuga.

116.6x1563

Śūdras will practice dharma at the end of the yuga, O Janamejaya.

116.7

Bow-wielding brahmins and Vedic scholars, O bull of the Bharatas,
will eat the oblations in a single row at the end of the yuga, O Janamejaya.

116.8

Skilled in arts, devoted to falsehood, men fond of liquor and meat,
foolish men will destroy the highest dharma;
their wives will be their [only] friends at the end of the yuga, O Janamejaya.

116.8x1565

Likewise the clouds will have little water, and the earth will bear little grain.

116.9

Thieves will stand in the conduct of kings, and rulers will have the character of thieves;
servants will consume what has not been earned at the destruction of the yuga.

Wealth will be praised, and the conduct of the virtuous unhonored;
even women will engage in agriculture in the Kali Yuga;
and at the destruction of the yuga, there will be no reproach for the fallen.

116.10x1567

Ascetics will be constantly uncalm in the Kali Yuga.

116.11

Mortals with lost consciousness, with disheveled hair and devoid of topknots,
and men under sixteen years of age will then procreate.

116.12

Townships will have food for sale, crossroads will have the Veda for sale,
and women will have sex for sale at the destruction of the yuga.

116.12x1568-1

Aṭṭa is declared to be food; sale is called śūla.

116.12x1568-2

Crossroads refers to a brahmin; the Veda is designated as śiva.

116.12x1568-3

Hair is known as sex, O king, there is no doubt about this.

116.13

All will speak of brahman, all will be Vājasaneyins;
and śūdras will address others as equals at the destruction of the yuga.

116.14

Twice-born men will be sellers of ascetic heat, sacrifices, wealth, and the Vedas;
and the seasons will be contrary at the destruction of the yuga.

116.15

With white teeth, uncontrolled eyes, shaven-headed, clad in ochre robes,
śūdras living off the teachings of the Śākya Buddha will practice dharma.

116.16

An abundance of wild beasts, the decline of cows,
and the cessation of tasty foods: one should know these when the yuga has reached its end.

116.17

Low-caste people will dwell in the center, and dwellers of the center will live at the outskirts;
all creatures will go downwards at the destruction of the yuga.

116.18

Likewise, two-year-olds will be beasts of burden, plowers of pools;
and the rain-cloud will rain erratically when the yuga is exhausted.

116.18x1569-1

All will be born in families of thieves, traveling like thieves among one another.

116.18x1569-2

They will become rich with very little, having obtained whatever little they could, destitute.

116.19

Those men will not practice dharma when the yuga has departed;
the earth will be full of saline soil, roads will run between cities,
and all will become merchants in the Kali Yuga.

116.20

Then sons, sweeping aside the ancestral rites to be performed,
will apply themselves to taking [wealth], obstructed by greed and falsehood.

116.20x1570-1

Sons will constantly destroy the wealth given by their fathers;

116.20x1570-2

speaking falsehood out of greed, they proceed to seize it.

116.21

When tenderness, beauty, and jewels have gone to ruin,
women will be adorned only with hair at the end of the yuga.

116.22

For a frightened householder bereft of pleasures,
when the end of the yuga arrives, there will be no delight equal to a wife.

116.23

Full of bad conduct and ignoble people, covered with empty beauty,
with few men and many women—that is the mark of the end of the yuga.

116.24

People will be constantly begging and giving to one another;
without consideration they will take gifts from other classes;
afflicted with punishment by kings, thieves, and the rest, people will meet destruction.

116.25

The harvest of crops will be fruitless; youths will behave like old men;
people will be unhappy through their striving when the yuga has departed.

116.26

In the rainy season, winds will be low, harsh, and raining gravel;
and the other world will be doubted at the destruction of the yuga.

116.26x1572-1

Ill-behaved themselves, intent on defaming the Veda,

116.26x1572-2

they think highly of themselves, and wrath alone overcomes the twice-born.

116.27

Kṣatriyas will adopt the conduct of vaiśyas, living on money and grain;
at the passing away of the yuga, the twice-born will do so first.

116.28

Agreements and oaths will be entered into without being observed;
and there will be debt and loss of discipline when the yuga is exhausted.

116.29

Joy will be fruitless and anger will bear fruit for men;
and goats will be used for milk at the destruction of the yuga.

116.30

Wisdom will simply be unordained by the treatises;
it will be thus of its own accord for men ignorant of the treatises;
fancying themselves learned, they will reject policy as unauthoritative;
at the destruction of the yuga they will not speak what is taught by the treatises.

116.31

Everyone knows everything without serving the elders;
no one is unlearned when the end of the yuga is at hand.

116.32

Engaged in wrong actions, the twice-born will not direct the ruling class;
and kings will be mostly thieves when the end of the yuga is at hand.

116.33

Adulterous offspring, bull-like men, cheats, wine-drinkers, teachers of the Veda
will perform the horse sacrifice at the end of the yuga, O Janamejaya.

116.34

Tormented by thirst for wealth, brahmins will sacrifice for those unfit to sacrifice
and will eat what is uneatable when the end of the yuga is at hand.

116.35

They will take to [the Veda] for the sake of pleasure, and no one will study [in truth];
and women will wear a single conch-shell [bangle] and be adorned with wild coix seeds.

116.36

The constellations will be dimmed, the directions disordered;
there will be glowing dusk twilight and conflagrations of the quarters in the next yuga.

116.37

Sons will assign fathers to tasks, and daughters-in-law their mothers-in-law;
disciples will threaten teachers with arrows of speech;
heedless men will discharge [their semen] into [women's] mouths;
men will then consort with unnatural objects and women.

Linked texts (1)

Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit