Bhagavatapurana 12.2: atha dvitīyo'dhyāyaḥ

12.2.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
tataś cānu-dinaṃ dharmaḥ satyaṃ śaucaṃ kṣamā dayā /
kālena balinā rājan naṅkṣyaty āyur balaṃ smṛtiḥ //

Śrī Śuka said: / And thereafter, day by day, dharma, truth, purity, forbearance, compassion, / lifespan, strength, and memory will deteriorate through powerful time, O King.

1. Sri Suka said:— Thereafter, day after day, righteousness, truthfulness, cleanliness, forbearance, kindness, length of life, physical strength, the faculty of memory, will, O king, disappear under the force of powerful time.

12.2.2

vittam eva kalau nṝṇāṃ janmācāra-guṇodayaḥ /
dharma-nyāya-vyavasthāyāṃ kāraṇaṃ balam eva hi //

In Kali, wealth alone will be the cause of men's birth, conduct, and excellence of virtues; / and in determining dharma and justice, brute force alone will be the criterion.

2. In the age of Kali it is only wealth that confers on men the qualifications of noble birth, conduct and qualities; and in deciding what is righteous or just, might will be the only standard.

12.2.3

dāmpatye 'bhirucir hetur māyaiva vyāvahārike /
strītve puṃstve ca hi ratir vipratve sūtram eva hi //

In marriage, mutual liking will be the only reason; trickery alone will govern business dealings; / in womanhood and manhood, sexual pleasure alone [will be the measure], and a sacred thread alone will signify a brāhmaṇa.

3. In marriage relations to conceive a liking is the reason for a choice; in business relations hypocrisy is the one force to guide the man; carnal pleasure is the only consideration in deciding a man's or woman's fitness and it is but the cotton thread that makes one a brahmin.

12.2.4

liṅgaṃ evāśrama-khyātāv anyonyāpatti-kāraṇam /
avṛttyā nyāya-daurbalyaṃ pāṇḍitye cāpalaṃ vacaḥ //

Outward insignia alone will be the criterion for identifying a stage of life and for switching from one to another; / a lack of livelihood will lead to defeat in justice, and clever, glib speech will pass for scholarship.

4. Only the external marks will distinguish the particular asrama or order, or lead to changing from one order to another or to paying respects to each other when they meet; through poverty justice becomes weak and to pour out words will be the mark of scholarliness.

12.2.5

anāḍhyataivāsādhutve sādhutve dambha eva tu /
svīkāra eva codvāhe snānam eva prasādhanam //

Poverty alone will be [regarded as] lack of virtue, and hypocrisy alone will pass for goodness; / verbal consent alone will constitute marriage, and merely taking a bath will be the adornment of the body.

5. Want of riches is the cause of one's being called a bad man and hypocrisy or show is the way to become good; mere acceptance makes the marriage and mere bathing is the grace of man.

12.2.6

dūre vāry-ayanaṃ tīrthaṃ lāvaṇyaṃ keśa-dhāraṇam /
udaraṃ-bharatā svārthaḥ satyatve dhārṣṭyam eva hi //

A distant reservoir of water will be considered a holy pilgrimage site; having long hair will constitute beauty; / filling one's belly will be the only goal of life, and brazen audacity will be taken for truthfulness.

6. To go to a distant source of water is the pilgrimage to holy waters, but not resorting to holy preceptors; to grow hair on the head is beauty; to fill one's own belly is the high purpose of self; and officiousness and obstinacy constitute truthfulness.

12.2.7

dākṣyaṃ kuṭumba-bharaṇaṃ yaśo 'rthe dharma-sevanam /
evaṃ prajābhir duṣṭābhir ākīrṇe kṣiti-maṇḍale //

Skill will mean maintaining one's family; dharma will be observed merely for fame. / When the earth is thus overrun by wicked creatures,

7. Skill consists in supporting one's own family; endeavour after reputation is the performance of righteous duties, when the surface of the earth is thus everywhere occupied by wicked subjects.

12.2.8

brahma-viṭ-kṣatra-śūdrāṇāṃ yo balī bhavitā nṛpaḥ /
prajā hi lubdhai rājanyair nirghṛṇair dasyu-dharmabhiḥ //

whoever is the strongest among brāhmaṇas, vaiśyas, kṣatriyas, or śūdras will become the ruler. / Oppressed by greedy, merciless rulers who act like bandits,

8. He, who among the four castes—Brahmana, Vaisya, Kshatriya and Sudra, might be the strongest, would become the ruler;

12.2.9

ācchinna-dāra-draviṇā yāsyanti giri-kānanam /
śāka-mūlāmiṣa-kṣaudra- phala-puṣpāṣṭi-bhojanāḥ //

the subjects, stripped of their wives and property, will flee to mountains and forests, / subsisting on vegetables, roots, meat, wild honey, fruits, flowers, and seeds.

9. And being deprived of their women and wealth by greedy merciless kings who are highway-men by character, the subjects, will betake themselves to mountains and forests, living on leaves, roots, raw flesh, honey, fruits, flowers and seeds.

12.2.10

anāvṛṣṭyā vinaṅkṣyanti durbhikṣa-kara-pīḍitāḥ /
śīta-vātātapa-prāvṛḍ- himair anyonyataḥ prajāḥ //

Tormented by drought, famine, and heavy taxation, / and troubled by cold, wind, scorching heat, torrential rains, snow, and strife among themselves, the subjects will perish.

10. Oppressed by the hand of famine (taxation), by excessive cold, winds, sun, rain, fall of snow or by mutual struggle, rains and mists by turns, will people perish.

12.2.11

kṣut-tṛḍbhyāṃ vyādhibhiś caiva santapsyante ca cintayā /
triṃśad viṃśati varṣāṇi paramāyuḥ kalau nṛṇām //

They will be afflicted by hunger, thirst, disease, and overwhelming anxiety; / thirty or twenty years will be the maximum lifespan of human beings in Kali.

11. In Kali (yuga) men are tormented by hunger and thirst and also diseases and worries; then the span of human life at the highest will be thirty and (or) twenty years.

12.2.12

kṣīyamāṇeṣu deheṣu dehināṃ kali-doṣataḥ /
varṇāśramavatāṃ dharme naṣṭe veda-pathe nṛṇām //

When the bodies of embodied beings are thus diminished through the faults of Kali, / when the dharma of the social orders and stages of life, the path of the Vedas, is lost to men,

12. When through the sinfulness (of Kali) embodied beings become reduced in stature (to pigmies), when the Dharma of the Vedic path to be observed by Varnas and by men of different Asramas is lost;

12.2.13

pāṣaṇḍa-pracure dharme dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu /
cauryānṛta-vṛthā-hiṃsā- nānā-vṛttiṣu vai nṛṣu //

when heretical teachings abound in religion, when kings are mostly thieves, / and when men take up various livelihoods marked by theft, falsehood, and gratuitous violence,

13. When the Dharma is saturated with scepticism, when kings mostly turn out to be theives, when men are given to making their living by theft, falsehood, and wanton violence;

12.2.14

śūdra-prāyeṣu varṇeṣu cchāga-prāyāsu dhenuṣu /
gṛha-prāyeṣv āśrameṣu yauna-prāyeṣu bandhuṣu //

when all classes are largely reduced to śūdras, when cows are no bigger than goats, / when hermitages are indistinguishable from worldly households, and relationships are based merely on marriage ties,

14. When the (three) Varnas become Sudras, when cows get transmuted into sheep, when the four asramas get converted into households, when the relatives are no other than wive's relations;

12.2.15

aṇu-prāyāsv oṣadhīṣu śamī-prāyeṣu sthāsnuṣu /
vidyut-prāyeṣu megheṣu śūnya-prāyeṣu sadmasu //

when plants are mostly tiny, when trees are mostly thorny like the śamī, / when clouds yield mostly lightning [without rain], and homes are mostly empty and desolate—

15. When plants become stunted in growth, when trees become small like grass, when clouds turn out into lightnings, and when houses become dispeopled;

12.2.16

itthaṃ kalau gata-prāye janeṣu khara-dharmiṣu /
dharma-trāṇāya sattvena bhagavān avatariṣyati //

when the Kali age has thus nearly run its course and people behave like asses, / the Lord will descend in purity to protect dharma.

16. When thus, in the fag end of Kali, people take to wicked ways of conduct, the Lord appears on Earth for the protection of Dharma through *Satva Guna*.

12.2.17

carācara-guror viṣṇor īśvarasyākhilātmanaḥ /
dharma-trāṇāya sādhūnāṃ janma karmāpanuttaye //

The birth of Viṣṇu, the preceptor of the moving and unmoving, the Supreme Lord and Self of all, / is for the defense of dharma, for the virtuous devotees, and for the removal of the bondage of action.

17. The appearance (on the earth) of the Lord, who is the master of the animate and inanimate and who is the soul of all, is intended for the protection of Dharma of the righteous and for saving them from mundane life and the force of Karma.

12.2.18

śambhala-grāma-mukhyasya brāhmaṇasya mahātmanaḥ /
bhavane viṣṇuyaśasaḥ kalkiḥ prādurbhaviṣyati //

In the house of Viṣṇuyaśas, an exalted brāhmaṇa / and the foremost citizen of the village of Śambhala, Kalki will appear.

18. In the house of the high-souled brahmin Vishnuyasas the chief of the village of Sambala, the Lord Kalki will be born.

12.2.19

aśvam āśu-gam āruhya devadattaṃ jagat-patiḥ /
asināsādhu-damanam aṣṭaiśvarya-guṇānvitaḥ //

Mounting the swift horse Devadatta, the Lord of the universe, / endowed with the eight supernatural powers and virtues, will subdue the wicked with his sword.

19. & 20. Riding on a fleet horse by name Devadatta, the Lord of the Universe, endowed with the eight powers, and of unsurpassed splendour and glory, traversing the earth on the swift horse, will kill by crores, with his sword that subjugates the wicked, the thieves of kings who will have put on the emblems of sovereignty.

12.2.20

vicarann āśunā kṣauṇyāṃ hayenāpratima-dyutiḥ /
nṛpa-liṅga-cchado dasyūn koṭiśo nihaniṣyati //

Roaming the earth upon his swift steed, possessing peerless splendor, / he will slaughter bandits by the tens of millions who disguised themselves in the garb of kings.

12.2.21

atha teṣāṃ bhaviṣyanti manāṃsi viśadāni vai /
vāsudevāṅga-rāgāti- puṇya-gandhānila-spṛśām /
paura-jānapadānāṃ vai hateṣv akhila-dasyuṣu //

Then, when all the bandits have been slain, / the minds of the citizens and countrymen will become clear and pure / as they are touched by the breeze bearing the exceedingly sacred fragrance of the ointment of Vāsudeva's limbs.

21. Thereupon i.e., when the thievies are all destroyed both in cities and in the kingdom, get clear (are set at ease) the minds of men who enjoy the breezes that bear the sacred fragrance of pigments (on the person) of Vasudeva.

12.2.22

teṣāṃ prajā-visargaś ca sthaviṣṭhaḥ sambhaviṣyati /
vāsudeve bhagavati sattva-mūrtau hṛdi sthite //

Their progeny will be most abundant
when the Lord Vāsudeva, whose form is purity, is established in their hearts.

22. (Then) their offspring will get strong to the maximum degree, when they have in their heart the Lord Vasudeva, who is strength impersonated.

12.2.23

yadāvatīrṇo bhagavān kalkir dharma-patir hariḥ /
kṛtaṃ bhaviṣyati tadā prajā-sūtiś ca sāttvikī //

When the Lord Hari, master of dharma, descends as Kalki,
then the Kṛta age will begin, and the generation of offspring will be endowed with purity.

23. When the Lord Hari, the support of Dharma, appears as Kalki it becomes Krita yuga (Golden age) and then men will be born with Satvic disposition.

12.2.24

yadā candraś ca sūryaś ca tathā tiṣya-bṛhaspatī /
eka-rāśau sameṣyanti bhaviṣyati tadā kṛtam //

When the Moon, the Sun, the constellation Puṣya, and Jupiter
come together in the same zodiacal sign, then the Kṛta age will begin.

24. When the moon, the sun, and Jupiter are in conjunction in one Rasi (zodiacal house) in Pushya asterism, it is then Krita.

12.2.25

ye 'tītā vartamānā ye bhaviṣyanti ca pārthivāḥ /
te ta uddeśataḥ proktā vaṃśīyāḥ soma-sūryayoḥ //

The kings who have passed away, those who are present, and those who will be in the future
from the dynasties of the Moon and the Sun have been described to you in brief.

25. The kings of the past, present and future times belonging to the dynasties of the moon and the sun have been described in brief.

12.2.26

ārabhya bhavato janma yāvan nandābhiṣecanam /
etad varṣa-sahasraṃ tu śataṃ pañcadaśottaram //

From your birth up to the coronation of Nanda,
there are one thousand one hundred and fifteen years.

26. Beginning from thy birth to the coronation of Nanda, the period comes to 1115 years.

12.2.27

saptarṣīṇāṃ tu yau pūrvau dṛśyete uditau divi /
tayos tu madhye nakṣatraṃ dṛśyate yat samaṃ niśi //

Of the Seven Sages, the two that are seen rising first in the sky—
between them, the lunar mansion that is seen equidistant at night,

27. Of the seven asterisms constituting the Saptarishi constellation, two are observed in the heavens at the time of dawn; between them in the middle is noticed a star on a level at nights.

12.2.28

tenaiva ṛṣayo yuktās tiṣṭhanty abda-śataṃ nṛṇām /
te tvadīye dvijāḥ kāla adhunā cāśritā maghāḥ //

joined with that very one, those sages remain for a hundred human years.
In your time now, O twice-born one, they reside in Maghā.

28. United to that (star) the Rishis stay there for one hundred human years. Those Rishis are in thy time now in Magha.

12.2.29

viṣṇor bhagavato bhānuḥ kṛṣṇākhyo 'sau divaṃ gataḥ /
tadāviśat kalir lokaṃ pāpe yad ramate janaḥ //

When that sun of the Lord Viṣṇu named Kṛṣṇa departed to heaven,
then Kali entered the world, wherein people take delight in sin.

29. When the pure body of Bhagavan Vishnu named Krishna ascended to Vaikuntha, Kali set his foot on Earth, when people take delight in sins.

12.2.30

yāvat sa pāda-padmābhyāṃ spṛśan āste ramā-patiḥ /
tāvat kalir vai pṛthivīṃ parākrantuṃ na cāśakat //

As long as he, the husband of Ramā, touched the earth with his lotus feet,
so long Kali was unable to advance upon it.

30. So long as the Lord of Lakshmi touched the earth with His lotus-like feet, (so long) Kali was not able to encroach upon the earth.

12.2.31

yadā devarṣayaḥ sapta maghāsu vicaranti hi /
tadā pravṛttas tu kalir dvādaśābda-śatātmakaḥ //

When the seven celestial sages traverse the constellation Maghā,
then Kali, enduring for twelve hundred [divine] years, begins.

31. When the seven celestial Rishis traverse Maghas (stars) then enters Kali of twelve hundred (divine) years.

12.2.32

yadā maghābhyo yāsyanti pūrvāṣāḍhāṃ maharṣayaḥ /
tadā nandāt prabhṛty eṣa kalir vṛddhiṃ gamiṣyati //

When the great sages proceed from Maghā to Pūrvāṣāḍhā,
then, starting from the time of Nanda, this Kali age will reach its increase.

32. When from Maghas the great Rishis will go to Purvashadha, (then,) beginning with Nanda, this Kali will grow in strength.

12.2.33

yasmin kṛṣṇo divaṃ yātas tasminn eva tadāhani /
pratipannaṃ kali-yugam iti prāhuḥ purā-vidaḥ //

On the very day that Kṛṣṇa departed to heaven,
the Kali age began, so say those who know antiquity.

33. Those who know the past say that the age of Kali began on the day, the very hour, when Krishna went to Vaikuntha.

12.2.34

divyābdānāṃ sahasrānte caturthe tu punaḥ kṛtam /
bhaviṣyati tadā nṝṇāṃ mana ātma-prakāśakam //

At the end of a thousand divine years, in the fourth [age],
the Kṛta age will come again, and then people's minds will reveal the self.

34. At the end of a thousand divine years of Kali in the fourth Yuga, (age) Kritayuga begins again, when the minds of men will shine capable of realising Atman.

12.2.35

ity eṣa mānavo vaṃśo yathā saṅkhyāyate bhuvi /
tathā viṭ-śūdra-viprāṇāṃ tās tā jñeyā yuge yuge //

Just as this lineage of Manu on earth has been recounted,
so should be known those [lineages] of Vaiśyas, Śūdras, and Brāhmaṇas throughout the ages.

35. Thus the race of Manu on earth has been described; so also, in age after age, those of the Vaisyas, Sudras and Brahmins are to be known to be of similar conditions.

12.2.36

eteṣāṃ nāma-liṅgānāṃ puruṣāṇāṃ mahātmanām /
kathā-mātrāvaśiṣṭānāṃ kīrtir eva sthitā bhuvi //

Of these great souls, of whom only names and designations remain,
and who survive merely as tales, only the fame persists on earth.

36. Of these high-souled persons who are to be remembered only by their names and of whom nothing but a story is left, the fame alone lives on earth.

12.2.37

devāpiḥ śāntanor bhrātā maruś cekṣvāku-vaṃśa-jaḥ /
kalāpa-grāma āsāte mahā-yoga-balānvitau //

Devāpi, the brother of Śāntanu, and Maru, born in the Ikṣvāku dynasty,
both endowed with great power of yoga, abide in the village of Kalāpa.

37. Devapi, the brother of Santanu and Maru, born of Ikshvaku dynasty, both endowed with the strength of the highest yoga, live in the village of Kalapa.

12.2.38

tāv ihaitya kaler ante vāsudevānuśikṣitau /
varṇāśrama-yutaṃ dharmaṃ pūrva-vat prathayiṣyataḥ //

Having returned here at the end of Kali, instructed by Vāsudeva,
they will propagate, as before, the dharma endowed with castes and stages of life.

38. & 39. At the close of the Kaliyuga, both of them (instructed and) commanded by Vasudeva, will as before, establish, Dharma along with the Varnas and Asramas. Krita, Treta, Dvapar and Kalithese four ages run in this order for creatures on earth.

12.2.39

kṛtaṃ tretā dvāparaṃ ca kaliś ceti catur-yugam /
anena krama-yogena bhuvi prāṇiṣu vartate //

Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali—these four ages
recur among living beings on earth in this continuous succession.

12.2.40

rājann ete mayā proktā nara-devās tathāpare /
bhūmau mamatvaṃ kṛtvānte hitvemāṃ nidhanaṃ gatāḥ //

O King, these rulers of men, as well as others, have been described by me;
having conceived a sense of 'mine' toward the earth, they abandoned it in the end and met destruction.

40. O king! these and other rulers of men mentioned by me were actuated by (motives of) “my and mine”, left (this earth) in the end and were destroyed.

12.2.41

kṛmi-viḍ-bhasma-saṃjñānte rāja-nāmno 'pi yasya ca /
bhūta-dhruk tat-kṛte svārthaṃ kiṃ veda nirayo yataḥ //

Even for one with the title of 'king', the end is called worms, feces, or ashes;
what self-interest can a tormentor of living beings understand for the sake of that body, from which hell ensues?

41. The body that goes by the name of ‘king’, is in the end to be called only ‘a worm excrement, or ashes. Does he who for its sake give pain to sentient beings, —does he know his own good? For, this sin against sentient beings leads to hell.

12.2.42

kathaṃ seyam akhaṇḍā bhūḥ pūrvair me puruṣair dhṛtā /
mat-putrasya ca pautrasya mat-pūrvā vaṃśa-jasya vā //

[Thinking:] 'How can this undivided earth, held by my ancestors,
belong to my son, my grandson, or to someone born in my dynasty?'

42. ‘How could this undivided earth held (in sovereignity) by my ancestors and now in my possession, pass on to my son and grandson and posterity’

12.2.43

tejo-'b-anna-mayaṃ kāyaṃ gṛhītvātmatayābudhāḥ /
mahīṃ mamatayā cobhau hitvānte 'darśanaṃ gatāḥ //

Accepting the body composed of fire, water, and food as the self, the foolish
and the earth as 'mine', having abandoned both, in the end vanish from sight.

43. (Indulging such anxious thoughts), Rulers wanting in wisdom regard their bodies made of food and strength as their own selves, and deem this earth as their own and in the end leaving it they pass into oblivion (die).

12.2.44

ye ye bhū-patayo rājan bhuñjate bhuvam ojasā /
kālena te kṛtāḥ sarve kathā-mātrāḥ kathāsu ca //

Whichever rulers of the earth, O King, enjoy the earth through their might,
all of them have been reduced by time to mere tales within stories.

44. O king, all those lords of the Earth that protect (and enjoy) her by dint of their arms are, by Time, consigned only to stories when people talk of the past.