Skandapurana 5.27

The seers said: / Tell us, O Sūta's son, in full detail the nature, the māhātmya, / and the duration of the four yugas; for our curiosity is indeed great. 1

Sūta said: / When Bṛhaspati was asked about this matter long ago by Vāsava, / as he explained it, O lords of brahmins, that I shall now declare to you. 2

Long ago, the gods waited upon the great-souled Śakra, / who was seated in the assembly together with the thirty [gods] and Śacī: 3

Gandharvas and apsarases, siddhas and vidyādharas, / guhyakas, kiṃnaras, daityas, rākṣasas, and uragas; 4

kalās, kāṣṭhās, nimeṣas, constellations, planets, / the Vedas with their auxiliary limbs in embodied form, sacred fords, and shrines. 5

So too they narrated varied tales of gods, dānavas, and rakṣases, / of ancient royal seers, and especially of brahmin seers. 6

Then, on a certain occasion that arose, the lord of the thirty [gods], / endowed with humility, questioned Bṛhaspati, the best of brahmins: 7

"O Blessed One, I desire to hear the duration belonging to the yugas, / their māhātmya, and their true nature. You should declare it properly." 8

Bṛhaspati said: / I shall proclaim to you the māhātmya belonging to the yugas, / their duration, and their nature. Listen with an attentive mind. 9

Seventeen hundred thousand and twenty-eight thousand [years] / is declared to be the extent of the Kṛta [yuga], wherein Janārdana is white. 10

Dharma is four-footed, and the earth is exceedingly bountiful; / freed from desire and anger, devoid of fear and hatred, / people there are long-lived, peaceful in mind, with senses subdued, / five tālas in height, radiant, and deeply learned. 12

There, childhood of men lasts for sixteen thousand [years]; / after that, youth is declared to last up to thirty-two [thousand]. 13

Thereafter, old age gradually comes upon men, / lasting up to a maximum of one hundred thousand, and for some, somewhere, even more. 14

And whatever beings are there—beasts, birds, and game— / speak divine speech and enter into no enmity. 15 / Serpents play with mongooses, cats together with mice, / deer constantly with lions, and owls even with crows. 16

And the unplowed earth yields abundant crops, / mostly rice, mung beans, and barley, exceedingly sweet and increasing strength. 17

Trees bear fruit in all seasons, laden with flowers and fruits, / with beautiful leaves, free of thorns, resembling the wish-fulfilling tree. 18

And cows yield desired, sweet, excellent milk; / in all seasons they grant abundant clarified butter to men. 19

There, no woman becomes a widow, nor unfortunate, / nor barren after one child, nor bereft of sons, nor lacking good conduct. 20

Just as birth occurs, so death occurs for men in orderly succession; / never does a father behold a son dead anywhere. 21

And the state of a ghost does not befall men who have died there; / nor is there dwelling in hell, nor the affliction of disease anywhere. 22

All brahmins are masters of the Vedānta, constantly devoted to self-study, / rejoicing in the exposition of the Vedas, skilled in knowledge of the Absolute. 23

And the kṣatriyas, having made one king with great devotion, / by his command enjoy the earth constantly according to dharma. 24

Vaiśyas perform in abundance the occupations suitable for vaiśyas, / consisting of cattle-rearing and born of buying and selling. 25

Leaving aside the singular service to the twice-born, the śūdras there do not perform / any other work, O best of the gods, endowed with supreme faith. 26

No outcaste is born there, nor does the occurrence of mixed caste arise; / no one is impure, nor is a fifth of the castes seen upon earth. 27

Sacrificing, officiating at sacrifices, giving, vows, and observances, / and pilgrimage to sacred fords—men perform these there solely without desire. 28

Such as this, O thousand-eyed one, has been proclaimed to you by me— / the initial holy Kṛtayuga, bringing happiness to all the world. 29

Then the second, named Tretāyuga, commences; / in number of years it is twelve hundred thousand endowed with ninety-six [thousand]. 30

Even the lord of the universe himself, who abides in Śvetadvīpa— / the Blessed One whose emblem is Garuḍa—becomes red in color there. 31

There dharma has three feet, while evil has one foot; / through that alone rivalry arises mutually among the castes. 32

Then they desire fruits arising from pilgrimage to sacred fords, / from vows and observances, which are the causes of dwelling in heaven and the like. 33

Then, under the sway of desire, all human beings fall into delusion; / having fallen into delusion, they proceed to malice and consecutively commit sin.

Thereupon, Yama himself prepares the hells, such as Raurava and others, / twenty-one in number, O lord of the gods.

According to their actions, base men enter them; / certain others go to the worlds of Mahendra and the rest, and others to liberation.

Threefold are the men there: superior, base, and middling; / and they perform threefold deeds, O lord of gods.

Tall as a palm tree, endowed with fiery energy and vigor, / the vaiśyas also carried out agricultural work, eager for food.

From a field sown but once, they harvest seven times; / the trees bear fruit according to the season, adorned with seasonal flowers,

And in that age they are endowed with seasonal foliage, supremely delightful. / Sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma take place by the thousands,

Performed by excellent kings in mutual rivalry, / and by brahmins desirous of heaven, O best of gods.

Pilgrimage to sacred fords, vows, gifts, religious observances, and self-restraint— / these the people perform there, desiring the world beyond.

Youth comes to men there at a thousand years; / old age is said to begin after five thousand.

The washerman, the leatherworker, the dancer, the reed-worker, / the fisherman, the Meda, the Bhillas, the Caṇḍālas, and the Śūdra men—

These arise in that yuga through union of wombs, O powerful one, / as well as other degraded men, despised by these.

Indra said: / How did the birth of these outcasts come about, O best of the twice-born? / Tell me truly and in full; here my curiosity is great.

Bṛhaspati said: / An eightfold creation arises from them, originating as outcasts, / due to corruption of the womb, O best of gods; I shall explain their caste clearly.

One born of a kṣatriya father in a brahmin woman is called a sūta; / by a sūta is born a washerman, and by a washerman a leatherworker.

By a leatherworker was born a dancer, designated as an outcast. / These four arose in the field, in the field of the twice-born.

Likewise, a māgadha was born by a vaiśya in a field of twice-born origin; / by the seed of a māgadha, a reed-worker was born, O best of the Maruts.

By a reed-worker a fisherman was born, and by a fisherman a Meda. / These four originated from a vaiśya in the field of the twice-born; / they are born, O best of gods, despised in all acts.

Likewise, by a śūdra in a brahmin woman, O best of the gods, / was born the one called a Bhilla, and from a Bhilla is born a Caṇḍāla.

These two also arise through a śūdra in the field of twice-born origin, / O ruler of all gods; this has been spoken truly by me.

This has been declared by me concerning the Tretāyuga, O best of gods; / listen attentively now to the state of the Dvāpara.

That yuga is proclaimed to be eight hundred thousand years / and sixty-four thousand years in extent; / there the lord whose banner is Garuḍa becomes brown-hued.

Two quarters of dharma remain, and two of sin. / Youth comes to men there after a full hundred years have passed.

Then, when five other centuries have elapsed, old age arrives. / There, people, gods, kings, and others are a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Women too, O best of gods, are described as having that nature; / their height is five cubits, and further, four cubits.

They are neither exceedingly beautiful nor devoid of beauty; / the beasts, birds, and game animals have inarticulate calls.

The trees are not overly endowed with flowers and fruits, O lord of gods; / the crops grown there are those sown by the farmers.

The clouds rain at will, and all medicinal herbs grow. / Whatever knowledge or sacred scripture exists on the face of the earth, O best of gods, / exists there in equal measure, neither entirely true nor false.

In the Dvāpara, O best of gods, the fruit of sacred fords, sacrifices, / and gifts arises in accordance with one's disposition.

This yuga named Dvāpara has been declared to you / in its entirety by me, O ruler of the gods, just as it was seen and heard.

Becoming attentive, listen as I speak now / of the terrible Kaliyuga, where Janārdana is black.

It is stated to last four hundred thousand / and thirty-two thousand years, O powerful one, devoid of virtuous people.

There dharma has only one quarter, while sin is remembered as having three; / after the first half, everything will become sinful.

Sons do not obey their father, nor daughters-in-law, nor brothers, / nor servants, nor wives, where there is mutual enmity.

Where men's youth turns gray in the sixteenth year, / and a woman will conceive a child in her twelfth year.

The lifespan of humans is a maximum of a hundred years, O lord of gods; / for elephants and trees, it does not exceed that number of years.

Thirty-two is stated for the best horses, twenty-four for donkeys and camels, / sixteen is declared for goats, and twelve for dogs.

For other quadrupeds it is twenty-five, / while crows, vultures, and owls live long.

People are devoted to sin and especially distressed; / the trees are thorny, rough, devoid of flowers and fruits, / and frequented by vultures and the like, where they cast no shade.

Where dharma is oppressed by adharma, O best of gods, / truth is similarly oppressed by untruth, and kings are constantly harassed by thieves;

Gurus by their disciples, base men by women, / masters by groups of servants, and scholars by fools.

Where most righteous men, devoted to truth, / self-controlled, discerning, peaceful, and intent on the welfare of others, suffer distress; 75

where mental agonies, physical diseases, and most extraordinary afflictions / are ever present out of a desire to torment the virtuous; 76

and where mortals are born short-lived as a result of the mixture of classes; / whatever individuals survive are attended by misery; 77

the cloud does not rain even when the proper time has arrived; / even if there is good rain, crops do not yield what the farmer desires; 78

cows yield no milk even if well nourished; / and they do not multiply even when guarded with great effort; 79

where people praise the milk of sheep and camels, / and people become bereft of fortune and act as thieves; 80

where śūdras practice austerity, śūdras are devoted to religious duties, / śūdras are conversant with deliberations on the Vedas, and are engaged in sacrificial rites; 81

where śūdras receive religious gifts, śūdras bestow gifts, / śūdras are worthy of worship, and śūdras reside at sacred fords; 82

the lowest of men dig five pits at the time of death, / with the head, hands, and feet, their consciousness destroyed by delusion; 83

brahmins sell the Veda and are devoid of ritual purity; 84

they are devoid of Veda-recitation, constantly delight in the food of śūdras, / generally accept improper gifts, and are eager out of greediness of the tongue; 85

they are heretics, engaged in forbidden deeds, and live off others' wives; / where affection arises only by taking refuge in selfish cause and effect; 86

not from natural disposition, O thousand-eyed one, among embodied beings in any way; / all classes and the twice-born will fall into the condition of mlecchas; 87

deprived of festivals, destitute of righteousness, constantly causing confusion of classes; / at the beginning of the yuga, they will initially be three and a half cubits tall; 88

then they will suffer diminution as the Kali age advances; / and then in the end, men will become dwellers in holes; 89

owing to their smallness and scarce availability, being incapable of domestic duties, / sacrifices will become fruitless, and likewise Vedic vows; 90

all rules, self-restraints, and incantations likewise; / sacred fords will become defiled by contact with mlecchas, O Śatakratu; 91

deprived of their intrinsic nature and likewise destitute of water; / vile incantations and vile ascetics— 92

there those will come into being, along with vile humans; / abandoning even a well-born bridegroom endowed with beauty and youth, 93

men will give their daughter to a vile man out of greed for wealth; / maidens will give birth, and maidens will be eager for sexual intercourse; 94

maidens will have union with men; / even noble-born women will deceive their husbands; 95

ill-behaved in all actions, even if guarded with great care; / and pitiless kings will oppress the cultivators; 96

they will oppress the innocent out of greed for wealth, without doubt; / and having caught a thief who deserves death, out of greed for wealth, 97

they will release him in that yuga, even though he engages in injuring living beings; / abandoning the duty of the warrior class, they will engage in battle; 98

Bṛhaspati said: / All this has been declared by me to you—the characteristic of the yugas / and their duration, O best of the gods, of all four without doubt. 99

And whatever mortal should recite this, ever concentrated in mind, / he is surely liberated from sin from birth to the end of life. 100

Or whatever man should hear it with a mind purified by faith, / he too would be freed, there is no doubt, from the sin arising in a day. 101

Thus ends the twenty-seventh chapter, named Description of the Nature of the Four Yugas, in the Māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the sixth [part] of the venerable Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.