History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.797

v4.c63.t2.797

Since only 5046 years have elapsed (in 1945 A.D.) from the beginning of the Kali age and as Kaliyuga extends to 432000 years according to Paurāṇic computations we are just on the threshold of the Kaliyuga and it is beyond one's comprehension to visualize what will happen towards the end of the vast period of about 427000 years that are still to pass before Kaliyuga ends. It is very small consolation to read in the Purāṇas in a prophetic strain that at the end of that colossal period Viṣṇu will be incarnated as Kalkin in a village Śambhala, will destroy all Mlechhas, śūdra kings and heretics and will establish dharma, so that the Kṛta age will then be ushered in. Here again as in almost all matters there are differences in the legend. The Vāyu (58. 75-90) and the Matsya (144. 50-64) state that it will be Pramati Bhārgava who will be the *avatāra* of Viṣṇu and uproot the Mlechhas, heretics and śūdra kings, while Vāyu 98. 104-110 and 99. 396-7, Vanaparva 190. 93-97, Bhāgavata XII. 2. 16-23 state that Kalkin will conquer the Mlecchas, will become a universal emperor (*cakravartin*) of the *dharmavijayin* type and will start the Kṛta age. In some passages he is called Kalkī (nom. of Kalkin) as in Vanaparva 190. 93, Brahma 213. 164, Vāyu 99. 396, Matsya 47. 248, Nṛsiṁha 54. 3; while in others as Kalkiḥ (nom. of Kalki) as in Vāyu 98. 104, Kalki 2. 28, Bhāgavata XII. 2. 16, Matsya 47. 251. In some passages he is said to be the son of a brāhmaṇa Viṣṇuyaśas who will be the head¹⁷⁸⁸ of the village called Śambhala (Bhāgavata XII. 2. 16, Viṣṇupurāṇa IV. 24. 26, Agni 16. 8, Nṛsiṁha 54. 3, Kalkipurāṇa 2. 34), while in other passages he is himself styled Viṣṇuyaśas (Vāyu 98, 104, Vanaparva 190. 93, Brahma 213. 164, Viṣṇudharmottara I. 74. 40).1788a In some places he is said to have already flourished (Vāyu 98. 111, Matsya 47. 255), in other places the texts employ the future (Vāyu 99. 396, Bhāgavata XII. 2. 16). This last discrepancy is probably due to the fact that the writers sometimes forget their role of prophets. Further, it has to be remembered that according to the Purāṇas the four yugas (and therefore the Kalki *avatāra*) have been repeated again and again. The Kalki-purāṇa (I. 2. 33 and I. 3. 32-33) states that Kalki was a contemporary of Viśākhayūpa king of Māhiṣmatī, while the Vāyu (99. 312-314), Matsya (272. 4) and Viṣṇu (IV. 24) state that Viśākhayūpa was the 3rd of the Pradyota dynasty that preceded the Śiśunāga dynasty. Though the Kalki-purāṇa several times uses the past tense about Kalki, yet at the very beginning it says (I. 10) that what is narrated is an ākhyāna (story) of the future. It is interesting to note that in the Parṇālaparvata-grahaṇ-ākhyāna1788b of Jayarāma composed about 1673 A.D. Bahlolkhan, commander-in-chief of the Bijapur army, is made to say to Khawaskhan, the Vazir, as follows, 'In the Hindu śāstras some say that Kalkin, the 10th avatāra of Viṣṇu will be born and he will destroy the hordes of Yavanas. Shivaji appears to be the first harbinger of that Kalkin'.