The Sanskrit Puranic Prophecies

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The Sanskrit Puranic Prophecies by Cornelia Dimmitt

[Apocalypse for the Hindu is the natural ending of the world in the

fourth age, the Kali Age. It is one of a series of apocalypses, each

of which marks the end of one cycle and the beginning of another

creation. The central figure in the story is Vishnu, the preserver

God, into whose self the world is absorbed before being born again.

Vishnu has already saved humanity on a number of occasions,

symbolically appearing as a savior in many different forms. It is

said that He will appear again soon, as Kalki, a white horse,

destined to destroy the present world and to take humanity to a

different, higher plane.]

"All kings occupying the earth in the Kali Age will be wanting in

tranquillity, strong in anger, taking pleasure at all times in lying

and dishonesty, inflicting death on women, children, and cows, prone

to take the paltry possessions of others, with character that is

mostly tamas, rising to power and soon falling. They will be short-

lived, ambitious, of little virtue, and greedy. People will follow

the customs of others and be adulterated with them; peculiar,

undisciplined barbarians will be vigorously supported by rulers.

Because they go on living with perversion, they will be ruined.

"And Dharma becomes very weak in the Kali age, and people commit sin

in mind, speech, and actions... Quarrels, plague, fatal diseases,

famines, drought, and calamities appear. Testimonies and proofs have

no certainty. There is no criterion left when the Kali age settles

down. People become poorer in vigor and luster. They are wicked, full

of anger, sinful, false, and avaricious. Bad ambitions, bad

education, bad dealings, and bad earnings excite fear. The whole

batch becomes greedy and untruthful. Many sudras will become kings,

and many heretics will be seen.

"There will arise various sects; sannyasins wearing clothes colored

red. Many profess to have supreme knowledge because, thereby, they

will easily earn their livelihood. In the Kali age, there will be

many false religionists. India will become desolate by repeated

calamities, short lives, and various diseases. Everyone will be

miserable owing to the dominance of vice and Tamoguna; people will

freely commit abortion.

"Earth will be valued only for her mineral treasures. Money alone

will confer nobility. Power will be the sole definition of virtue.

Pleasure will be the only reason for marriage. Lust will be the only

reason for womanhood. Falsehood will win out in disputes. Being dry

of water will be the only definition of land. Praise worthiness will

be measured by accumulated wealth. Impropriety will be considered

good conduct, and only feebleness will be the reason for

unemployment. Boldness and arrogance will be equivalent to

scholarship. Only those without wealth will show honesty. Just a bath

will amount to purification, and charity will be the only virtue.

Abduction will be marriage. Simply to be well dressed will signify

propriety. And any hard-to-reach water will be deemed a pilgrimage

site. The pretense of greatness will be the proof of it, and powerful

men with many severe faults will rule over all the classes on earth.

Oppressed by their excessively greedy rulers, people will hide in

valleys between mountains, where they will gather honey, vegetables,

roots, fruits, birds, flowers and so forth. Suffering from cold,

wind, heat and rain, they will put on clothes made of tree bark and

leaves. And no one will live as long as twenty-three years. Thus in

the Kali Age humankind will be utterly destroyed."