Lord Kalki's Descent: Getting It Straight

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Lord Kalki’s Descent: Getting It Straight

 

"Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will

take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Visnu Yasa.At

this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers… Lord

Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and,

sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and

eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and

riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have

dared dress as kings…. When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki,

the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will

bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness." (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.25;

12.2.19-20, 23)

 

These simple verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam announce the advent of

Lord Kalki, when He comes, why He comes, and how religious principles are

restored. Srila Prabhupada tells us this story, and so do the previous

acaryas and the scriptures. They are all quite clear and easily understandable

to even by the most simple-hearted devotees who take Srila Prabhupada

straight.

 

This story, however, becomes complicated when we hear the statement of

the shastra-s that lila-avataras, or the Lord’s pastime incarnations, do not

appear in this Kali-yuga. In fact, the Lord is called "tri-yuga," or "One who

appears in three yugas," also indicating that there are no incarnations in

this age.

 

How can these facts be reconciled with the prediction of Kalki at the end

of the yuga? One controversial essay attempts to resolve this Kalki issue by

rejecting a literal interpretation of the Bhagavata verses and Srila

Prabhupada’s explanation of them. We are told that the story of Kalki’s

distinct descent at the end of this yuga occurs only in other Kali yugas. This

story, taken straight, is supposedly a misunderstanding when applied to this

Kali-yuga in particular, since He does not appear distinctly at all. We are

told that Srila Prabhupada’s direct statements on the issue needs a

clarification--a "deeper" and esoteric insight to "fully" understand the

resolution to this mystery. However, this attempt is so drastic that it denies

Srila Prabhupada’s numerous straight and direct statements in his books and

lectures about the distinct appearance of Lord Kalki. Supposedly, he was all

along really referring to the descent of Lord Chaitanya and that Srila

Prabhupada’s straightforward words require decryption by a Mahabhagavat for

proper understanding.

 

Yet how is it possible to dispose of the straightforward accounts by

guru, sadhu, and shastra of Lord Kalki’s appearance? It is, after all, a

prominent feature of many Puranic descriptions of Kali-yuga and of Srila

Prabhupada’s teachings about it.

 

First of all, it is necessary to recognize that the shastric statement (as

in Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 6) denying the appearance of lila-avataras is

more complicated than it appears. Specifically, we need to be aware of one

simplification that takes in the description of all the descents of the Lord

as "avatars." For example, we usually refer to all incarnations as

"avataras" as though they were all themselves God, Lord Vishnu Himself.

However, there are two senses of the word "avatara".

 

One is in a primary sense indicating Visnu-tattvas and another in a

secondary sense indicating avesa-avataras. This latter category refers to

jivatama-s who are empowered by the Lord to perform a specific mission. Srila

Rupa Gosvami informs us that even though these entities are called avatara,

they are only such by metaphor, in only a secondary sense: they are not

literally God. Specifically, he qualifies the word "avatara" with the word

"aupacarikam" (metaphorical, figurative, secondary) in the Laghu

bhagavatamrta.

 

Srila Rupa Gosvami, explicitly refers to this distinction as the key to

understanding the Lord’s name "tri-yuga." Specifically, he cites the

Vishnu-dharma Purana for his explanation:

 

"In the Kali-yuga Lord Hari is not directly seen in a directly visible

incarnation. For this reason it is written that He appeared in three yugas

(tri-yuga). At the end of Kali-yuga, Lord Vasudeva enters (anupraviSya) the

learned Vedic scholar Kalki and corrects the situation in the material world.

Then, entering many saintly persons who had taken birth before, the Lord

fulfills His plan in Kali-yuga."

 

This verse from the Puranas neatly resolves the whole issue: There are no

overtly manifest Vishnu-tattvas in the Kali-yuga (Lord Chaitanya being covered

[channa]). Therefore, there is no regularly scheduled yuga-avatar in this Kali

age. Lord Kalki does indeed appear in this Kali-yuga. However, He is a

saktyavesa avatara empowered for destruction, rather than Lord Vishnu Himself.

Thus, the truth of the name "tri-yuga" is maintained.

 

But what about the argument that Lord Chaitanya includes and, therefore,

replaces all avataras in Kali-yuga?

 

Special avataras do occasionally appear in place of the regularly

scheduled yuga-avatar. Locana dasa Thakura (Chaitanya Mangala, Adi khanda)

explains this phenomenon in the cases of Rama and Krishna:

 

"In Treta-yuga, the Lord takes a red-colored form to teach the religion

of yajna, sacrifice. In some Treta-yugas, the Lord appears as Lord

Ramacandra."

 

"When the Lord appears as a yuga-avatara, He serves a particular purpose

according to the needs of that age…In the Dvapara-yuga, Lord Sri Krishna comes

as the yuga-avatara. By what activities did He establish the yuga dharma?…The

Lord Himself, the completely independent Supreme Being, decides, whether He

will establish the yuga-dharma or simply enjoy pleasure pastimes. The

wonderful thing is that He did everything at once."

 

In both these cases, only the Lord’s yugavatara descents (Rakta and

Syama) have been replaced. This is the exact same phenomenon that occurs in

this Kali-yuga: Instead of descending as a dark Vishnu expansion named

Krishna, He descends as Lord Chaitanya and (1) simultaneously enjoys special

pastimes and (2) establishes the yuga-dharma. Lord Chaitanya clearly performs

the function of, and thereby replacing, the expected yuga-avatara (the dark

Vishnu form, in this case). There is neither any historical precedent for or

any indication of Lord Kalki’s replacement by Lord Chaitanya.

 

Some insist as the fountainhead of all avataras, Lord Chaitanya can and

is known to occasionally manifest the pastimes of all the dasavataras, and .

However, these just illustrate His status as svayam-bhagavan. He does not

appear at the end of the yuga for the destruction of plunderers—Kalki’s

God-given shakti and role in this age. Just as there is no indication that

Lord Krishna replaced the Vyasa incarnation and that all references to Vyasa

actually refer to Krishna, similarly, there is no indication that Lord

Chaitanya replaces the Kalki incarnation.

 

Furthermore, it may be argued that since this Kali yuga very special,

Lord Kalki may come and chant "Haribol!" However, Srila Prabhupada’s statement

was that after 10,000 years of sankirtana, there is neither any more "Haribol"

nor any preaching. Lord Kalki’s mission is one of "killing" and

"throat-cutting" only, quite distinct from (although inconceivably one with)

the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, the patita pavana. Srila Prabhupada’s

description is clearly grounded in scriptures like the Brahmavaivarta Purana

which specifically discusses the current Kali-yuga.

 

It may be insisted that this blessed Kali-yuga is an exception to the

rule of Kalki’s appearance. However, Srila Rupa Gosvami summarizes

information from various Puranas which identify exactly which catur-yuga each

lila-avatara chronologically one after one appears in. In his summary, Krishna

appeared in this 28th yuga cycle and then discusses Buddha and Kalki who

appear in the Kali-yuga. Since there is no mention of the 29th or any other

yuga cycle, it is clearly referring to the current yuga cycle. This

information is also consistent with translations of Brahmanda Purana,

Devibhagavata Purana, etc. Interestingly, although the acharyas note that the

Buddha mentioned in the incarnation list of Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.37 appeared

in another catur-yuga, the very next verse (or any other one) about Kalki’s

appearance is not qualified in anyway.

 

In fact, the Pancarata-samhita-s after identifying Lord Krishna’s

appearance day give us the date of Kalki’s appearance: Sravana-masa

sukla-paksa 6, which falls on August 17th this year.

 

In conclusion, Srila Rupa Gosvami’s authorized explanation of "tri-yuga"

and Kalki’s status as only an empowered jiva clarifies the statements of the

shastra-s, Srila Vyasadeva, Gopinath Acharya, Srila Prabhupada etc. Only a

Maha-bhagavata (Srila Rupa Gosvami) can understand the mood and siddhanta of

another Maha-bhagavata (Srila Vyasadeva). And only his authorized

representatives, when taken straight, can help the conditioned souls

understand.

 

respectfully yours,

Gerald Surya

 

P.S. Even if Lord Kalki does not appear, one can still have the blessed

darshana of Lord Kalki astride His wonderful horse with a sword in His

upraised hand by reading the Srimad Bhagavatam and also visiting the Lord

Kalki website at http://kalki.avatara.org

Enjoy your visit!