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KALI YUGA (OR KALAMA YUGA) that day on which Krishna was born, according to ,these calculations will come to be the 20th July 3228 years before the advent of Christ. If this has to be put in our calendar, it will be in the year Srimukha, the month by the name Sravana, fortnight by the name Bahula and the day of Ashtami. The Star will be Rohini and the time will be three a.m. after midnight. If we count backwards from today, the day on which Krishna gave up his mortal body will work out at 5078 years. That is also the time when Krishna gave up his life and that is also the day when Kali age commenced. This day is also the first day of Kali Yuga and we call it Ugadi. But the Kali Yuga started in the year Pramadi and so it appears that this Yuga is full of danger and harm. Truly, instead of calling this yuga as the Kali Yuga it is right and appropriate to call it the Kalaha Yuga or the age of quarrels. Wherever we see whether you go to a house, a village or a country we see quarrels. Young people of today should do such things by which the name of Kalaha Yuga or the age of quarrels is changed to an age of prosperity by living up to the ideals of Krishna. (S.R.B,M. - p. 90) Before the Kali Yuga ends, there is a space in between. The situation is similar to the motion of a fan. When the fan is started, there is an interval before it picks up speed and when the switch is turned off, the fan continues to run for a time. The world is also turning round like the fan. Even if the Kali Yuga stops, it still has a few more revolutions to go before the final ending. The situation is somewhat as found with the string of light poles. There is a distance of about a furlong between each pole. The light from a pole extends half way to the next pole and at some point the light of the next pole is faintly there also, There are four Yugas. The sequence is circular, and when the last is finished, the whole cycle starts all over again. Kali Yuga still has 5320 years before ending, as at 1968. (C.W.B.S.S.B. - p. 26) In this Kali yuga, the principle of Prema is not in evidence. It is smothered in jealousy, conceit, hatred, fear, falsehood and greed. That is why it is best referred to as the Kalahayuga, the age of faction, marked by fights between mother and daughter, father and son, teacher and pupil, guru and guru, brother and brother. The recitation of the name of Krishna is the best method for cleansing the mind of all these evil impulses. You may ask, "If we engage ourselves in this pastime, how can we earn our livelihood?" Well, let me assure you, if you have pure and steady faith in the Lord, He will provide for you, not merely food, but the nectar of immortality. You have that mighty potentiality in you, to discover the Lord within and compel Him to grant you that nectar. (S.S.S. Vol. IV - p. 48) "Nasti Nasti Mahabhaga Kalikala samayugam Smarnath Uccharanaatheva prapnothi paramaamgathi".This Kali Yuga is praised in the Scriptures as incomparably conducive to the salvation of man, for he can now attain the Highest through the mere thought of God and remembering His name. So, of all the Yugas, this Yuga is described as the most holy, the most beneficent. Dhyana was prescribed as the means of liberation for men in the Kritha Yuga, Thapas as the means during the Tretha Yuga and Archana (Ritual worship) for Dwapara Yuga. But, for people of this Yuga, the simple remedy prescribed is just Namasmarana, the constant awareness of the Name. In spite of this, it is a pity that men do not care for this easy path and so render their lives barren and blighted. (Divine Discourse 3.10.81, S.S. - p. 21 January 1982) The present age is described in the Sastras as very conducive to liberation for, while in past ages, rigorous penance was prescribed as the means, the Kali age in which you are, requires only Namasmarana to win liberation; when the name of the Lord is remembered with all the glory that is associated with it, a great flood of ananda wells up within the mind. Vyasa himself knew this, for some sages once went to him to find out which yuga was the most conducive to success in man's efforts for liberation. Vyasa anticipated their question and repeated to himself aloud, "0 how fortunate are those destined to be born in Kali yuga". It easy in this Kali age to win the grace of the Lord (S.S.S. Vol. IV - P 83) |
