Kalyug
From Wiki Ganesha
[1] (http://www.ultraindia.com/movies/filmography/filmography.php?choice=1&na=KALYUG)
Poster for a Bollywood film entitled Kalyug.
The Kalyug is said to be: An age in which righteousness and godliness has been forgotten.
(http://www.asht.info/Glossary/Term/Kalyug)
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Kalyug (Dark Age):
When Lord Krishna died, the Kalyug began. It started out mild and grew from there. This happened in 3102 BCE and lasted for exactly 432 000 years and ends.
The Kalyug is the last of the four Hindu Yugas. It is most often referred to as the Dark Age or Iron Age and is one of four yugas which form what is known as a yugic cycle.
The first Yuga is the Satya and is a temporal period during which purity and truth are dominant virtues. During the Satyuga people are god-like and exist perfectly and without vice. Knowledge of God is intrinsic to the people during this period. It is the golden age of Hindu tradition.
Each successive Yuga hence renders a 25% decrease in humans' dharma (smirtis: moral order). Humanity's capacity and desire for that which is good and right diminishes. The second Yuga is Treta (the silver age). The third is Dvapara (bronze). The last is the Kali Yuga.
Kaliyug: The Nature of Humanity
In the Kaliyug, it is believed that evilness will constitute seventy-five percent of peoples' nature. Society's interests in material goods will become the primary focus of humanity. The Kaliyuga is a time of indifference and apathy. The desire for posessions will overwhelm the structures of society; horrible and violent acts will be commited by individuals in the name of egoism. This degenerative obsession for the posession of externalties creates a perversly fertile base on which immorality flourishes. Ignorance of spirit will prevail over the awareness of self, and knowledge of God will be reduced to agnostical uncertanties or perverted disbeliefs.
Leadership and governing entities are no exception to the aforementioned degeneration of the human spirit. As influential figures, the authorities will abuse their powerful sway, making excuses about nation necessities, responsibilties and emergency. (The Vishnu Purana)
It is said that the Brahmanas will revoke their purificatory obligations to God; they will be as fallen men. Their role in society will be politically successful, but low in the ways of the soul. They will be Mleccas, those who reject the Vedas and the predominant tradition among the Brahmanas transformed will be concerned with the capitals of materialistic desire.
Dharmas
Dharma is both the laws and the universal phenomonom within Hindi tradition. [2] (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dharma) change with each Yuga. During the Satya Yuga meditation is virtuous. The lifespan of a person is 100 000 years. In the Treta Yuga people are still devoted to religion but their motives are driven more from economic gain. Sacrifice(yajnas)is virtuous. The average lifespan is 10 000 years. During the Dvapara Yuga, worship is virtuous. The average lifespan is 1000 years and fame and glory become the major interests of the people. Finally, during the Kali Yuga people live only for about 100 years and gifts are considered virtuous. Of the Dharmas (particularly the latter three)the Devi Bhagavatam states:
"As the Yuga changes, so the people changes in course of time. Nothing can alter its course, for this is caused by the Yuga Dharma (the Dharma peculiar to each Yuga). Therefore if all the subjects that are considered wicked and vicious according to the law of the Yuga Dharma, then this creation would be destroyed; hence Krisna killed only those Dânavas and vicious Ksattriyas that were really the burden of Earth. O King! The persons that are devoted to religion take their births in the Satya Yuga; those that are fond of religion and wealth they become manifest in the Tretâ Yuga; those that like Dharma (religion), Artha (wealth) and Kama (desires), they are born in the Dvâpara Yuga, and those that dote on wealth and lust, they are seen in the Kâlî Yuga." (6.11.11-14)
A common representation for the Yugas is the Bull of Truth. In the Satya, the Bull has all four hooves firmly planted within the era. In the Treta there are three, in the Dvapara two and in the Kali Yuga only one of its hooves stands within the era.
Representations
Kalyug is often referred to in Indian literature to represent times of turmoil or dark conflict. Because of the good and evil nature of the topic, as well as the archetypal significance of the gods, avatars and the yugas themselves, it proves an effective theme (both spiritually and creatively) with a moral tone.
Avatars
The Maha Avataras (the Great Avatars) are the lineage of Vishnu's reincarnations. Vishnu is called preserver and incarnates during times when evil maximally overruns virtuousness. At the end of Kalyug Vishnu returns as Lord Kalki to "kill all the mlecchas indiscriminately with his sword". [3] (http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/associates/demons/vishnu/kalki.htm)
Lord Kalki
When Lord Vishnu returns as the avatar Lord Kalki order will be restored; the wicked will be slayed. He will descend from heaven riding a white horse. It is said that with a flaming sword Kalki will slay the wicked and godless and restore peace in the world. When Lord Kalki destroys all the world's evils the Yuga cycle will begin again with a fresh Satya Yuga and Lord Kalki will return to Vishu.
Kalki is not a destroyer. He is called a warrior (chastiser) and he slays the wicked of the Kalyug but he is an avatar of Vishnu who is a god of preservation. It is said that when Kalki kills an irreligious person their soul becomes purified because, as they die, the last thing they look to is Lord Kalki, or Vishnu. During the Kalyug, before Kalki incarnates, self realization can be achieved simply by chanting the name of Lord Vishnu for one whole day and one whole night. Although people choose to live dwell in their own wickedness and ignorance self realization is easier to obtain during this era.
http://www.iskcon.net/peru/kalki.htm
"At the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the lowborn shudra class or those less than them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser." (Bhagavad Gita 2.7.38)
"Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift white 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."--Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.2.19-20)
"By His irresistible might he will destroy all the mlecchas and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will reestablish righteousness upon earth, and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as clear as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who will follow the laws of the Krita age [Satya-yuga], the age of purity. As it is said, 'When the sun and moon, and the lunar asterism Tishya, and the planet Jupiter, are in one mansion, the Krita age shall return.'"--Vishnu Purana (Book Four, Chapter 24)
Buddha
http://www.dzogchen.org/library/photos/gallery.htm#buddhas
The nature of the Buddha in Hindu tradition is debatable. Some claim that Sidhartha Gautama, Gautam Buddha was the ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and preceded Lord Krshna. According to this tradition the Buddha would have been of the Dvapara Yuga and was sent to protect the world from the wicked and demoniacal. The greatest evil Lord Buddha was to have combatted was humans' consumption of meat.
Others claim that the Buddha came after Lord Krshna, during the Kali Yuga, and was sent to encourage wickedness by leading people away from the Vedas. This belief would confirm that Buddhism is a deviation from Vedic religion.
Works Cited
The Bhagavad Gita Trans. Juan Mascaro. Baltimore: Penguin, 1966
http://pages.zoom.co.uk/thuban/html/kaliyuga.html
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/kalki_the_next_avatar_of_God.htm
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/y/yu/yuga.htm
