It is astonishing how accurately this sacred yogi text describes
what is happening in the “modern” era with the human race.
Yes, the description is very accurate,
but what is important for an Authentic Seeker
is not the fact that an ancient text from the 5th-10th centuries CE
accurately describes the decay of the human race,
but spiritual teaching that is the solution.
Through our good and right actions
and, above all, by the direct way
which is, first of all, nondualistic yoga.
But also by any other authentic way.
We can thus be in the world, without being of the world!
…………………………
We aimed to make a translation as authentic as possible.
“Liṅga Mahāpurāṇa I.40.1–47
Description of Kali Yuga
Śakra [Indra] said:
1.
In the age of Tiṣya [Kali], people whose senses are disturbed by tamas indulge in deception, envy, and even murder of ascetics.
2.
In Kali there will be incessant neglect, sickness, hunger and fear; There will be the terrible danger of drought and unrest in the countries.
3.
Śruti [Vedic revelation] will no longer be recognized as authority, and people will turn to adharma. They will be devoid of dharma and good conduct, very angry, and narrow-minded.
4.
The greedy and corrupt people born in Tiṣya will speak untruths. There will be wrong rituals, misappropriated teaching, bad behavior, and misleading doctrines or traditions.
5.
Because of the mistakes made by the brāhmaṇa in their duties, fear will arise among the people. The “twice-born” will no longer study the Vedas and will no longer perform ritual sacrifices.
6–7.
People will perish, and kṣatriya and vaiśya will gradually decrease. The Śūdra will come to enter into ritual and social relations with the brāhmaṇa and will share with them resting places, chairs and food. The kings will mostly come from the śūdra and oppress the brāhmaṇa.
8.
The killing of the fetus and the killing of heroes will become widespread among people. Śūdra will adopt the conduct of brāhmaṇa, and brāhmaṇa conduct śūdra.
9.
Thieves will play the role of kings, and kings will behave like thieves. Women loyal to one man will become rare, and women who go to other lovers will multiply.
10.
The order of the four varṇas and the four āśramas will lose its stability everywhere. Then the earth will bear little fruit in one place and very much in another.
11.
Kings will no longer be protectors, but plunderers. The Śūdra will become learned and will be honored by the brāhmaṇa himself.
12.
People who are not kṣatriya will become kings, and brāhmaṇa will become dependent on śūdra. The less wise will remain seated and will not rise when they see the “twice-born.”
13–18.
Indiscerning Śūdra will strike even the high-ranking brāhmaṇa. The Brāhmaṇas will come to address them with humility. The Śūdra will stand on the highest places right in the middle of the brāhmaṇa, and the kings will not punish them.
People poor in learning, luck, and power will honor the śūdra with flowers, perfumes, and other auspicious gifts. Śūdra who have become haughty will not even look at the best of the brāhmaṇa.
The Brāhmaṇas will stand at their gates waiting for the opportunity to serve them; they will serve them and praise them. Even the high-ranking brāhmaṇas will end up selling the fruits of their austerities and sacrifices.
19.
In Kali there will be numerous ascetics. As the end of the yuga approaches, men will become few and women numerous.
20–21.
In Kali even brāhmaṇa will despise Vedic knowledge and rites.
Then the god Mahādeva, Śaṅkara, Nīlalohita, will manifest himself in an unusual appearance for the restoration of the Dharma.
Those brāhmaṇas who go to Śaṅkara by any means will overcome the defects of Kali and reach the supreme state.
22.
Towards the end of the yuga, the predators will become strong, the cows will become fewer, and the good people will retire [from active life].
23–24.
The Dharma, subtle, difficult to acquire, bearing great fruit and based on bestowal, will become unstable with the weakening of the four āśramas.
The kings will no longer protect, but will appropriate their share of the tribute; towards the end of the yuga they will be mostly concerned with their own protection.
25–26.
The food already cooked will be sold in the settlements, the Vedas will be traded as merchandise, and the women will sell their honor.
The god of rain will distribute the rains irregularly when the end of the yuga approaches.
27.
Merchants will prevail in this degraded age; They will follow bad practices and will be surrounded by followers of heterodox doctrines, preoccupied with vain appearances.
28.
There will be many who officiate rituals for others, and there will be many beggars.
No one will refrain from cruel words; There will hardly be a righteous and sincere man, and there will hardly be anyone devoid of envy.
29.
When the yuga is at an end, no one will return the good received. The slanderers and the fallen will be the sign of the end of the yuga.
30.
The earth will be devoid of kings and will no longer be covered with an abundance of grain and riches. Groups and factions will form in countries and cities.
31.
The earth will have little water and few fruits. Those who are supposed to protect will no longer protect and will be deprived of discipline and law.
32.
People will steal other people’s wealth and coerce other people’s wives. They will be possessed by desire, evil at heart, vile and attracted by violence and reckless acts.
33.
People will lose their natural conduct; They will walk around with their hair unkempt and tormented by suffering. At the end of the yuga, people will be born whose life will be only sixteen years.
34.
When the end of the yuga approaches, śūdra will practice the Dharma wearing the insignia of ascetics: deer skin, strings of akṣa/rudrākṣa, shaved heads, and ochre-colored garments.
So the wording in the article “adventurers will take the appearance of monks” does not exist in the text. It’s an interpretation.
35.
There will be crop thieves and greedy people for durable garments. Thieves will rob other thieves; A thief will rob another thief.
36.
When the right activities cease and humans become inactive, insects, mice, and snakes will torment humans.
37.
Abundance, safety, health and the power to act will become difficult to acquire.
Tormented by hunger and fear, the people will head to the lands near Kauśikī.
Kauśikī is the Kosi River, not “underground shelter”.
38.
Those overwhelmed by suffering will hardly reach the maximum duration of a hundred years.
In the Kali Yuga, the Vedas will be sometimes seen, sometimes invisible [i.e. their tradition will no longer be preserved in full].
39.
Ritual sacrifices will disappear, hit by the adharma. There will be many those dressed in ochre, naked ascetics and followers of Kāpālika.
40.
Some will sell the Vedas, and others will trade from the sacred places of pilgrimage (tīrtha). Adherents of heterodox doctrines will emerge who oppose the varṇa–āśrama ordinance.
41.
They will be born when the Kali Yuga is established. The Śūdra will study the Vedas and become knowledgeable about the meaning of the Dharma.
42.
Kings born of śūdra families will perform the horse sacrifice (aśvamedha). Women, children, and cows will be killed, and people will kill each other.
43.
People will cause misfortune to each other. Suffering will be great, life short, bodies will decay, and diseases will spread.
44.
Because of the attachment to the adharma, the conduct in Kali is considered dominated by the tamas. Then serious crimes will spread among the people, starting with the murder of a brāhmaṇa.
45.
That is why, with the coming of Kali, the length of life, the strength and beauty of the body will diminish.
And yet, at that time people will be able to reach the siddhi in a short time.
46.
Blessed will be those noble people who, at the end of the yuga, will practice the Dharma enunciated by Śruti and Smṛti, without envy and hostility.
47.
The Dharma fruit obtained in Tretā through practice for one year is obtained in Dvāpara in one month.
In Kali, the wise man who practices the Dharma with due effort acquires the same fruit in a single day.”
(Linga Purana, ch. 40)
