Kaliyuga!

“In this age of Kali, human beings move around like cruel beasts. Compassion is vanishing and ostentation is the order of the day.” (BHAGWAN BABA)

We are all aware that we are living in the worst of times in the Kaal Chakra i.e. the wheel of time. This is the period called the Kaliyuga.

Once Krishna was sitting with Arjuna, Bheema, Nakula and Sehdeva. They asked Krishna what life would be like in the Kaliyuga. Krishna looked at each of them and said, “Let me show you, what Kaliyuga will be like.” He then shot four arrows from his bow into the four cardinal directions. Smiling, he said, “Now each of you go and get one back.”

Arjuna reached the spot where the first one of the arrows had fallen. He picked it up and was about to return when he heard a cuckoo singing an extremely melodious song. Mesmerised by the sweetness in the tone, Arjuna was compelled to go closer. To his utter disgust he saw that the cuckoo was eating the flesh of a dead animal. Arjuna was disgusted and disturbed too. He could not bear to be seeing the gory sight, so he quickly retraced his steps and came back.

Bheema went in search of the second arrow. The arrow had fallen into a dry well. Bheema got the arrow out, but he was intrigued to see that there were four other wells surrounding the dry well. All the four wells were so full that they were brimming with water and water was even flowing out. Confused, Bheema decided not to waste his time on something he failed to comprehend and soon returned back.

The third arrow was traced by Nakula to a spot where a cow had just given birth to a calf. She was licking the calf clean. But as is usually seen, the calf did not stand up after it was clean. The cow kept on licking it, so much so that the calf ‘s skin started to bleed.

The last arrow was found by Sehdev on a mountain full of boulders. As he picked up the arrow, one of the boulders started to roll downhill. It crushed and hit many trees and rocks, as it rolled down the hill. Eventually it was stopped by a little Tulsi Plant. Sehdev was stupefied at the strange sequence of events.

When all the Pandava brothers, returned to Krishna, they were full of questions. Krishna started to ease their disturbed minds. He said, “In Kaliyuga, the so called caretakers of religion shall have sweet voices and may be well read but they shall misuse their power and positions and shall indulge in all sorts of atrocities like the cuckoo eating the flesh of a dead animal.

In the Kaliyuga, the rich and the poor shall live along side. The rich shall have loads and loads of money. Their coffers shall be overflowing but they shall not offer or share their prosperity with their poor brethren.

Parents shall love their children to such an extent that they shall spoil them with over-indulgence and over protection. The children shall do nothing in their formative years, due to parental love and nothing later due to habit. This overdose of love shall suffocate and destroy these children. The character of people shall deteriorate as fast as the boulder rolling down the mountain. They shall cause injury to many by this descent in character. Eventually Nama-smarana, i.e. chanting the name of God shall emerge as the saviour for humanity like the Tulsi plant, as suffering becomes rampant everywhere.”

Friends, let not these stories remain to be just stories. Let us learn from our scriptures how to come out of the mess that the world is in. Deep contemplation is required to realise that our lives are given to us for a purpose. The purpose of self- realisation!