Journey of Self
Discovery 6.4: Ancient Prophecies Fulfilled
A little-known fact is that a book
written over five thousand years ago— Çrémad-Bhägavatam—predicted
many current trends and events with amazing accuracy. Çréla
Prabhupäda quotes profusely from this Sanskrit text in a lecture given
at the Los Angeles Hare Kåñëa temple during the summer
of 1974. About present day society, the Çrémad-Bhägavatam’s
twelfth canto prophesies: “Religious principles will be determined by a
show of strength [and] measured by a person’s reputation for material accomplishments.”
And: “Those without money will be unable to get justice, and anyone who
can cleverly juggle words will be considered a scholar.”
tataç cänudinaà
dharmaù
satyaà çaucam kñamä
dayä
kälena balinä räjan
naìkñyaty äyur
balaà småtiù
“My dear King, with each day religion,
truthfulness, cleanliness, forgiveness, mercy, duration of life, bodily
strength, and memory will all decrease more and more by the mighty force
of time.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.2.1]
This description of the Kali-yuga
[the present age of quarrel and hypocrisy] is given in the Twelfth Canto
of Çrémad-Bhägavatam. Çrémad-Bhägavatam
was written five thousand years ago, when the Kali-yuga was about to begin,
and many things that would happen in the future are spoken of there. Therefore
we accept Çrémad-Bhägavatam as çästra [revealed
scripture]. The compiler of çästra (the çästra-kära)
must be a liberated person so that he can describe past, present, and future.
In Çrémad-Bhägavatam
you will find many things which are foretold. There is mention of Lord
Buddha’s appearance and Lord Kalki’s appearance. (Lord Kalki will appear
at the end of the Kali-yuga.) There is also mention of Lord Caitanya’s
appearance. Although the Bhägavatam was written five thousand years
ago, the writer knew past, present, and future (tri-käla-jïa),
and thus he could predict all these events with perfect accuracy.
So here Çukadeva Gosvämé
is describing the chief symptoms of this age. He says, tataç cänudinam:
With the progress of this age [Kali-yuga], dharma, religious principles;
satyam, truthfulness; çaucam, cleanliness; kñamä, forgiveness;
dayä, mercifulness; äyuù, duration of life; balam, bodily
strength; småti, memory—these eight things will gradually decrease
to nil or almost nil.
Of course, there
are other yugas besides Kali-yuga. During the Satya-yuga, which lasted
eighteen hundred thousand years, human beings lived for one hundred thousand
years. The duration of the next age, the Tretä-yuga, was twelve hundred
thousand years, and the people of that age used to live for ten thousand
years. In other words, the duration of life was ten times reduced. In the
next age, Dväpara-yuga, the life span was again ten times reduced—people
used to live for one thousand years—and the duration of the Dväpara
Age was eight hundred thousand years. Then, in the next age, this Kali-yuga,
we can live up to one hundred years at the utmost. We are not living one
hundred years, but still, the limit is one hundred years. So just see:
from one hundred years the average duration of life has decreased to about
seventy years. And it will eventually decrease to the point where if a
man lives for twenty to thirty years, he will be considered a very old
man.
Another symptom of the Kali-yuga
predicted in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam is the decrease in
memory (småti). We see nowadays that people do not have very sharp
memories—they forget easily. They may hear something daily, yet still they
forget it. Similarly, bodily strength (balam) is decreasing. You can all
understand this, because you know that your father or grandfather was physically
stonger than you are. So, bodily strength is decreasing, memory is decreasing,
and the duration of life is decreasing—and all of this is predicted in
Çrémad-Bhägavatam.
Another symptom
of Kali-yuga is the decrease in religion. There is practically no question
of religion in this age—it has almost decreased to nil. No one is interested
in religion. The churches and temples are being closed, locked up. The
building we are sitting in was once a church, but it was sold because no
one was coming. Similarly, we are purchasing a very big church in Australia,
and in London I have seen many hundreds of vacant churches—no one is going
there. And not only churches: in India also, except for a few important
temples, the ordinary, small temples are being closed. They have become
the habitation of the dogs. So dharma, religion, is decreasing.
Truthfulness,
cleanliness, and forgiveness are also decreasing. Formerly, if someone
did something wrong, the other party would forgive him. For example, Arjuna
was tortured by his enemies, yet still, on the Battlefield of Kurukñetra
he said, “Kåñëa, let me leave. I don’t want to kill them.”
This is forgiveness. But now, even for a small insult people will kill.
This is going on. Also, there is now no mercifulness (dayä). Even
if you see someone being killed in front of you, you will not take interest.
These things are happening already. So, religion, truthfulness, cleanliness,
forgiveness, mercifulness, duration of life, bodily strength, and memory—these
eight things will decrease, decrease, decrease, decrease. When you see
these symptoms, you should know the age of Kali is making progress.
Another symptom
is vittam eva kalau nèëäà janmäcära-guëodayaù:
“In Kali-yuga, a man’s qualities and social position will be calculated
according to the extent of his wealth.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam
12.2.2] Formerly a man’s position was calculated according to his spiritual
understanding. For example, a brähmaëa was honored because he
knew brahma—he was aware of the Supreme Spirit. But now in Kali-yuga there
are actually no brähmaëas, because people are taking the title
of brähmaëa simply by janma, or birthright. Previously there
was also birthright, but one was actually known according to his behavior.
If a man was born in a brähmaëa family or a kñatriya [administrative
or military] family, he had to behave like a brähmaëa or kñatriya.
And it was the king’s duty to see that no one was falsely representing
himself. In other words, respectability was awarded according to culture
and education. But nowadays, vittam eva kalau nèëäm: if
you get money somehow or other, then everything is available. You may be
a third-class or a fourth-class or a tenth-class man, but if you get money
somehow or other, then you are very much respected. There is no question
of your culture or education or knowledge. This is Kali-yuga.
Another symptom
of Kali-yuga: dharma-nyäya-vyavasthäyäà käraëaà
balam eva hi. “Religious principles and justice will be determined by a
show of strength.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.2.2] If you
have some influence, then everything will be decided in your favor. You
may be the most irreligious person, but if you can bribe a priest he will
certify that you are religious. So character will be decided by money,
not by actual qualification. Next is däm-patye ’bhirucir hetur mäyaiva
vyävahärike: “Marriages will be arranged according to temporary
affection, and to be a successful businessman, one will have to cheat.”
[Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.2.3] The relationship between
husband and wife will depend on abhiruci, their liking each other. If a
girl likes a boy and a boy likes a girl, then they think, “All right, now
let the marriage take place.” No one ever knows what the future of the
girl and boy will be. Therefore everyone becomes unhappy. Six months after
marriage—divorce. This is because the marriage took place simply on the
basis of superficial liking, not deep understanding.
Formerly, at
least in India during my time, marriages did not take place because the
boy and girl liked each other. No. Marriages were decided by the parents.
I married when I was a student, but I did not know who my wife would be;
my parents arranged everything. Another example is Dr. Rajendra Prasada,
the first president of India. In his biography he wrote that he married
at the age of eight. Similarly, my father-in-law married when he was eleven
years old, and my mother-in-law when she was seven. So the point is that
formerly, in India, marriage took place only after an astrological calculation
of past, present, and future had determined whether the couple would be
happy in their life together. When marriage is thus sanctified, the man
and the woman live peacefully and practice spiritual culture. Each one
helps the other, so they live very happily and become advanced in spiritual
life. And at last they go back home, back to Godhead. That is the system.
Not that a grown-up
girl and a grown-up boy mix together, and if he likes her and she likes
him they get married, and then he leaves or she leaves... This kind of
marriage was not sanctioned. But of this Kali-yuga it is said, däm-patye
’bhiruciù: Marriage will take place simply because of mutual liking,
that’s all. Liking one moment means disliking the next moment. That is
a fact. So a marriage based on mutual liking has no value.
The next symptoms
of this age are strétve puàstve ca hi ratir vipratve sütram
eva hi: “A husband and wife will stay together only as long as there is
sex attraction, and brähmaëas [saintly intellectuals] will be
known only by their wearing a sacred thread.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam
12.2.3] Brähmaëas are offered a sacred thread. So now people
are thinking, “Now I have a sacred thread, so I have become a brähmaëa.
I may act like a caëòäla [dog-eater], but it doesn’t matter.”
This is going on. One doesn’t understand that as a brähmaëa he
has so much responsibility. Simply because he has the two-cent sacred thread,
he thinks he has become a brähmaëa. And strétve puàstve
ca hi ratiù: A husband and wife will remain together because they
like each other, but as soon as there will be some sex difficulty, their
affection will slacken.
Another symptom
of Kali-yuga is avåttyä nyäya-daurbalyaà päëòitye
cäpalaà vacaù: “Those without money will be unable to
get justice, and anyone who can cleverly juggle words will be considered
a scholar.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.2.4]
If you have no
money, then you will never get justice in court. This is Kali-yuga. Nowadays
even the high-court judges are taking bribes to give you a favorable judgment.
But if you have no money, then don’t go to court. And päëòitye
cäpalaà vacaù. If a man can talk expertly—it doesn’t
matter what he says, and nobody has to understand it—then he is a paëòita.
He is a learned scholar. [Imitating gibberish:] “Aban gulakslena bugavad
tugalad kulela gundulas, by the latricism of wife... ” Like this, if you
go on speaking, no one will understand you. [Laughter.] Yet people will
say, “Ah, see how learned he is.” [Laughter.] This is actually happening.
There are so many rascals writing books, but if you ask one of them to
explain what he has understood, he’ll say, “Oh, it is inexplicable.” These
things are going on.
Next Çrémad-Bhägavatam
says,
anäòhyataiväsädhutve
sädhutve dambha eva tu
svékära eva codvähe
snänam eva prasädhanam
“Poverty will be looked on as dishonorable,
while a hypocrite who can put on a show will be thought pious. Marriage
will be based on arbitrary agreement, and simply taking a bath will be
considered proper cleansing and decoration of the body.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam
12.2.5]
First, anäòhyatä:
If you are a poor man, then you are dishonorable. People will think that
a man is not honorable because he does not know how to earn money by hook
or crook. And svékära eva codvähe: Marriages will take
place by agreement. This is being experienced in your country, and in my
country also. The government appoints a marriage magistrate, and any boy
and girl who want to can simply go to him and get married. Maybe there
is some fee. “Yes, we agree to marry,” they say, and he certifies that
they are married. Formerly, the father and mother used to select the bride
and bridegroom by consulting an astrologer who could see the future. Nowadays
marriage is taking place according to svékära, agreement.
Another symptom
is düre väry-ayanaà térthaà lävaëyaà
keça-dhäraëam: “Just going to some faraway river will
be considered a proper pilgrimage, and a man will think he is beautiful
if he has long hair.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.2.6]
Just see how
perfectly Çrémad-Bhägavatam predicts the future! “In
Kali-yuga a man will think he has become very beautiful by keeping long
hair.” You have very good experience of this in your country. Who could
have known that people would be interested in keeping long hair? Yet that
is stated in the Bhägavatam: keça-dhäraëam. Keça
means “long hair” and dhäraëam means “keeping.” Another symptom
is düre väry-ayanaà tértham: People will think
that a place of pilgrimage must be far away. For example, the Ganges flows
through Calcutta, but no one cares to take a bath in the Calcutta Ganges;
they’d rather go to Hardwar. It is the same Ganges. The Ganges is coming
from Hardwar down to the Bay of Bengal. But people would rather suffer
so much hardship to go to Hardwar and take a bath there, because that has
become a tértha, a place of pilgrimage. Every religion has a tértha.
The Muslims have Mecca and Medina, and the Christians have Golgotha. Similarly,
the Hindus also think they must travel very far to find a tértha.
But actually, térthé-kurvanti térthäni: a tértha
is a place where there are saintly persons. That is a tértha. Not
that one goes ten thousand miles and simply takes a dip in the water and
then comes back.
The next symptoms are:
udaraà-bharatä svärthaù
satyatve dhärñöyam
eva hi
däkñyaà kuöumba-bharaëaà
yaço-’rthe dharma-sevanam
“The purpose of life will consist simply
of filling one’s stomach, and audacity will become equivalent to conclusive
truth. If a man can even maintain his own family members, he will be honored
as very expert, and religiosity will be measured by a person’s reputation
for material accomplishments.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.2.6]
So, if somehow one can eat very sumptuously, then he will think all his
interests are fulfilled. People will be very hungry, with nothing to eat,
and therefore if they can eat very sumptuously on one day, that will be
the fulfillment of all their desires. The next symptom is satyatve dhärñöyam
eva hi: Anyone who is expert at word jugglery will be considered very truthful.
Another symptom, däkñyaà kuöumba-bharaëam:
One shall be considered very expert if he can maintain his family—his wife
and children. In other words, this will become very difficult. In fact,
it has already become difficult. To maintain a wife and two children is
now a great burden. Therefore no one wants to marry.
The next verse describes what will
happen when all the people have been thus infected by the poison of Kali-yuga.
evaà prajäbhir duñöäbhir
äkérëe kñiti-maëòale
brahma-viö-kñatra-çüdräëäà
yo balé bhavitä nåpaù
It won’t matter whether one is a brähmaëa
[a learned and pure intellectual] or a kñatriya [an administrator
or soldier] or a vaiçya [a merchant or farmer] or a çüdra
[a laborer] or a caëòäla [a dog-eater]. If one is powerful
in getting votes, he will occupy the presidential or royal post. Formerly
the system was that only a kñatriya could occupy the royal throne,
not a brähmaëa, vaiçya, or çüdra. But now,
in the Kali-yuga, there is no such thing as a kñatriya or a brähmaëa.
Now we have democracy. Anyone who can get your votes by hook or crook can
occupy the post of leader. He may be rascal number one, but he will be
given the supreme, exalted presidential post. The Bhägavatam describes
these leaders in the next verse:
prajä hi lubdhai räjanyair
nirghåëair dasyu-dharmabhiù
äcchinna-dära-draviëä
yäsyanti giri-känanam
“The citizens will be so oppressed by
merciless rogues in the guise of rulers that they will give up their spouses
and property and flee to the hills and forests.” [Çrémad-Bhägavatam
12.2.8] So, the men who acquire a government post by vote are mostly lubdhai
räjanyaiù, greedy government men. Nirghåëair dasyu:
Their business is plundering the public. And we actually see that every
year the government men are exacting heavy taxes, and whatever money is
received they divide among themselves, while the citizens’ condition remains
the same. Every government is doing that. Gradually, all people will feel
so much harassed that äcchinna-dära - draviëäù:
They will want to give up their family life (their wife and their money)
and go to the forest. This we have also seen.
So, kaler doña-nidhe
räjan: The faults of this age are just like an ocean. If you were
put into the Pacific Ocean, you would not know how to save your life. Even
if you were a very expert swimmer, it would not be possible for you to
cross the Pacific Ocean. Similarly, the Kali-yuga is described in the Bhägavatam
as an ocean of faults. It is infected with so many anomalies that there
seems to be no way out. But there is one medicine: kértanäd
eva kåñëasya mukta-saìgaù paraà
vrajet. The Bhägavatam explains that if you chant the name of Kåñëa—the
Hare Kåñëa mantra—you will be relieved from the infection
of this Kali-yuga.
Thank you very much.
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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna
Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare