Parikshit and the advent of Kali Yuga

Image courtey: Wikipedia. Raja Ravi Varma. 

It is during King Parikshit's reign that Dwapara Yuga ends and Kali Yuga starts.

Several Puranas talk about Kali (not to be confused with KaaLi), but I believe that the Bhagavata Purana provides the most accurate account of Kali and his advent. (Why not all of the 18 Puranas are to be considered accurate is a topic for a different day).

A few years after the Mahabharata war, Krishna and the Pandavas depart the earth. Parikshit, the only surviving prince of the Kuru lineage (son of Abhimanyu and Uttara) becomes the king of Bharatavarsha.

Parikshit encounters Kali beating a cow and bull (the cow representing the earth and the bull representing Dharma). Curiously the bull stands on one leg, Dharma being on its last leg in the Kali Yuga). Parikshit first aims his sword at Kali to finish him off, but lets him stay on in a handful of locations (on earth?): where there is gambling, alcohol consumption, animal slaughter, prostitution, and finally gold.

And of course, after Parikshit departs, Kali (as was destined) spreads to other places, but I'd think that these five locations would be of special interest to Kali.

Vedic schools of thought talk of Kali and his influence going beyond mere 'locations'. What really is impactful is Kali's ability to influence human thought, and draw the individual towards Adharmic activities. Kali's influence essentially pervades all that is based on the five essential material elements (pancha bhoota). The Dwaita school of thought holds that Kali's influence does not reach (in addition to Vishnu and Lakshmi) Brahma and Vayu, and their consorts Saraswati and Bharati. Gods that are further down the ladder (taaratamya) do get influenced.

Now, who is Kali, and what is his agenda? My answer to this question starts at the basics, with the classification of souls according to their innate nature. Souls are classified as (predominantly) sathva, rajas, and thamas. Most are familiar with what these stand for. Still, I'd like to call out rajas (also called nitya samsaari in some vedantic treatise) as being the class of souls that are not evil, but those that do not recognize Vishnu (Brahman) as the supreme being that runs the show. Thamas is the class of souls that actively refuses to recognize Vishnu and indulges in activities that disrupt the saadhana (path towards liberation) of the Saatvic souls. Kali (who also incarnates as Duryodhana in the Mahabharata) is considered the foremost of the Thamasic souls, and hence his move to influence other souls (and derail them in their saadhana) as much as possible.

The Kali Yuga is estimated to run about 432,000 man years, starting about 5000-6000 years ago. When no Dharma is left on earth, the Puranas foretell great misery (periods of subsequent drought, scorching heat, incessant rain, etc.) and the incarnation of Kalki who destroys the world and kicks off pralaya for the birth of a new world.

This page contains a good description of what Kali Yuga is expected to bring (progressively). Reads like a doomsday prediction, but I'm sure many see it coming.

The bad news is that even after just 5000-odd years of Kali Yuga (and 400,000+ more years to go) cultural relativism has set it deeply amongst us. A simple answer of 'no' to something clearly evil like abortion, for example, is difficult for many to accept, and debated endlessly as if there is no simple answer based on Dharma.