Arogya Ayurvedic Health
Northwood
Christchurch, CANTERBURY
New Zealand
ph: +64 3 359 6015
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The Truth about the Kali-Yuga
The Truth about the Kali-Yuga
By Ved Kovid, Durgadas
(c) Ved Kovid, Durgadas / Arogya Ayurvedic Health Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
(c) Ved Kovid, Durgadas / Arogya Ayurvedic Health Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
There is the common belief that the current age of Kali-Yuga is an ignorant age alone and has supernatural powers attached to it, rather than simply the name of an age alone which began in 3102BCE according to the Hindu astronomers and time-keepers. There are such things said that Kings and Governments will rob people and that Brahmins, the Priestly caste will fall from grace - yet these have occurred also in previous so-called "enlightened" ages also, what to speak of today? They are nothing new!
In fact, in earlier so-called enlightened ages as the Satya-Yuga, Hindu Puranas state of Hiranyakashipu, the tyrant who annoyed his own son, the saintly Prahlada and tried to become even more invincible than the Gods themselves! This shows that such tyrants were even perhaps worse in earlier ages and are not simply limited to the current world age we are running now alone. Such personalities also took much wealth from their citizens and ruined society, even in the so-called "age of Truth"!
In fact, in earlier so-called enlightened ages as the Satya-Yuga, Hindu Puranas state of Hiranyakashipu, the tyrant who annoyed his own son, the saintly Prahlada and tried to become even more invincible than the Gods themselves! This shows that such tyrants were even perhaps worse in earlier ages and are not simply limited to the current world age we are running now alone. Such personalities also took much wealth from their citizens and ruined society, even in the so-called "age of Truth"!
There is no support in the shastras (shruti) and others that Kali-Yuga is a dark-age alone. Ages are simply given names and measures and it appears that Kali-Yuga earns its name simply due to the damage the Mahabharata War did to India, which was a result of gambling or dice (Kali). There were hence warnings one should avoid such gambling, as it leads to ruination. Thus, the age succeeding the Mahabharata War in Dwapara Yuga became known as 'Kali-Yuga' as it started with and was caused by kali (dice) leading to the war and destruction of India's economic and spiritual status.
Even before the Mahabharata however, texts as the Rig Veda (X.34), going back to 5,000BCE state the dangers of gambling and what it leads to. It's not prophecy - nor is it stating of a final end!
There is no evidence to state otherwise; it appears that the Puranic texts are themselves simply stating the decline of culture that occurred at the time of Jaina and Buddhist Kings of India before the time of Adi Shankaracharya (c. 500BCE) when Brahmins and others also declined in sattvic natures. Buddha also arose to purge India of corruptions of the Brahmana rituals and sacrificing animals. These are based on historical records, rather than precognition!
Humanity since time immemorial has always written "prophecies" which were merely recording the status quo. When such appeared as 'future events', the human mind also has the ability to make such occur and happen. Cultures that believe in poverty for example, will always remain destitute. Cultures that subscribe to the idea of a patriarchal religion as with Abrahamic faiths, will always be more fiery and aggressive. This has nothing to do with 'prophecies' and such.
The problem is that if we believe in Kali-Yuga as an actual epoch of poverty and such in itself, we deny the Vaidika understanding and power of the mind. As Rishi Patanjali states in his Yoga Sutras:
"By samyama (yogic concentration) on the strength of an elephant, so one also comes to possess the strength of an elephant".
"By samyama (yogic concentration) on the strength of an elephant, so one also comes to possess the strength of an elephant".
The Bhagavad Gita also reiterates this, relative to one's karmas and nature of one's actions (BG, 17.3-6).The entire 17th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is also about shaping one's karmas, relative to gunas (modes of nature) via their vasanas (mental impressions) and samskaras (karmic traits). The science of Ayurveda itself also understanding the impact of shaping the mind, as well as psycho-somatic therapies as well. Hindu yogis were also experts in hypnotism as well. Thus, such have everything to do with the human capabilities through false-belief (mithya-shraddha) and nothing to do with any supernatural effects of an age itself, that was merely named after what caused economic decline in India - gambling!
The same "Pandits" however that argue the Puranas predict the future and Kali-Yuga are the same ones who also contradict themselves, adhere to dubious texts as Parashara Smriti, having no authority of the shruti shastras and yet reject the longer Yuga-periods given in the Puranas and likewise make the Rig Veda an historical book, not forecasting, but detailing history as it happened. This contradicts the views about the Puranas and "future history" relative to Kali-Yuga, rather than simply stating that "Kali-Yuga" is so named and traits occurred as a result of gambling (Kali), which lead to Mahabharata War and decline in India's social, religious and financial status and ushered in adharma.
Yet, this occurred at other times in history also. In Satya-Yuga and Treta Yuga, tyrants such as Hiranyakshipu, Mahabali and Ravana as also others caused great periods of adharma also. And these were not Kali-Yuga, which doesn't mean "dark" (kaala, krishna) nor "iron" (ayas), but refers to gambling, dice and strife - the latter meaning derived from the condition India and Vedic dharma was left in as a result of it's (mal)practice, as a synonym. Mahabharata War involved not only India, but also several other nations also, which is why it has the name "Mahabharata" or greater-India, extending into regions as Patala (south-east Asia), Gandhara (Afghanistan and Central Asia) and other tribes as Yavanas and Pahlavas to the West into Persia etc. Nuclear-type weapons were said to be used in the battle and created such destruction it was remembered for times to come (as per the text's mythology).
Likewise, there have always positive and negative periods in history. Adi Shankaracharya restored India to a golden age, as did the Guptas and Aryabhata etc. after him. Does this mean it was "Satya-Yuga?". No. Similarly, the period of Raja Bhoja (c. 1000AD), Shivaji (born c. 1627AD) and Gobind Singh (c. 1700AD), India and dharma also underwent massive changes or transformations for the better also, within this period called Kali-Yuga. It is hence simply an era of time alone measured, not at all an age of decline or adharma - man alone creates the adharma or dharma in all ages! There is always the three gunas in nature - sattvas, rajas and tamas and likewise all men have such qualities also.
We have always had our great Saints from the Ashwins of Ayurveda down to Vagbhata and others as more recently, Bhavamishra etc. Then we have always had great Yogis from Agastya, Vasishtha and Vishwamitra and Dattatreya down to Sri Yajnavalkya to Sri Krishna and to Patanjali Rishi and others more recently and great saints as Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Ramakrishna, Narayana Guru and Sri Ramana Maharishi etc. Vidyaranya came at a time when southern India needed more stability and Vedic teachings. So, it is the same in all ages - periods of dharma and adharma respectively. There is no "yuga-shakti" as such.
We have always had our great Saints from the Ashwins of Ayurveda down to Vagbhata and others as more recently, Bhavamishra etc. Then we have always had great Yogis from Agastya, Vasishtha and Vishwamitra and Dattatreya down to Sri Yajnavalkya to Sri Krishna and to Patanjali Rishi and others more recently and great saints as Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Ramakrishna, Narayana Guru and Sri Ramana Maharishi etc. Vidyaranya came at a time when southern India needed more stability and Vedic teachings. So, it is the same in all ages - periods of dharma and adharma respectively. There is no "yuga-shakti" as such.
Every age is what WE make of it. It is not imbibed with any special qualities or powers. Similarly, man today is reinventing advances seen in ancient times as nuclear weapons, flying machines and so on, in this so-called "dark age". There are also the Four Vedas that survive. There is also no coming Kalki-avatar. Kalki is simply what we make of it - a return of the Vedic dharma ourselves. The white-horse in Vedic symbolism represents sattvic prana or pure life-force flowing through us. Only when minds are purified through following the true Arya-dharma of the Vedas, adhering to yamas and niyamas of Yoga, the laws of Manu etc., can a restoration of the Vedic teachings really begin as such movement as the Arya Samaj have tried and tested, as also several others.
I would question what Vedic shastra and shruti evidence to this effect that states otherwise. Charaka (Charaka Samhita, Sharirasthana,V.5), the ancient Ayurvedic author actually states that the Four Yugas simply correspond to the four stages or ages (vayas) of life - Kali-Yuga representing the age of decline, what one calls old-age or Vata-age; Krita-Yuga is Balya (childhood), Treta is Youvana (youth), Dvapara is Sthavirya (old-age) and Kali-Yuga is Marana or death. Similarly, in Manu (I.86), it is implied as per these ages in man, he performs tapas, acquires knowledge, performs sacrifices and attains higher states as per the four ashramas; Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa respectively, thus completing the Four Yugas within his life-time and should not be applied to the same Four Yugas as names for the world cycles, which are different. Kali-Yuga is also a period of plagues and such that were believed to have been caused by the karma of asuric or negative rulers and Kings in historical times - but were short-lived, followed by other periods of a Golden-Age of learning.
Kali-Yuga as stated in the Mahabharata itself also simply records the various forms of decline in dharma from that period onwards due to the wars, which themselves were responsible for this. Partially also due to Kauravas being born as clones, rather than from human wombs from a single embryo of Gandhari. Moreover, we note that Neminatha of the Jains (noting the decline in Vedic dharma and Nastika-dharmas then) was himself a cousin and contemporary of Krishna. Yet as noted, asuric personalities have appeared in all ages - if not, then the Hindus wouldn't have their avatars of various ages or yugas, either (they would simply appear in the Kali-Yuga alone). Thus, wicked and virtuous men appear in all ages and all periods undergo periods of dharma and adharma or decline.
The idea that bhakti-yoga or the Tantras were for the "Kali-Yuga" period as in a linear time-cycle lasting 432,000 human years, is ignorant. It confuses the mere name of the current age with a temporal state of decline. In periods where there are mass poverty and stupidity (as the current age of social media and technology), humans misuse new tools and cannot understand older ones.
Tantra and bhakti-yoga were merely 'easier means' for the lay people to access spirituality - somewhat just as Pop-Gurus fill this function in the current day as cult personalities and such.
Mainstream 'Tantra' itself is nothing but updated Vaidika ritualism, with their content as old as the Vedas, but reformatted by Brahmins during the period of Buddhist rulers in India, as Buddhists commonly misunderstood and slandered Hinduism due to misrepresentation of the inner meaning of Vaidika hymns and the etymological meanings of such statements, as the Upanishads, Nirukas and Brahmanas commentated upon. Modern indologists make the same mistake about Hindu texts, just as modern neo-Theosophical 'white Hindus' also do, by running with the misinterpretations and superimposing their own Christocentric views of a 'dark period' and a 'golden age' succeeding it!
The tale of descending Yugas comes in as all were originally Brahmin and then were divided into castes accordingly as time went on - yet such is a natural state of decline alone and not due to any mystical influences alone, just as, over time, rivers dry up and change course, due to nature itself. Languages also change and transmutate as time goes on also, as a natural course; it requires no special age or supernatural influence to occur!
Stating this is Kali-Yuga and we can do nothing is simply the excuse of several illiterate people, ignorant of the Vedic shastras and true Vedic path, as also an excuse for them not to learn the texts properly and quote them and engage in whatever sinful activities they wish! It is much how Christians blame all evil or bad-luck on Satan.
Similarly, even some scholars such as Sri Yukteshwar and Sri Aurobindo Ghosh have stated we are no longer in any shorter periods of Kali-Yuga either (meaning an age of decline), but are in a higher age at present, under the greater period of the cosmic Kali-Yuga age (a name alone), spanning 432,000 years. Perhaps there is something in these periods of theirs that indicates a gradual awakening of humanity - but it only further reiterates the fact that the Vedic rules and regulations of Manu are to be adhered to now more than ever, for re-establishing an age of truth (Satya-Yuga).
Rig Veda (IX.63.5) states "krinvanto vishwam aryam" or make the world noble and also continues to drive off the atheists. It does not state simply in Krita (Satya) Yuga that the world is to become noble alone. The whole Sukta itself talks about driving off rakshasas or wicked people and atheists and hence doesn't speak simply of Kali-Yuga, as the Rig Veda comes from the Satya-Yuga period itself, however we may date it (i.e. within the greater cosmic Yuga or shorter cycles), which proves there were wicked people in all ages, even Satya-Yuga and that dharma had to be instituted in all ages by people. Otherwise, such verses wouldn't exist.
Similarly, even some scholars such as Sri Yukteshwar and Sri Aurobindo Ghosh have stated we are no longer in any shorter periods of Kali-Yuga either (meaning an age of decline), but are in a higher age at present, under the greater period of the cosmic Kali-Yuga age (a name alone), spanning 432,000 years. Perhaps there is something in these periods of theirs that indicates a gradual awakening of humanity - but it only further reiterates the fact that the Vedic rules and regulations of Manu are to be adhered to now more than ever, for re-establishing an age of truth (Satya-Yuga).
Rig Veda (IX.63.5) states "krinvanto vishwam aryam" or make the world noble and also continues to drive off the atheists. It does not state simply in Krita (Satya) Yuga that the world is to become noble alone. The whole Sukta itself talks about driving off rakshasas or wicked people and atheists and hence doesn't speak simply of Kali-Yuga, as the Rig Veda comes from the Satya-Yuga period itself, however we may date it (i.e. within the greater cosmic Yuga or shorter cycles), which proves there were wicked people in all ages, even Satya-Yuga and that dharma had to be instituted in all ages by people. Otherwise, such verses wouldn't exist.
Our Ayurvedic texts warn against not honouring the Rishis, Devas and Brahmins - meaning the learned Yogis and masters etc. and their words. This also means distorting them and not following them (shruti) properly - which breeds all kinds genetic (karmic) diseases in people and societies as a whole, from psychological to physical and makes more rajas and tamas flow into the mental channels than sattvas. This is what ruins society and continues to do so - not any supernatural force as the Kali-demon, which doesn't exist, except in fairy-tales! The same rajas and tamas that Charaka and Sushruta speak about give rise to various temperaments, from Brahma to a Vanaspati type person, as also rise to dreams - physically and sleep, which many confuse as "spiritual visions" and such in Yoga, but of which are pure fantasy alone and do no exist, just as dreams do not.
Some argue that in subtle states, near-death etc. they have seen heavens, hells or deities. In the higher subtle and causal realms, they are still bound like the earth and thus ignorance (tamas) and illusory delusional energies created by rajas still exist - just more pronounced. The Ayurvedic Samhitas state that rajas and tamas in the mind create hallucinations and visions and hence due to their past vasanas or mental impressions in their Chitta, in such states, these resurface due to past ideas or impressions and one comes to beholds them, but they are merely false, imaginations of the mind, in the same way dreams are, are produced and appear real at the time, but are due to rajas and tamas in the mind alone!
For many Yogis, even, they can recall past-life experiences and some of these, as in dreams, are manufactured by the mind in a more or less symbolic or metaphoric manner and hence claims of Gods etc. is explained. Sushruta, the ancient Ayurvedic Acharya has on this, stated:
For many Yogis, even, they can recall past-life experiences and some of these, as in dreams, are manufactured by the mind in a more or less symbolic or metaphoric manner and hence claims of Gods etc. is explained. Sushruta, the ancient Ayurvedic Acharya has on this, stated:
“Those who had engaged in the study of shastras (sacred texts) in their previous birth becomes endowed with sattvas (quality of purity and clarity) and able to remember their previous lives. Karmas (actions) which a person performed in his earlier life, he will attain the same nature (guna) when he is born again”
(Sushruta Samhita, Sharira Sthana. II. 57-58)
These vasanas or mental impressions can hence come up in Yoga in later lives from past experiences. I have also had such "visions", of which I now know as false and productions of the mind and also due to resurfacing past-life samskaras or impressions of various kinds - organic and also inorganic, as with dreams. Yogis in lower-stages of advancement often get amazed by these, since deeper Yoga sadhana awakens many dormant vasanas and brings them to the surface, which sometimes in untrained minds or rajasic personalities, creates hallucinations, just as marijuana, absinthe, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca etc. do.
What people think is Reality is often a manifestation of the distorted reality; the projection of the fantasies and illusions of their own minds.
In the highest state of Yoga beyond these mental delusions, in Brahman, there are no forms, apparitions, visions or appearances. The Parambrahman is complete, formless and all-pervading. There are no visions in that state, only a true realisation or pure, formless consciousness.
(Sushruta Samhita, Sharira Sthana. II. 57-58)
These vasanas or mental impressions can hence come up in Yoga in later lives from past experiences. I have also had such "visions", of which I now know as false and productions of the mind and also due to resurfacing past-life samskaras or impressions of various kinds - organic and also inorganic, as with dreams. Yogis in lower-stages of advancement often get amazed by these, since deeper Yoga sadhana awakens many dormant vasanas and brings them to the surface, which sometimes in untrained minds or rajasic personalities, creates hallucinations, just as marijuana, absinthe, magic mushrooms and ayahuasca etc. do.
What people think is Reality is often a manifestation of the distorted reality; the projection of the fantasies and illusions of their own minds.
In the highest state of Yoga beyond these mental delusions, in Brahman, there are no forms, apparitions, visions or appearances. The Parambrahman is complete, formless and all-pervading. There are no visions in that state, only a true realisation or pure, formless consciousness.
References:
Rig Veda Samhita
Mahabharata
Manu Smriti
Charaka Samhita
Sushruta Samhita
Yoga Sutras
Bhagavad Gita
Arogya Ayurvedic Health
Northwood
Christchurch, CANTERBURY
New Zealand
ph: +64 3 359 6015
idl