We’re in the midst of discussing the treacherous effects of the Kali Yuga as narrated by Sage Paraashara to Sage Maithreya. In fact, this the second accord that we’re seeing about how the Kali Yuga would pan out to be. We’ve earlier witnessed a similar accord that was equally scary, which was narrated by Sage Sukhaachaarya to King Parikshit in the Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana. Now we’re witnessing a similar narrative here too as part of the Shri Vishnu Puraana. We had thus witnessed how “Adharma” would rule the Kali Yuga to such an extent that the entire world would get impacted in an adverse way. Sage Paraashara also narrates how the water bodies in the world would start shrinking, both due to adverse reactions from Mother Nature, and also because of excessive human activity. Due to the reduction of water resources, there would be enormous water scarcity in many parts of the world and people would fight even for a litre of water.
We might be wondering whether all of these have already come true, and we should remember here that we are just 5000 years into the Kali Yuga. In our earlier episodes we had witnessed the time calculation for every Yuga, and in that, we witnessed that the total span of the Kali Yuga would be around 4,32,100 years and we’re just 5,000 years into it. So we can see here that we’re still at the early stages of the Kali Yuga. We might wonder here – All what Sage Paraashara and Sage Shukaachaarya have narrated in the Puraanas are coming true even within 5000 years, and what is going to be the state of the world when the Kali Yuga is going to progress further and further! We’ve to note that Bhagawan hasn’t incarnated yet. As Bhagawan Krishna has mentioned in the Gita, He would incarnate only at a time when the “Dharma” would reach its lowest point and when “Adharma” would reach the highest ever pinnacle. If Bhagawan hasn’t incarnated yet, we can be rest assured that “Dharma” still exists in this world! 🙂 This might be debatable, but let us not get into this any further at this point. We’re only witnessing what Sage Paraashara had narrated to Sage Maithreya.
Moving on further, as Sage Paraashara describes the treacherous Kali Yuga point by point, he says that however, there is a ray of hope! This Kali Yuga has its own significance when it comes to spiritual progress. Even though people wouldn’t show interest in Bhagawan, there are ways and means to attain Him. This is never going to change. In the Kali Yuga, “Naama-Sankeerthana” is perhaps the best and easiest way to attain Bhagawan. “Naama-Sankeerthana” simply means, “Chanting the divine names of Bhagawan” with utmost devotion. In the previous Yugas, “Karma Yoga”, “Gnaana Yoga”, etc. were the means to attain Bhagawan, which aren’t very easy for normal people like us in this Kali Yuga. However, there is this “Bhakti Yoga” through which we can still attain Bhagawan, even though we might not be experts in the other two “Yogas”. Thus, if we can exhibit our devotion and focus towards Bhagawan by performing the “Naama-Sankeerthana” continuously, it is still possible for all of us to attain Bhagawan. This is the reason why we give a lot of emphasis on chanting our “Manthra”. We should take a conscious effort to approach a “Guru” or a “Spiritual Master” and take the “Manthra” from him / her as per the due procedure. This would go a long way in our spiritual progress.
Although this sounds very juicy and attractive, this might be easier said than done in this Kali Yuga. We would encounter enormous disturbances and our “Paapa Karma” would come in the middle of everything to disturb our focus and concentration. This is where the check from Bhagawan lies. We should ensure that our focus never goes away from Him and should streamline our mind in such a way that we keep chanting our Mantra continuously by thinking about Him constantly in our minds. If we are able to succeed in doing this, we can still attain “Moksha” in this Kali Yuga. There are people who have succeeded in this pursuit. We’ve witnessed in our earlier episodes too as to how Saint Thiyagaraja attained “Moksha” through His unending devotion towards Bhagawan Rama. We’ve seen how Meerabai attained “Moksha” through her immense devotion towards Bhagawan Krishna. There are so many examples like these. Hence, we should realize that although the Kali Yuga is treacherous in its own way, there is a huge opportunity lying in front of us to attain “Moksha”, and this is nothing but “Naama-Sankeerthana”!
So for today, let us understand this important point and let us wait for the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 