In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Sage Maarkandeya’s accord on how he obtained the divine vision of Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Baala-Mukunda. In similar lines, Yudishra and Co. also wanted to have such a divine vision, but Bhagawan Krishna who was amidst all of them made sure that they do not get such a divine vision at this point in time, as He felt it was not the appropriate time for this to come through. We’ve witnessed multiple reasons for the same and we shall move on further with Sage Maarkandeya’s discussion and see what he is going to talk about next.
Moving on thus, as Yudishtra gets this realization that Sage Maarkandeya was so far talking only about Bhagawan Krishna all this while, he along with Arjuna fall on Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet and plead thus, “Oh Keshava! Till now we did not realize your significance, but today, thanks to Sage Maarkandeya, we’re getting to know who you really are. I have only one request for you – Please stay with us forever. Please do not leave us at any point in time. If you want some living facility to be created for you, we shall create it immediately. But please do not leave us and go anywhere. We want your divine presence with us at all times!” As Yudishtra and Arjuna plead thus, Bhagawan Krishna replies back to them: “Oh Yudishtra! Oh Arjuna! I’m always with all of you! Don’t you realize my presence? Even before you could call me, I’m there with you. I never wait for your calls. I never wait for your pleading. I never wait for you to get into any problem. Even before all this, I make sure that my presence is always there with you – Both visible and invisible. So please do not worry! Oh Yudishtra! You are an epitome of “Dharma”, and I shall always be by the side of “Dharma” and ensure that it will be protected at any cost! Everytime when I think of all of you, I immediately come down to see you wherever you are. If you undergo any suffering, even before your heart starts paining, my heart starts reaching out to you! Such is the love and affection I’ve got for all of you!”
As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, we should realize one thing very clearly here – Bhagawan Krishna is someone who is extremely reachable for all of us! We can witness the simplicity of Bhagawan Krishna towards all His “Bhaktas” and those who follow the path of “Dharma”. Hence, it is upon us now to reach out to Bhagawan, isn’t it? If we’re reaching out to Him with our ardent “Bhakti”, He is going to respond immediatley to all of us. Bhagawan is not going to wait at all! It is only we who make Him keep waiting because we’re not ready to surrender everything to Him and go near Him! Hence, we’ve to work on this aspect as we move on from here.
Moving on, now Sage Maarkandeya talks about the Kali Yuga and how it is going to pan out. He is also going to talk about the advent of Bhagawan Vishnu in the form of Bhagawan Kalki. As Sage Maarkandeya begins his accord, Yudishtra poses a question to him thus, “Oh Sage Maarkandeya! Explain to me what would happen in the Kali Yuga. How will it span out?” As Yudishtra asks thus, Sage Maarkandeya immediately retorts thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Please rephrase your question a bit – You should ask what will not happen in the Kali Yuga? I shall now explain how the Kali Yuga will span out. Listen carefully – As the Krita Yuga began, “Dharma” was comfortably standing on all its four legs (Equating Dharma to a holy cow). As the Tretha Yuga ascended, one leg of the “Dharma cow” had to be amputated! This means that the Dharma had lost one leg permanently! Come the Dvaapara Yuga, the second leg also had to be amputated! This means that “Dharma” had lost two legs permanently! Now, as we enter into the Kali Yuga a few years from today, the third leg is also going to be amputated! This means, “Dharma” is only going to stand on one leg! We can imagine from this analogy as to how “Dharma” is going to be extremely difficult to follow during the Kali Yuga. Oh Yudishtra! Brahmins in the Kali Yuga will not chant the Vedas properly. They will never fast on auspicious days. They will refrain from performing the “Nitya-Anushtaanam”. “Veda Adhyayanam” will come to a grinding halt. More than this, Brahmins will start talking against the Vedas. Even if a few Brahmins are still continuing to perform the “Veda-Adhyayanam”, they will start commercializing it and make money out of it. Thus, all this will start happening in the “Kali Yuga”!”
Saying thus, Sage Maarkandeya continues further: “Oh Yudishtra! As we advance into the Kali Yuga further, the son will not respect and protect his aged parents during their last days. As we advance into the Kali Yuga, the wife’s family will get more prominence in the house, rather than the husband’s family. For instance, the father-in-law and the mother-in-law of the husband (Wife’s parents) will start dominating over the husband and they will constantly keep interfering in the married life of the couple. The wife’s siblings will start dominating the husband. With all this happening, the husband’s parents will slowly start taking a backseat and eventually they would be ignored completely. This will lead to a situation wherein, when the husband’s parents are becoming aged, they would be sent to an old-age home and will no longer be able to live with their son. Thus, the problems will complicate families, which will lead to a situation wherein physical fights will endure and will end up in a situation wherein people start drinking each other’s blood as water! As years progress, there will be an extreme shortage of water in homes, and people will start begging even for basic resources for survival! As the situation worsens further, and at a point when Bhagawan thinks that the world has had enough of this Kali Yuga, He would incarnate!”
So for today, let us understand Sage Maarkandeya’s words about the treacherous Kali Yuga, and we shall have an introspection of whether his words are coming true or not in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 