Hindu predictions about the future of mankind
The myth, put into the mouth of the sage Markandeya , describes the concept of changing the cosmic cycles established by Brahma and future catastrophes that will fall on the Earth. The king of justice addressed the glorious sage Markandei:
“You, O great ascetic, who has seen the end of more than one thousand years south, listen to my request and tell us about the time when there will be nothing left – no sun, no fire, no air, no moon, no heaven, no earth, when this the world will be a continuous Ocean when everything moving and motionless disappears from the face of the earth, when the hosts of gods and non-gods perish, and you alone will worship the highest Brahma, resting in his eternal abode lotus.
“Listen,” said Markandeya, “the life of the universe, like the life of a mortal, is divided into (short) yugas. The best of the yugas, the Kritayuga lasts for four thousand years. The same number of centuries takes its formation and the same number of extinction. The Tretayuga lasts for three thousand years. The same number of hundreds of years account for its formation and the same number for extinction. The duration of the Dvaparayuga is two thousand years. Its formation and decline lasts for two hundred years. Kaliyuga lasts for a thousand years. It takes a hundred years for its formation and decline. At the end of the Kali Yuga, the Kritayuga begins again. (The sum of the yugas is 12,000 years).
The total duration of human life will decrease, the spiritual power and mind of people will dry up. Dharma will cease to be law. People will start selling it like meat. No one will be able to dominate their feelings. Greed will take over the ignorant. Greed, malice and stupidity will connect people into a ball, like snakes. Brahmins, kshatriyas and vaishyas will mix with each other in marriage, and, like the sudras, they will not know truth and repentance. Having lost the clarity of mind, insatiable rulers will appropriate someone else’s by all means. The left hand will steal from the right. It will become a rule to take wealth from the poor, even from large families and widows. People who claim to be scientists will lose the truth. Old people will have the mind of a child, children will have an old man’s mind…
Without any need, they will destroy trees and entire groves, and then the end will come to all living and existing things in the world. The earth will be covered with salt marshes…
Then, O great king, a long-term drought will begin. The end of life will come. Earthly beings, starving and weak, will perish one by one. Seven blazing suns will drink all the water of the seas and rivers. Everything will turn to ashes, O bull among the Bharatas. On a world parched with suns, final flames will fall like a whirlwind. Penetrating into the very underworld, it will instill the greatest horror in the gods and demons, and then devour the entire universe along with everything that inhabits it.
The sky will be filled with clouds. Some of them will seem majestic cities, others – herds of elephants, others – sea monsters. Thickening, cut through by garlands of lightning, with a deafening roar, they will cloud the vault of heaven, and throw down an avalanche of waters, terrible and ruthless, flood the whole earth with its mountains, forests and mines, extinguish the sacred fire.
For twelve years the calamity will continue. Then the clouds will suddenly dissipate. The Lord of all living, dwelling in the lotus, swallows a terrible whirlwind and falls into a dream. I saw it all myself, wandering through a world devoid of heaven, finding no shelter anywhere.
The Vishnu Purana (Book IV, ch. 24) describes the future of mankind at the end of the Kali Yuga in this way: “There will be modern monarchs reigning on Earth as kings of a rough spirit, a cruel temper and devoted to lies and evil. They will kill women, and children, and cows, they will seize the property of their subjects, their power will be limited …, life is short, desires are insatiable ….
People from different countries, mingling with them, will follow their example; and the barbarians will be strong (in India), protected by princes, while the pure tribes will be neglected; people will die. Wealth and piety will decrease day by day until the whole world is corrupted…
Only property will give position; wealth will be the only source of reverence and devotion; lies will be the only bond between the sexes; passion will be the only object of sexual satisfaction… Appearance will be the only difference between the different stages of life; dishonesty will be the common means of subsistence; weakness – a reason for addiction; threat and conceit will replace knowledge; generosity will be called godliness; the rich man will be considered clean; mutual consent will replace marriage; thin clothes will be a virtue….
Thus, in the Kali Yuga, decay will proceed steadily until the human race approaches its annihilation (Pralaya). When the end of the Kali Yuga is very close, a part of that divine Being who exists by virtue of his own spiritual nature (Kalki Avatar)… will descend to Earth… endowed with eight superhuman abilities…
He will restore justice (righteousness) on Earth, and the minds of those who will live at the end of the Kali Yuga will awaken and become as transparent as crystal. The people who will be so transformed… will be the seeds of human beings and will give birth to a race that will follow the laws of the Age of Crete (or the Age of Purity). As it is said: “When the Sun and the Moon, and (lunar asterism), Tishya, and the planet Jupiter will be in the same house, then the Krita Age will begin …”.
Bhavat Gita. The promise made by Krishna about 4,000 years ago: “Now the age of Kali, the accomplice of unrighteousness, will overtake this Earth. There will be no truthfulness, austerity, purity of body and mind, no compassion, no generosity towards the poor. People are vile and busy only stuffing their stomachs. They lie all the time… There are frequent quarrels in families. Righteous behavior, the path of yoga (Union with God) and asceticism disappear under the influence of this era …
The righteous are overthrown, the unrighteous rejoice. Righteousness, truthfulness, purity, forgiveness, compassion, longevity, bodily strength and clarity of memory will decrease day by day … and when, thus, the Earth is flooded with vicious people, then those who turn out to be the strongest among them will become the ruler …
Starved and burdened with exactions, people will die from drought, extreme cold, storms, scorching sun, heavy rains, snowfalls and collisions. They will be tormented by hunger and thirst, sickness and anxiety…
Only one of the four pillars of the Drachma will remain. Moreover, from unrighteousness, it will bow down and, in the end, will disappear altogether. People will become greedy, immoral, unhappy and miserly to the extreme…
When deceit, deceit, lethargy, extreme addiction to sleep, violence, despondency, longing, recklessness, passion, fear and meanness begin to prevail, then they will recognize the age of Kali, characterized by the dominance of Tamas (apathy, impurity, laziness), which makes people become stupid, incapable of right understanding… gluttonous, voluptuous and miserable. Women will become dissolute and unchaste.
The countries will be flooded with robbers. The “Vedas” will be condemned by heretics; the rulers will oppress the people, and the priests will indulge in the satisfaction of sexual desires and filling the stomach, being constantly in turmoil of mind … Quarreling over the most insignificant amount of money … forgetting about goodwill, people in the Kali Yuga will kill even relatives and friends, easily parting with one’s own life… With a mind perverted by heretics… mortals will cease to honor the Lord everywhere – the highest goal of worship… When the period of Kali, so severe for people, comes to an almost end, the Lord in His Divine Form, consisting of only one Satva (Purity), will come to protect virtue.
The Hindu Puranas , written in the year 330 from the Nativity of Christ, surprisingly accurately describe the spiritual and moral decline of mankind that is taking place in our time: “During the age of Kali, people allow themselves … theft, vanity overshadow the minds of people. Dharma (spiritual truth) becomes extremely weak in the age of Kali, and people fall into sin in thought, speech and deed ….
Strife and epidemics of deadly diseases break out , natural disasters and catastrophes occur, droughts and great misfortunes occur. The evidence becomes false and the evidence unreliable. With the establishment of the age of Kali, the standards of truth disappear …. People are losing power, and their glory is fading. They are vicious, vicious, sinful, greedy. Wicked aspirations, ignorance, bad behavior and ill-earned money arouse fear. Many people become greedy and deceitful….
Many sudras (untouchable caste) become kings, and many will turn out to be heretics. Many different sects arise: sannyasins wearing red robes…. Many will pretend that they have secret knowledge, and therefore will easily earn their living. The age of Kali will give rise to many false beliefs…. The country (India) will become depopulated as a result of incessant disasters, low life expectancy and various kinds of diseases. Everyone will become unhappy… due to the dominance of vice and Tamoguna (spirit of darkness).”
I will cite one more prophecy of the Brahmins of Hindustan relating to the distant future: “Strange sounds are heard from everywhere. These are the harbingers of the Night of Brahma. Twilight is gathering on the horizon, and the Sun disappears beyond the thirtieth degree of the zodiac sign Makar and will never reach the sign of Pisces. Gurus (mentors) who observed the system of signs of the Zodiac can now throw away their tools as unnecessary ….
Gradually the light will fade. The heat will fade, and the number of uninhabited places on Earth will increase. The air will become thinner. The water sources will dry up. Full-flowing rivers will dry up, the ocean floor will be exposed, and vegetation will die. Every day people and animals will decrease in size. Life and movement will lose their power. The planets will barely be able to revolve around the sun. One by one they will go out like a lamp without oil, Surya (the Sun) will dim and then go out. Matter will fall apart. Brahma will again merge with Dyaus (God the Creator) and, having fulfilled his destiny, will fall asleep. A day equal to 4,320,000,000 human years will pass. The night will come, which will last until a new dawn. All rudiments (souls) will again plunge into Infinity, which rests until the next dawn.
