Krishna on Kaliyug!

Pandavas welcoming Krishna

      Yudhistra was ruling Hastinapur righteously after the Kurukshetra war. One day, Krishna visited Hastinapur. Yudhistra was in the court and the four other Pandavas were having conversation with Krishna.

         “Krishna, now dharma is dominant. How will Kaliyug be? Will Dharma be sustained there from start? How will the life of people be affected in Kaliyug without Dharma?”-asked Arjuna.

      “Oh, it’s not that easy to explain. Better let me demonstrate to you all about the life of people in Kaliyug.”-saying so, Krishna took a bow and stringed four arrows and shot them in four different directions. “Now, each of you go and bring back one arrow to me.”- Krishna smiled and ordered the Pandavas. Each one of them went in four different directions in search of the arrows.

   When Arjuna picked an arrow, he heard a very sweet voice. He heard a cuckoo singing in charming voice. Mesmerized, he stood listening to the whole song of the cuckoo. When he looked up for the cuckoo, he was shocked to see the cuckoo singing and at the same time eating the flesh of a live rabbit. The rabbit was crying in agony. He was astounded to see such an act by a divine bird. He left the place wondering why such a divine cuckoo would do something that cruel.

Bhima

      

      The next person to reach for the arrow was Bhīma. Bhīma picked the arrow where five wells were situated. One widespread single well was in the center surrounded by four wells. The four wells were overflowing with very sweet water as if they were not able to hold the water but surprisingly the big one in the center was completely empty. Puzzled at the sight, Bhīma left for the palace.

       

       Nakula, who had found an arrow already while on his return to the palace saw a cow which was about to give birth. He waited to see the cow and calf’s condition after the birth. After giving birth, the cow started licking the calf. But to his surprise, the cow did not stop licking. It kept licking even after the calf was clean. With great difficulty, people separated the calf from its mother. But by the time they removed the calf from its mother’s side, the calf was badly injured. Nakula wondered on such a behavior from such a calm animal. He returned to the palace pondering on the behavior of the cow.

         

        Sahadeva, when he picked the arrow which fell near a mountain he saw a big boulder falling. The boulder was falling in full speed. Uncontrollable it was destroying and crushing everything on its way down. But the boulder was stopped by a small plant which was on its way. Sahadeva was stunned at the sight. The boulder which crushed big trees and demolished rocks into pieces was stopped by a small plant! He rushed towards the palace to ask about the reason for such an act.

          All the four Pandavas returned to the palace and explained what they have seen while they were gathering the arrow. They all sounded surprised, confused and startled and asked for explanation from Krishna.

          Krishna smiled and started explaining to the Pandavas. “Arjuna, what you saw is how the relation between priests and devotees will be in Kaliyug. The priests will have very sweet voice and great knowledge but they will exploit devotees the same way cuckoo was doing with the rabbit.”

          He turned towards Bhīma and said-“Bhīma, what you saw is how wealth will be in Kaliyug. The poor will live among the rich. The rich people will have massive amount of wealth which will keep increasing and overflowing but they will not offer a single penny to the poor ones. They will waste the money for themselves as they have more than what they need but they won’t be sharing it with those who are needy and suffering. Just like how the four wells were overflowing while the center one was empty.”

        

      Krishna looked up at Nakula. “Nakula, what you saw is how the relationship will be in families. That’s how the parents and children relation will be. In Kaliyug, the parents will love their children so much that their love itself will destroy the lives, dreams and the future of the children.”

          “And Sahadeva, what you saw is how people will live in Kaliyug. People will fall in the terms of character. They keep crushing and destroying everything on their way to success. Just like the boulder. They won’t listen to anyone. They will be unstoppable. They won’t follow the path of Dharma. But when they get to know what they have done is against Dharma, when they realize that all they have done are selfish acts, when they call for help from God, they will be stopped and saved from falling further down. They won’t get hurt and they won’t be broken into pieces. Just one call on the God’s name will help them to hold them from the doom. Just like how the small plant saved the boulder from falling further and getting wrecked into pieces. So, do you all understand how hard life will be in Kaliyug and how easy it will be to reach for God?”- Krishna smiled at the Pandavas who were enlightened on Krishna’s words.