N - Nasty Age (1-3)
When Krishna left the planet, Kali-yuga officially began. This nasty age is described in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Everything declines – truthfulness, tolerance, mercy and wellbeing. When the degradation reaches its peak, the Lord appears as Kalki to destroy the irreligious perpetrators and re-establish Satya-yuga. Thus, the only way to transcend the dark and depressing features of this age is to chant the holy names of Krishna, as given by the yuga-avatara , Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
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N - Nasty Age (1-3)
N - Nasty Age (1-3)
When Krishna left the planet, Kali-yuga officially began. This nasty age is described in the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Everything declines – truthfulness, tolerance, mercy and wellbeing. When the degradation reaches its peak, the Lord appears as Kalki to destroy the irreligious perpetrators and re-establish Satya-yuga. Thus, the only way to transcend the dark and depressing features of this age is to chant the holy names of Krishna, as given by the yuga-avatara , Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
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Evolution of Theism
N - Nasty Age (1-3)
Evolution of Theism
“The age of truth, Satya-yuga, manifests the predominance of material goodness, and Kali-yuga manifests the predominance of ignorance. According to Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, within each age the other three ages occasionally manifest as sub-ages. Thus even within Satya-yuga a demon in the mode of ignorance may appear, and within the age of Kali the highest religious principles may flourish for some time. As described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, the three modes of nature are present everywhere and in everything, but the predominant mode, or combination of modes, determines the general character of any material phenomenon. In each age, therefore, the three modes are present in varying proportions. The particular age represented by goodness (Satya), passion (Treta), passion and ignorance (Dvapara) or ignorance (Kali) exists within each of the other ages as a subfactor.” (SB 12.3.26)
Soon after Krishna’s departure from the world, Maharaja Pariksit was enthroned as King. When he detected the nefarious acts of Kali he rushed to rectify the situation. Threatened with death, the trembling personality of Kali humbly surrendered to Maharaja Pariksit, who graciously gave him four places to reside – where there is gambling, intoxication, meat-eating and illicit sex. Maharaja Pariksit further permitted Kali to reside in any place where gold is hoarded, since the four destructive activities tend to manifest in such places.
Krishna had left the planet, and things were set to decline. Over time, the pure teachings of sanatana-dharma that Krishna had established became compromised and skewed. People lost track of the essence, over-emphasised the ritualistic practices, became absorbed in material side benefits, and even began misusing the teachings for their selfish enjoyment. Seeing this, the Lord instigated a series of steps to reinstate the pure teachings of Srimad-Bhagavatam, along with the most powerful process of application.
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Bringing Back the Essence
N - Nasty Age (1-3)
Evolution of Theism
Bringing Back the Essence
[ 39 ]
1) Buddha – No God
One of the most disturbing elements of scriptural misuse was the indiscriminate slaughter of animals under the pretext of Vedic sacrifice. Thinking they were practising ‘religious’ life, people were actually inflicting pain upon innocent animals, accruing heaps of karmic reactions, degrading their consciousness, and distancing themselves from God. The Lord thus appeared as Buddha, an incarnation in which he denied (or didn’t overtly discuss) the existence of God. He also rejected the validity of the Vedic scriptures. Instead, His focus was to teach people the principle of non-violence ( ahimsa ) as the foundation of spirituality. Without that basic ethical standard, it’s practically impossible to progress further on the spiritual journey. These teachings became popular, and powerful emperors like Asoka spread Buddhism across India and beyond.
2) Sankaracarya – Denied Difference (between us and God)
Sankaracarya, an incarnation of Lord Siva, travelled through India discussing, debating and discoursing with the purpose of re-establishing the spiritual authority of the Vedas. He accepted various aspects of Buddhism, but taught about spiritual oneness with Brahman ( nirvisesa ) rather than the voidism and nothingness of Buddhism ( sunyavada ). Thus, his philosophy was essentially a compromise between atheism and theism – he established the Supreme in impersonal terms (Brahman), and denied any difference between the soul and God.
3) Ramanujacarya – Detected Difference
Though Buddhism and impersonalism grew, a series of South Indian poet saints challenged those teachings. Known as the alvars , they penned beautiful songs glorifying devotion to God as the ultimate perfection of life. Their influence culminated in the appearance of Ramanujacarya in the eleventh century. His philosophy, known as ‘qualified monism,’ detected that there was a difference between the individual soul and God. This opened up the opportunity for spiritual personalism, where one could actually engage in a loving relationship with God ( bhakti-yoga ).
4) Madhvacarya – Emphasised Difference
The thirteenth century signaled the appearance of Madhvacarya, a great teacher who preached pure dualism – that God and the individual souls are eternally individual, unchanging realities, who can never be considered identical. His powerful refutation of the impersonal teachings was a crucial milestone in the evolution towards pure theism.
5) Sri Chaitanya – Harmonised Difference
The various stages of theological evolution culminated in the appearance of Sri Chaitanya, Lord Krishna Himself, who taught the philosophy of acintya bheda abheda tattva – “Simultaneous oneness and difference.” Though the same in quality, He said, the individual souls and God are different in quantity. We always remain eternal loving servants of the Lord. By coming in the guise of a devotee ( bhakta-avatara ), Sri Chaitanya practically demonstrated how to live as a devotee, and the incredible states of happiness and ecstasy that such devotion generates.
Sri Chaitanya, then, is the personality who harmonised the teachings of each preceptor, and incorporated them into the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya, which is the lineage He inaugurated. Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains how Sri Chaitanya took two principles from each acarya :
Sri Chaitanya to Nimbarkacarya: “Later, when I begin the sankirtana movement, I myself will preach, using the essence of the philosophies of the four of you. From Madhvacarya I will receive two items: his complete defeat of the mayavadi [impersonal] philosophy and his service to the murti of Krishna, accepting it as an eternal spiritual being. From Ramanujacarya I will accept two teachings: the concept of bhakti unpolluted by karma and jnana , and service to the devotees. From Visnuswami’s teachings I will accept two elements: the sentiment of exclusive dependence on Krishna and the path of raga-bhakti . And from you [Nimbarkacarya] I will receive two great principles: the necessity of taking shelter of Radha and the high esteem for the gopis’ love of Krishna.” (Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Navadvipa Mahatmya, Chapter 16)
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Nasty Kings
N - Nasty Age (1-3)
Nasty Kings
Chapter 1
Sukadeva Goswami continued naming the kings in the Magadha dynasty who are descendants of Brhadratha. [ 38 ] Over time, their degradation and deviation from spiritual principles is also predicted. Eventually, the members of the royal order will lose all noble qualities and the citizens will imitate their behaviour, thus creating havoc in the world.
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Nasty Yuga
N - Nasty Age (1-3)
Nasty Yuga
Chapter 2, 3
The kings are not just victims of Kali-yuga, but the ones who spread its influence by promoting irreligion and materialism.
The symptoms of this all-pervading ignorance are described: society is troubled by crime, leaders become exploitative, social orders are negligent in their duties, saintly character and good qualities disappear, relationships between living entities break down, religion is misrepresented, habits and lifestyle become destructive, and atheism reigns supreme. Thus, the peace, prosperity and progressiveness of civilisation gradually disintegrates and people struggle on personal, social, economic, political and spiritual levels.
When the burden of these kings becomes overwhelming, the Lord descends as Kalki avatara to remove them all. Sukadeva Goswami thus predicted the birth, family lineage and activities of Kalki, along with two incognito kings who will reestablish Satya-yuga.
Mother Earth was astonished to witness the materialistic leaders who selfishly attempt to fulfil their mundane desires and exploit material nature. Her reflections on the situation ( Bhumi-gita ) reveal how the inescapable laws of material nature destroy their foolish plans. The gradual degradation from Satya-yuga (goodness), to Treta-yuga (passion), to Dvapara-yuga (passion and ignorance), to Kali-yuga (ignorance) is explained. With the passing of each age, the four legs of religion, namely truthfulness, mercy, austerity, and charity, are progressively destroyed. In these difficult times, a unique concession is open to one and all. Despite being an ocean of faults, Kali-yuga is glorified by the sages since it offers one the opportunity to easily attain spiritual perfection through the chanting of the holy name.
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— S.B. Keshava Swami, Book Bhagavata