56

I heard that at the end of the Kali Yuga, the world will be destroyed.

  • What does this mean?
  • Will the Earth be destroyed or will the entire Universe be destroyed?
  • Can someone throw light on this?
5
  • 1
    It is the Lord Rudra (shiva) who will destroy everything to ashes with his trikagni(eternal fire from his third-eye). If you want any details of the destruction dance(tandav) of shiva you can see the meaning of shiva Tandav Stotram created by Ravana.
    – Yogi
    Aug 26, 2014 at 3:58
  • No I am looking at how the universe will destroyed. Will it be a war or a catastrophe.
    – ckv
    Aug 26, 2014 at 4:21
  • 3
    Kali yuga ends when the deepest, darkest negativity and other impressions of the mind are ended and purity reigns! The end of Kali will bring forth the beginning of the Golden Age! When the ego has been annihilated the Golden Age of the inner consciousness will prevail. So will the world be destroyed? Will the earth be destroyed? It is the Ahamkara (ego consciousness) that will be destroyed.
    – Sai
    Aug 26, 2014 at 18:41
  • At the end of the kaliyuga kalki will appear the adharma will be destroyed
    – user3057
    May 31, 2015 at 15:33
  • 1
    you can see this question hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/9201/3500
    – The Destroyer
    Oct 28, 2015 at 8:59

6 Answers 6

65

No, the world won't actually get destroyed at the end of the Kali Yuga. Rather, what's going to occur is that when the evil and decadence of the Kali Yuga reaches its zenith, Vishnu will have an incarnation (avatara) as Kalki the horse rider, to kill all the evil people and restore Dharma on earth, commencing a new Satya Yuga. Here is how the Srimad Bhagavatam describes it:

Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brāhmaṇa of Śambhala village, the great soul Viṣṇuyaśā. Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.

After all the impostor kings have been killed, the residents of the cities and towns will feel the breezes carrying the most sacred fragrance of the sandalwood paste and other decorations of Lord Vāsudeva, and their minds will thereby become transcendentally pure. When Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in their hearts in His transcendental form of goodness, the remaining citizens will abundantly repopulate the earth. When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness. When the moon, the sun and Bṛhaspatī are together in the constellation Karkaṭa, and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar mansion Puṣyā — at that exact moment the age of Satya, or Kṛta, will begin.

So even if some people are killed, the world will still go on after the end of the Kali Yuga. The Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga keep repeating in a cycle. Now one cycle of all four Yugas is called a Mahayuga or Chatur Yuga, and 1000 Mahayugas make up one Kalpa. A Kalpa constitutes just one day for Brahma the creator god. After the day is over, Brahma goes to sleep, and then the Pralaya, or night of Brahma, commences. The Pralaya, of equal length to a Kalpa, is the time period when the entire three worlds (the physical universe along with Devaloka and Asuraloka) are destroyed by fire emanating from the mouth of Vishnu's serpent Adiseshan. Here is how it's described in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

At the end of the day, under the insignificant portion of the mode of darkness, the powerful manifestation of the universe merges in the darkness of night. By the influence of eternal time, the innumerable living entities remain merged in that dissolution, and everything is silent. When the night of Brahmā ensues, all the three worlds are out of sight, and the sun and the moon are without glare, just as in the due course of an ordinary night.

The devastation takes place due to the fire emanating from the mouth of [Ananta], and thus great sages like Bhṛgu and other inhabitants of Maharloka transport themselves to Janaloka, being distressed by the warmth of the blazing fire which rages through the three worlds below. At the beginning of the devastation all the seas overflow, and hurricane winds blow very violently. Thus the waves of the seas become ferocious, and in no time at all the three worlds are full of water. The Supreme Lord [Vishnu] lies down in the water on the seat of Ananta, with His eyes closed, and the inhabitants of Janaloka offer unto the Lord their glorious prayers with folded hands.

And by the way, all this annihilation is overseen by Shiva god of destruction, who engages in his cosmic Tandava dance in order to direct all this destruction.

After the Pralaya is over, Brahma wakes up and commences the creation of the three worlds again, and thus a new Kalpa begins. Now a Kalpa is already an incredibly long period of time, but it's just one day in the life of Brahma. Now imagine how long a hundred years is in the life of Brahma! That is how long Brahma lives for, and it's called Mahakalpa. And after the Mahakalpa is over, Brahma dies, and then there is a period of even greater destruction, the Mahapralaya, which lasts as long as Mahakalpa. And then Brahma is reborn, marking the start of a new Mahakalpa. And the cycle begins again!

21
  • 1
    Do we know how many mahayugas have passed Oct 22, 2014 at 7:31
  • 12
    @TejeshAlimilli Yes, we do. There are 14 Manvantaras in each Kalpa, with about 71 Mahayugas in each Manvantara. We are living in the Vaivasvata Manvantara, which is the seventh Manvantara of the Shwetavaraha Kalpa. And we're living in the 28th Mahayuga of the Vaivasvata Manvantara. Oct 22, 2014 at 12:18
  • 7
    @JavaTechnical A Kalpa is one day in the life of Brahma. A Mahakalpa is 100 years in the life of Brahma. (Brahma lives for 100 years before he dies and is reborn.) Our present Kalpa, the Shwetavaraha Kalpa, is taking place in the 51st year of Brahma's life. That is why, in he beginning of every Hindu ritual, we say "adya Brahmanaha, dwitiya Parardhe", which indicates that we're living in the second half of Brahma's life. Nov 13, 2014 at 16:17
  • 1
    @KeshavSrinivasan, in what sense did you use the word annihilation in your answer? annihilation = total destruction = ashes = single stream of atoms when an object approaches a black hole :-) ? how can fire and water co-exist during annihilation? Oct 14, 2015 at 0:38
  • 2
    @sv. I was just using annihilation as a synonym for destruction. (I didn't want the destruction twice in the same sentence.). As far as how the Samvartaka fire can coexist with the flood waters of the Garbhodaka ocean, I think those things happen at seperate stages of the Pralaya, although I'm not sure about the order: Oct 14, 2015 at 15:04
15

The Yuga Time Period

  • Kritha Yuga 17,28,000 human years
  • Tretha Yuga 12,96,000 human years
  • Dwapara Yuga 8,64,000 human years
  • Kali Yuga 4,32,000 human years (As on today we are approximately over 5000 years into Kali Yuga)

enter image description here

All the four yugas combined together is called a Maha Yuga. One Maha Yuga comprises of 43,20,000 years. 1000 maha yugas are equivalent to the day time of the Brahma. Brahma’s night is also of the same time.

So Brahma’s one full day is equivalent to 864,00,00,000 human years. Brahma’s one second is equivalent to 1,00,000 human years on earth. Brahma lives like this for 100 years (in human years 864,00,00,00 x 365 days x 100 years), and the entire life time of brahma is equivalent to one breath of Sri Maha Vishnu.

It is said that when Sri Maha Vishnu exhilirates, the entire world is created, and when he annihilates the entire world is destroyed. The timespan between his exhiliration and annihilation is equivalent to 100 years for Brahma.

The Vishnu Purana states that at the end of the daytime period of Brahma, a dreadful drought will occur that will last 100 years, and all the waters will dry up. The Sun will change into seven Suns, and the three worlds (Bhurloka or Earth, Bhuvarloka or the lowest heaven, and Svargloka or the next higher heaven) and the underworlds will be burned bare of life. The inhabitants of Bhuvarloka and Svargloka flee to the next higher heaven, Mahaloka, to escape the heat; and then to the next higher heaven, Janaloka.

Then mighty clouds will form and the three worlds will be completely flooded with water. Lord Vishnu reposes on the waters in meditative rest for another whole kalpa (4.32 billion years) before renewing the creation.

The destruction that takes place at the end of a daytime of Brahma is referred to as 'naimittika', which is incidental or occasional. The characteristic of this destruction is that the three worlds continue to exist but are made uninhabitable. The souls of individuals also continue to exist to be reincarnated in the next daytime of Brahma.

4
  • 1
    100 years of Brahma equals 315360 Billion years, according to this calculation .According to modern estimate by Scientist , the Universe was created about 13.4 billion years ago .It might survive another 100 Billion years and then will condense to a single point mass and then die out....The Hindu estimate of the life of the Universe is 3000 times ,the modern estimate of Scientists....It is mostly a Speculation.
    – b.sahu
    Mar 8, 2016 at 18:21
  • Today we live in the Information Age. Ask people in their sixties and seventies - they grew up in an era, without internet, mobile phones and few computers. In the 1960's it was stated that man as differentiated from the ape man, first appeared about 100,000 years ago and in half a century the time period has multiplied to 2,500,000 years or at a pace of about 50,000 years annually. As our knowledge deepens and more natural mysteries are uncovered, may be the Hindu calculation would be more realistic and the so called rational scientific clams ignorant speculation!!!!!! Sep 12, 2017 at 6:25
  • The number of zeroes are completely off in the yuga lengths by extra two zeroes. You should divide those values by 100 to get the correct numbers.
    – Mugen
    May 11, 2020 at 8:48
  • @SureshRamaswamy that is not going to happen. Science keeps on improving itself. It is very reliable. Moreover, Krishna's esrimate about the size of the universe is wrong.
    – Wikash_
    May 23, 2020 at 8:22
9

We are currently in the age of Ascending Dwapara Yuga and not in Kali Yuga. This astonishing revelation was made by Sri Yukteswar Giri(Guru of Paramahansa Yogananda) in his book "The Holy Science" published in 1894.

According to Sri Yukteswar, ages work in full solar cycle of 24000 years. It contains 2 periods, ascending arc and descending arc of 12000 years each. The period of 1200 years is Kali Yuga, the period of 2400 years is Dwapara Yuga, the period of 3600 years is Treta Yuga and the period of 4800 years is Satya Yuga. If you add these, it completes one arc. We are currently in the ascending arc which means after the current Dwapara Yuga, we will enter Treta Yuga.

In descending arc, Treta Yuga comes after Satya Yuga, Dwapara Yuga comes after Treta Yuga and Kali Yuga comes after Dwapara Yuga. When we reach the end of Kali Yuga of descending arc, we progress into another Kali Yuga of 1200 years but this time in ascending arc which means the next age will be Dwapara Yuga then Treta Yuga and then Satya Yuga.

The 2 Kali Yugas of both descending and ascending arc have passed already.

Most of the people believe that we are in the age of Kali Yuga because of the wrong calculations of certain Sanskrit scholars such as Kulluka Bhatta. That's why the length of the yugas has been widened and that is also the reason why you get wrong figures like 4,32,000 years of Kali Yuga.

I recommend you all to read "The Holy Science" by Sri Yukteswar which in detail explains why we are in Dwapara Yuga and why and how we got the wrong figures which most people believe.

Please note the period in which Sri Krishna lived on earth was also Dwapara Yuga but that Dwapara Yuga was in descending arc and the current Dwapara age in which we live is in ascending arc.

7
  • 1
    you should cite source
    – Bhavin
    Oct 5, 2015 at 12:54
  • 1
    @BhavinChhatrola - I already cited source - "The Holy Science" by Sri Yukteswar Giri
    – Pinakin
    Oct 5, 2015 at 12:56
  • @KeshavSrinivasan What do you think about this calculation?
    – Naveen
    Oct 8, 2015 at 21:20
  • 7
    @Naveen I strongly disagree with Yukteswar's theory. Yukteswar doesn't even believe in Manvantaras and Kalpas, despite the numerous scriptures that describe them. I believe that the Kali Yuga started in 3102 BC, that we're still in it, and that there's no such thing as "ascending and descending Yuga cycles". But as I told you in a previous thread, I'm not as committed to the Yuga lengths. I think the Yugas are much longer than Yukteswar's theory says, but I think the million-year Yuga lengths may not be correct either. Oct 8, 2015 at 21:28
  • @Naveen By the way, I just saw your comment by a fortunate coincidence. It's only possible to tag someone with the "@" symbol if they've already posted in the comment section of a post. Oct 8, 2015 at 21:31
6

There are 3 gunas or qualities called -Satva, Rajas and Tamas. Entire creation is made up of them only. There are 4 yugas making a cycle, namely Satya Yuga, Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyug. Satya Yuga is dominated by Satva guna that is truth(satya), meditation(tapas), purity(shauch) and worship(bhakti). In treta (3 feets), truth is given up my people because of increased Rajas and left with 3 qualities of Satva. In Dwapar, meditation is also given up by people, leaving dharma standing on 2 qualities and hence called Dwapar(2 feets).

Finally, in kaliyug, purity is also lost under the effect of Tamas, leaving only Bhakti. By the end of Kaliyug, bhakti also vanishes and there is no discipline but chaos. Than Lord Vishnu appears in the form of Kalki and reestablishes the four qualities of Satya yuga, and once again Satya yuga is established. Only adharmis, mlecchas are destroyed, not the universe.

We are currently about 5100 past years within Kaliyuga of 28th chaturyug, 7th manavantar of Varah Kalpa. Prajapati Brahma ji is now about 50 years old and he has remaining more 50x360 approx. kalpas of his life, that is about 18000 more kalpas, where each kalpa has 1000 chaturyugs. 1 chaturyuga = 43,20,000 earth years.

The Chaturyuga ages, i.e. Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyug see a gradual decline of dharma, wisdom, knowledge, intellectual capability, life span, emotional and physical strength.

Satya Yuga:- Virtue reigns supreme. Human stature was 21 cubits. Average human lifespan was 100,000 years.

Treta Yuga: – There was 3 quarter virtue & 1 quarter sin. Normal human stature was 14 cubits. Average human lifespan was 10,000 years.

Dwapar Yuga: – There was 1 half virtue & 1 half sin. Normal human stature was 7 cubits. Average human lifespan was 1,000 years.

Kali Yuga: – There is 1 quarter virtue & 3 quarter sin. Normal human stature is 3.5 cubits. Average human lifespan will be 100 years. Towards the end of the Yuga this will come down to 20 years.

In the present days we live in a Kali Yuga, which began at 3102 BCE with the end of the Mahabharata war. This date is also considered by many Hindus to be the day that Krishna left Earth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpa_(aeon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manvantara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuga

9
  • 1
    @RaviJ We're in the 28th Kali Yuga, not the 27th. And we're not in the 51st Kalpa. A Kalpa is one day in the life of Brahma, and a Mahakalpa is one hundred years in one hundred years in the life of Brahma. We're living in the first Kalpa of Brahma's 51st year, not the 51st Kalpa. The first Kalpa would have been in Brahma's 1st year. Oct 8, 2015 at 15:01
  • @KeshavSrinivasan does life of Brahma contains 100 cosmic years or 108 cosmic years? And one year of Brahma contains how many days?
    – The Destroyer
    Oct 14, 2015 at 8:23
  • @Anil Kumar, life of Brahma contains 108 cosmic years, and each day of Brahma is called a kalpa and contains 1008 chaturyugs (14 manavantars x 72), where each each chaturyuga is of 4,32,000, multiple of 108. People usually say that 8 is number of Prakriti and means infinity, while 1 is symbol of Purush and zeros means infinite creations done by Prakriti's shakti quora.com/What-is-significance-of-108-in-Hinduism quora.com/…
    – user3870
    Oct 14, 2015 at 12:30
  • @AnilKumar A year of Brahma contains 360 days (not 365 like our year) and the life of Brahma contains 100 years, not 108 years. Oct 14, 2015 at 15:08
  • @KeshavSrinivasan it's not 108.ok. i thought "9" had some significance in Hinduism.
    – The Destroyer
    Oct 14, 2015 at 15:11
2

Yudhisthira had the same question to Markandeya. Rishi Markandeya then explained what will happen.

This is how humans will behave.

And when the end of the Yuga comes, crops will not grow in abundance. And the women will always be sharp in speech and pitiless and fond of weeping. And they will never abide by the commands of their husbands. And when the end of the Yuga comes, sons will slay fathers and mothers. And women, living uncontrolled, will slay their husbands and sons. And, O king, when the end of the Yuga comes, Rahu will swallow the Sun unseasonably. And fires will blaze up on all sides. And travellers unable to obtain food and drink and shelter even when they ask for these, will lie down on the wayside refraining from urging their solicitations. And when the end of the Yuga comes, crows and snakes and vultures and kites and other animals and birds will utter frightful and dissonant cries. And when the end of the Yuga comes, men will cast away and neglect their friends and relatives and attendants. And, O monarch, when the end of the Yuga comes, men abandoning the countries and directions and towns and cities of their occupation, will seek for new ones, one after another. And people will wander over the earth, uttering, 'O father, O son', and such other frightful and rending cries.

This is what Kalki will do before another Satya Yuga begins.

And commissioned by Time, a Brahmana of the name of Kalki will take his birth. And he will glorify Vishnu and possess great energy, great intelligence, and great prowess. And he will take his birth in a town of the name of Sambhala in an auspicious Brahmana family. And vehicles and weapons, and warriors and arms, and coats of mail will be at his disposal as soon as he will think of them. And he will be the king of kings, and ever victorious with the strength of virtue. And he will restore order and peace in this world crowded with creatures and contradictory in its course. And that blazing Brahmana of mighty intellect, having appeared, will destroy all things. And he will be the Destroyer of all, and will inaugurate a new Yuga. And surrounded by the Brahmanas, that Brahmana will exterminate all the mlecchas wherever those low and despicable persons may take refuge."


He will later conduct a horse sacrifice.

https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03190.htm

"Markandeya continued, 'Having exterminated the thieves and robbers, Kalki will, at a great Horse-sacrifice, duly give away this earth to the Brahmanas, and having established anew the blessed rectitude ordained by the Self-create, Kalki, of sacred deeds and illustrious reputation, will enter a delightful forest, and the people of this earth will imitate his conduct, and when the Brahmanas will have exterminated the thieves and robbers, there will be prosperity everywhere (on earth). And as the countries of the earth will one after another be subjugated, that tiger among Brahmanas, Kalki, having placed deer skins and lances and tridents there, will roam over the earth, adored by foremost Brahmanas and showing his regard for them and engaged all the while in slaughtering thieves and robbers. And he will exterminate the thieves and robbers amid heart-rending cries of 'Oh, father--' 'Oh, mother!--'O son!' and the like, and O Bharata, when sin will thus have been rooted out and virtue will flourish on arrival of the Krita age, men will once more betake themselves to the practice of religious rites.

1

There's for sure death and decay at the end of Kaliyuga- which is full of faults, passions, miseries and confusions. This Tamoguna, Rajas once vanished, Sattva gunas can attain peaks giving rise to beings bounded by righteousness- Satyuga begins with the end of the Kali age.

Cause:

At pralayakaal, Rudra performs samhar tandava along with Mahakaali.

This results in the transformation - end of an Yuga, with rise of consecutive Yuga.

God has supremacy over time, so even time has beginning and end in the form of Yugas(cycle), but God doesn't have such beginning or end. At Mahapralaya, when Mahakaal performs Sanghar tandava along with Mahakali - The kaal and trinity also get merged in Mahakaal, and again creations happen with a new Yuga cycle.

Kaliyuga's end has in store for deaths of all evil doers, who are deprived of Dharmic skills. The remaining balanced people will continue living and sow seeds for the righteousness '(Sat') to rise on the earth.

Previous Yuga, Dwaparyuga ended up with a deadly war amongst brothers. Although Arjuna wanted peace, but saw that all beings are entering into the mouths of time personified avtaar of YOGESHWAR Lord Krishna during the discourse of the holy BHAGWAD GITA.

Arjuna asks the VISHWAROOPAM, who are you, lord answered--

"sri-bhagavan uvaca:

kalo 'smi loka-ksaya-krt pravrddho lokan samahartum iha pravrttah rte 'pi tvam na bhavisyanti sarve ye 'vasthitah pratyanikesu yodhah

TRANSLATION:

The VISHWAROOPAM said: Kaal(Time) I am, destroyer of the worlds, and I have come to engage all people. With the exception of you [the Pandavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain."

Learning from the past- Dwapara Yuga ended 5117 years ago. Some important events at the end of Dwapara yuga:

Mahabharata war continued for 18 days. All the kings following Adharma were killed in the war. If astronomical calculations are correct, the war ended in September last week of that year.

By the end of Dwaparyuga, Dwaraka gets immeresed in sea. (The remains of dwaraka are still under sea in Gujrat. google for it) By this time Kaliyuga had already started. But by the virtue of Krishna and dharma, helpless new born Kali was not able to show his effect.

https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/story-of-king-parikshit-and-kaliyuga

In above link, 5 places are mentioned where kaliyuga resides and infects others- destruction of these places is the sign of end of the kaliyuga.

Aging kaliyuga's end might be similar in pattern to that of the past Yugas ends, but different in terms of the outcomes and series of events.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .