Is it possible to establish Dharmarājya (Rāmarājya) in Kaliyuga?

Question

It is often described in various Śāstras that the Kaliyuga will be an age rife with Adharma.

Does that imply that it is completely impossible to establish Dharmarājya or Rāmarājya in Kaliyuga?

Answer 1

No, it is not impossible for Dharmarājya or Rāmarājya to be established in Kaliyuga. Rather, Yugas are created by Kings.

Manusmṛti 9.301 states:

कृतं त्रेतायुगं चैव द्वापरं कलिरेव च । राज्ञो वृत्तानि सर्वाणि राजा हि युगमुच्यते ॥ ३०१ ॥

kṛtaṃ tretāyugaṃ caiva dvāparaṃ kalireva ca | rājño vṛttāni sarvāṇi rājā hi yugamucyate || 301 ||

The actions of the king constitute the ‘Kṛta’, the ‘Tretā’, the ‘Dvāpara’ and the ‘Kali’ cycles; as it is the king that is called the ‘cycle.’

In the Udyogaparva of the Mahābhārata, Kuntī too makes a similar statement to her son Yudhiṣṭhira:

The penal code properly applied by the ruler, maketh the four orders adhere to their respective duties, and leadeth to an acquisition (by the ruler himself) of virtue (profit, and salvation). When the king properly abideth by the penal code, without making any portion of it a dead letter, then that best of periods called the Krita Yuga setteth in. Let not this doubt be thine, viz., whether the era is the cause of the king, or the king the cause of the era, for (know this to be certain that) the king is the cause of the era. It is the king that createth the Krita, the Treta, or the Dwapara age. Indeed, it is the king that is the cause of also the fourth Yuga (viz., the Kali). That king who causeth the Krita age to set in, enjoyeth heaven exceedingly. That king who causeth the Treta age to set in, doth enjoy heaven but not exceedingly. For thus causing the Dwapara age to set in, a king enjoyeth heaven according to his due. The king, however, who causeth the Kali age to set in, earneth sin exceedingly. Thereupon, that king of wicked deeds resideth in hell for countless years. Indeed, the king's sins affect the world, and the world's sins affect him. Observe thou those kingly duties of thine that befit thy ancestry.

Therefore, it is certainly possible to establish Dharmarājya or Rāmarājya in Kaliyuga, depending on whether the King abides by Dharma. However, chances of an appearance of such a king do remain very slim in Kaliyuga.