Start of Kali Yuga || Summary || Compulsory English || B.Ed. First Year || TU

Start of Kali Yuga                                                                                  By Devdutta Pattanaik

About this Story:
•This story is a Hindu legend based on the Mahabharata.
•Setting(time and place): Hastinapuri at the end of Dwapar Yug
•Conclusion: People in Kali Yuga are greedy and selfish. Power is worshipped, justice is denied, sacrifice is forgotten and true love is ridiculed.
Characters:
1. Yudhishtira- the eldest of the five Pandavas, the follower of dharma(righteousness) and truth
2. Lord Krishna
3. Rishis
4. Two peasants(farmers)

Summary:
"Start of Kali Yuga" is the story from the Mahabharata retold by Devdutta Pattanaik. This story is a Hindu legend(दन्त्यकथा) and its setting is Hastinapuri, India. It took place at the end of the Dwapar Yug.
People were charitable(दानी) in Satya Yuga but they are greedy and selfish in Kali Yuga. Yudhishtira, who is regarded as the follower of righteousness(धर्म) and truth organized the grandest yagna(यज्ञ) called Ashwamedha yagna (अश्वमेध यज्ञ). Many Rishis attended and conducted the Yagna. They chanted the mantras. They were given food, clothing, and cows. At the same time, two farmers came there with a dispute(बिबाद) and requested Yudhishtira to settle/solve.
According to them, one of them had sold his land to the other. The buyer had found a golden pot buried under the ground. The buyer had requested the seller to take the golden pot because it still belonged to him. The seller of the land rejected to take it. No one of them was redy to take that pot. Being unable to settle the charitable dispute of the farmers, Yudhishtira sought Krishna’s advice. Krishna suggested leaving their pot of gold with the king and returning after three months. And after three months the same two farmers would come and fight furiously to be its sole owners. Three months later, Yudhishtira’s Yagna would conclude and the Kali-yuga would start. Krishna prophesized that humans and beasts would share the same qualities in Kali Yuga. Moreover, he forecasted that power would be worshipped, justice denied, sacrifice forgotten and love ridiculed. In Kali Yuga, men would live for pleasure, children would abandon responsibility,  and human beings would engage in gratification(प्रसन्नता/तृप्ती). There would not be justice and pure love.

When all the ceremonies ended after three months, a Mongoose jumped into the fire-pit, rubbed its normal side on the charred remains of the ritual and then left the altar(पुजा गर्ने स्थान) with a disappointed look. It complained that in an earlier rituals its half body turned into gold after rubbing but that ritual didn’t turn its remained body into gold that it hoped to be changed. It said that it rubbed its body earlier on the leaves on which food was offered to guests by a poor family being themselves starved. The Rishis realized that Yudhishtira’s sacrifice was less charity and more about royal(राजकीय) power. Hence, it was a lesser ritual. With the dawn of Kaliyuga, Dhaumya, the guru of the Pandavs opined that the Pandavas would change their behavior. Arjun would submit to conceit(अहंकार),  Bhim to gluttony(खन्चुवापन), Nakul  to pleasure and Shahadeva to arrogance(क्रोध). Only Yudhishtira would cling to his responsibility and dharma. When he left dharma, the world would be destroyed.

Question-Answer

  a)What is the moral of the story of the two farmers ? Retell it.
Ans. The moral of the story of the two farmers is that before the Kaliyuga people were honest, charitable, and generous. They did not have greed but they were full of compassion(दया). But with the onset(सुरुवात) of Kaliyuga people started to be conceit, gluttony and arrogant.

 b) What does the Mongoose story suggest? Elaborate.
Ans. The Mongoose story suggests that charity is the greatest ritual. The poor family gave their food to the guests and starved to death. So it was more charitable and less about royal power. But Yudhishtira’s sacrifice was more about royal power and less charitable. That’s why the Mongoose’s  half body didn’t change into gold in Yudhishtira’s ritual as on the leaves on which the food was offered to the guests by the poor family.

 c) What according to Krishna, would happen in Kaliyuga? Give details.
Ans. In Kaliyuga, a new age would start where nothing would be as it was. Only a quarter of the values instituted by Prithu at the down of civilization would survive. Men would live for pleasure and copulate like beasts. Power would be respected, justice abandoned and love ridiculed. The wise would argue for the law of the jungle.

 d) Why does the author say that Draupadi and Krishna managed to harness the Pandavas together? What would have happened if they had failed to harness?
Ans. The author says that Draupadi and Krishna managed to harness the Pandavas together because they are the Goddess and God and before the war all of Dharma rested with the Pandavas not with Krishna and Draupadi. If they had failed to harness, the waves of destruction would engulf civilization and the world would cease to be.

 e) Are we living in Kaliyuga ?
Ans. Yes, we are living in Kaliyuga. We are not as charitable as the people of Satya Yuga, We live for pleasure. Women are like men and men are like women. Now, power is respected, there is no justice in the world and nobody likes to sacrifice for charity. The people of the world are money minded and materialistic. Individual pleasure and selfish nature is found everywhere. People are more greedy and less helpful. In the name of wealth, people kill other; violence, rape, robbery, exploitation, etc. are common. People are more materialistic and less spiritual. They are wearing the mask of humanity but they behave like beasts. There is no true harmony in the society. The mind is full with greed and corruption. So, we are living in Kaliyuga.