Bad Omens; The Age of Kali is nigh...

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

 देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Vyasa empowers Sanjaya

Suta Goswami said, "Allow me to return to the conversation between that great king, Janamejaya, son of Parikit and Vaishampayana, the son of Vyasa and his foremost disciple. When queried on all these things, Vaishampayana spoke as follows.
"As he beheld the two armies standing East and West for the fierce battle about to take place Vyasadeva, the knower of the Vedas, could see their future. Standing before the old blind king he foretold the disaster that was to come."

Vyasa foretold disasters...

"Vyasadeva said, 'O king, the time has come for your sons and their vassals. Their deaths on the battlefield are foretold. They will kill one another in mortal combat and perish as do all warriors, by their swords and by the force of their arms. Do not grieve for them, O king. As you are blind, you cannot see their deaths, but if you wish, I shall grant you the boon of vision for the time of the battle.'
"And Dhritarastra said, 'O best of the wise, I have no interest in seeing such death, such destruction. But I would hear from you how this battle unfolds. Describe to me the deeds of these mighty warriors through your potency, as you can see into the future.'

"With this, Vyasa blessed Dhritarashtra's charioteer, Sanjaya with a boon. Vyasa said, 'Sanjaya will describe the battle for you. He shall see everything, by divine power. Nothing shall be beyond his vision. Endowed with celestial vision, Sanjaya will narrate the entire battle to you. By mystic power he will have knowledge of all that takes place and all that will take place, manifest or concealed, by day or by night, including even that which is thought off in the mind. Sanjaya will know everything,' said Vyasa.

"Vyasa continued, 'Weapons will not cut him. He shall not tire. Sanjaya shall not be harmed in the battle. He shall be among the only survivors of the flames of battle. As far as I am concerned, I must return to my hermitage. I shall write the story of these mighty warriors. I will compose a work in writing which will spread their fame, that they shall live in immortal glory. Do not grieve, O king.

None can halt the events which are about to unfold. The slaughter will be great.

Look around you. You can see the omens of terror. Great birds of prey now rest, waiting on the treetops. Herons perch quietly and watch. Vultures eye the field, hungry for carrion.



 Carnivorous beasts, jackals and tigers crouch in the rushes on the edges of the battlefield. They shall feed on the flesh of elephants and feast on the meat of the fierce stallions that now foam at the mouth with the lust of battle.

"I see the gruesome future of this war. Headless corpses litter the field during the rising and setting of the sun. Clouds are charged with lightning whose flash resembles swords crossed. The sun, the moon, and stars are all ablaze.




 Brave lords, kings and princes armed with steel shall be struck down. I see them slain and lying on the earth. These visions possess me when at night I sleep.  I hear the fierce cries of tigers and wild boars engaged in fighting. Statues and images of gods and goddesses laugh at me in the night. Sometimes these statues vomit blood and tumble to the earth. All these are inauspicious signs, omens of grief and destruction.

"'O King, unbeaten the battle drums sound. Riderless chariots move without their horses. Kokil birds and watercocks sing funeral dirges and parrots chant hyms to the dead in Sanskrit rhyme. I see cavalry soldiers in chain mail running in terror, covered with blood, crying in the dark.

I see hordes of locusts darken the skies with clouds of bloody insects. The clouds themselves shower blood and flesh and dust. I see the inauspicious signs among the stars that herald the coming of the age of Kali.  The moon and stars and Saturn juxtaposed in strange positions.

Then while the sky is cloudless and calm I hear a terrible roar. Cows weep to see the coming of the Kali age when their kind will be slaughtered in multitudes. Strange mutations and unnatural births befoul the earth. Cows give birth to asses and women give birth to monsters.

Man-eating birds and beasts feast together. Deformed monsters with three horns, or with four eyes, or five legs utter unholy cries of lust and terror.



The mare brings forth the calf, the dog is mother to the jackal, and the parrots curse in weird and foreign tongues. All these presage the coming of a new era: the time of Kali, the iron age.

"'O King, the omens of the downfall of civilization are everywhere. The lowest of men and women dance and sing, intoxicated. Infants draw images of death and destruction in the dust. Children attack one another with sticks and clubs, killing their playmates. Lotuses grow on trees. Strong winds blow through the earth raising dust storms. The earth trembles and quakes, while the black planet Rahu courses towards the sun. The constellations tell the destruction of the Kurus.

"Strange changes are seen in the crops: weird mutations in their size and growth. The barley-stalk has five ears and paddy-stalk a hundred. The cows, when milked, tremble and produce only blood. Weapons glow. The archer's bows are radiant as the sun, and iron arms blaze like silver."

Vyasa continued, "It is clear to me after seeing these signs, O King, that terrible events shall now unfold, even the end of the world. In this battle between the Kurus and the Pandavas, there will be a river of blood that will carry the warriors flags as if they were rafts floating on the waters.  I have seen strange and monstrous birds, their beaks blazing like fire, moaning tortured cries foreboding evil. I saw a one-eyed, one winged, one legged vulture hovering in the night screaming in wrath. Those who heard its shrieks vomited blood. Rough winds portending danger blow throughout the land. "

Vyasa continued, "All these signs and omens foretell a great and tragic war. The great rivers are flowing in opposite directions and are polluted with dark blood. Showers of meteors course the heavens. When people go out of their houses to meet their peers they carry arms. Fear is upon the land. And darkness.  The great rishis have said that when such signs are present, the earth drinks the blood of thousands of kings. Your sons will not escape the slaughter."

"Vaishampayana said, "With these words, Vyasas left the field. having given Sanjaya the boon of mystic vision.