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.

Teenage Wasteland: Commentary

Gentle readers: It's difficult for me to talk about my past; I tell my story as an impressionable teenager as a cautionary tale. At the tender age of 15, as a goofy kid, I was taken into the Sonoran desert and initiated into the mysteries of peyote by men who felt it was a rite of passage into manhood. I know some of you may be shocked to hear this, but we do many things in youth that we later regret. I didn't have the moral courage to stand up to the Brujo or the Prophet. I should have been strong. I should have walked away. But these men were accepting me into their circle, where I had seen rejection in so many places. The 1960s was a time of great experimentation. I too took part in these experiments. It would be dishonest for me to deny that.


Later, when I was a student at the University of California at Los Angeles, I came across the writings of Carlos Castañeda, in a book called "The Teachings of Don Juan." In his book, he wrote about how he met a Brujo in Mexico who took him on a journey through an alternate reality.  I could see that his experience in some ways paralleled my own, but it seemed to me that he had invented an entirely new category of fiction. When I say that Mr. Castañeda's witings are fraudulent, I do so not out of any sense of prejudice, but based on my own experience. My guru maharaja said, "No amount of finite can produce the infinite," and he applied this message to the taking of mind-altering drugs. I agreed with that statement when he said it in the 1980s, and I whole-heartedly support it now.

Young people sometimes think that their elders teach on the basis of dogma or rote learning. I think it's important to speak from one's own realization. My realization about mind-altering drugs is based on no small amount of reading and study, but also from my own tragic personal experience.



We live in a society where we are constantly being told of some miracle cure or instant remedy for the pangs of material existence. I don't believe in any easy  answers. But then, I like to do things the hard way.

When my life had reached its nadir, when I was down and out in the worst way, I was fortunate enough to come in contact with the devotees  of Krishna.  They saved my life and gave me hope.  It was in their company that I was introduced to my guru and spiritual master, His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1976, as a condition of being initiated as his disciple, I swore to avoid illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, and gambling, a vow I have done my best to keep ever since then.



The urge to erase one's pain with anaesthesia is a powerful temptation. But I have chosen to go through life as soberly as possible. Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita, "matra-sparshas tu kaunteya..." Life's pleasures and pains come and go. Both are temporary.

Bhagavad-gita Chapter Two 

TEXT 14

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya

sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah

agamapayino 'nityas

tams titiksasva bharata

SYNONYMS

mātrā—sensuous; sparśāḥ—perception; tu—only; kaunteya—O son of Kuntī; śīta—winter; uṣṇa—summer; sukha—happiness; duḥkha-daḥ—giving pain; āgama—appearing; apāyinaḥ—disappearing; anityāḥ—nonpermanent; tān—all of them; titikṣasva—just try to tolerate; bhārata—O descendant of the Bhārata dynasty.

TRANSLATION

O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

PURPORT

In the proper discharge of duty, one has to learn to tolerate nonpermanent appearances and disappearances of happiness and distress. According to Vedic injunction, one has to take his bath early in the morning even during the month of Māgha (January-February). It is very cold at that time, but in spite of that a man who abides by the religious principles does not hesitate to take his bath. Similarly, a woman does not hesitate to cook in the kitchen in the months of May and June, the hottest part of the summer season. One has to execute his duty in spite of climatic inconveniences. Similarly, to fight is the religious principle of the kṣatriyas, and although one has to fight with some friend or relative, one should not deviate from his prescribed duty. One has to follow the prescribed rules and regulations of religious principles in order to rise up to the platform of knowledge because by knowledge and devotion only can one liberate himself from the clutches of māyā (illusion).

Bhagavad-gita

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

 देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

The king said to Vaishampayana, “Inspired by the humble brahmana Astika, you  have reminded us of the great deeds of my grandfather Arjuna and his brothers, the Pandavas. As the son of Veda Vyasa, you heard extensively from him the entire history of the Mahabharata, the great war, and of the Pandavas. Please tell me their story, that by understanding the causes of war I might better rule in peace”

     Janamejaya said, "How did the those heroes the Kurus, the Pandavas, and the Somakas together with various high-souled kings and princes meet on that great battlefield? Tell me of the deeds of my ancestors, the Pandavas, their exploits and their trials.  How did the armies enter into battle? Who were the allies of the Pandavas and who were the followers of the Kauravas. And tell me of the great conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, known as Bhagavad-gita. I have heard that this discourse struck deeply into the soul of my ancestor Arjuna and would hear the conversation from you, just as it was spoken."

     "How did that conversation unfold and what was its purport? What were the questions made by Dhananjaya and how were they answered by the Lord God Himself, Bhagavan Shree Krishna, so many years ago on that great battlefield? 

Why was Arjuna reluctant to fight, and what did Krishna say to soar his spirits? All these questions we have and we are eager to hear from you, Oh, Vaishampayana. You are not only the son of Vedavyasa, but you have heard all these things directly from him. Please enlighten us."

    And Vaishampayana said, "Many things have we heard directly from Vedavyasa, who left me also with a written record which I have studied. All these events and conversations I shall now reveal before this exalted assembly."

    And hearing Suta Goswami describe the events of the snake sacrifice and the conversations between the great king Janamejaya and Vaishampayana Rishi, the ten thousand sages gathered there for the twelve year sacrifice fell silent. Shaunaka who was the greatest among them said, "O Suta Goswami, please continue. What did Vaishampayana, the great disciple of Vyasa, say there at the snake sacrifice? How did he describe the battle of Kurukshetra and the conversation between Bhagavan Shree Krishna and Arjuna?"

  Suta Goswami continued, "When King Janamejaya questioned Vaishampayana thus, that great Rishi replied as follows:

    "Listen O King. Listen all you brahmanas. Listen you who have the good fortune to be gathered here today. I shall recite before you the story of the battle of Kurukshetra as it was told to me by my guru. I shall tell you of how Arjuna and his brothers led by King Yudhisthira confronted in battle the mighty champions of the Kurus: Bhishma himself, the great car warrior; Karna, the sun-born archer, Drona the kshatriya among brahmanas, and thousands of great heroes. And I shall narrate to you the message and the mystery of the Bhagavad-Gita, spoken by the Lord God Himself: Shree Krishna."  

And with this the sages of Naimisharanya again interrupted Suta Goswami, saying:  “ O Suta, the stories of martial might and the heroic deeds of the Pandavas are filled with useful lessons and wisdom teachings, and we would very much like to hear them recited by you, but  please kindly tell us more of the glory of the Gita, just as it was spoken long before at Narayana-ksetra by the great sage Srila Vyasadeva.”

 To which Suta Goswami replied:  “ O venerable ones, you have certainly asked the most glorious question. Who can describe the supreme glory of the Gita, the most hidden of all treasures?"

Suta said, "Certainly Lord Sri Krsna is in full knowledge of the glory of the Gita; Arjuna, the son of Kunti, knows something of its fruit; and Vyasadeva, Sukadeva, Yajnavalkya, and the saintly King Janaka-they are all somewhat conversant with it as well.  

"Apart from them, others who have heard from one another about it are engaged in singing the praises of a tiny fraction of its greatness.

    "All the Upanisads are the cow personified, and the cowherd boy Sri Krsna is their milker. The son of Prtha is the calf personified, this ambrosia of the Gita is the superexcellent milk, and the highly intelligent virtuous souls are its tasters. To begin with, I offer my obeisances unto Lord Sri Krsna who accepted the position of the chariot driver of Arjuna, just to distribute this ambrosia of the Gita for the benefit of all the three worlds. A person who wants to cross over the ghastly ocean of material suffering can do so very easily by taking shelter of the boat of the Bhagavad Gita."

    "That fool, who wants to attain liberation by constant yoga practice without hearing the wisdom of the Gita, is fit to be laughed at - even by a child. One who day and night hears and recites the Gita is never to be taken as a mere human being. Without a doubt, he is a veritable god. In order to enlighten Arjuna by the knowledge of the Gita, Lord Krsnacandra has sung the praises of the supreme principle of devotion, both relative and absolute."

    In this way, the heart is purified by the knowledge of the Gita, a ladder of eighteen chapters which refutes all doctrines propounding sense enjoyment and liberation (bhukti-mukti). Step by step, the qualification to practice loving devotional service is  Bathing in the pure waters of the Gita, the devotees are liberated from contamination of the mundane world. But such an attempt by faithless persons is utterly useless, just like the bath of an elephant who washes himself in the Ganges only to roll in the mud.  bathing 

    The Gita should be offered all respects at all times and in all places as the inaugurator of all religious wisdom and the spotless essence of all Holy Scriptures.

    Whoever with true faith sublime hears this deep, meaningful Gita - Song Divine, will profit greatly: his whole life will rise to the plane of all-pervading joy, sweetness, and charm."