by Ave Maria
The Indian tradition has handed down us the knowledge that we are living in the Kali Yuga, the most degenerate age where the world is on the verge of collapse. What will happen in the final stages of this Yuga? The Mahabharata, the ancient Indo-Aryan epic known as the largest book ever written, contains several well-known prophecies, for example, "shudras will expound the scriptures" and "people will without compunction destroy trees and gardens." These prophecies are widely available in essays and books about the Kali Yuga. Less well-known are the object-lessons given at the end of the Mahabharata's fifth book, just before the great war that transitioned the world from the previous Dvapara Yuga to the current Kali Yuga.
A teacher of mine, who has read the entire Mahabharata in Sanskrit, once remarked that parts of it seem to have been written with the modern reader in mind, notably the monologues of the low-caste character Karna. This may sound somewhat unlikely, given the age of the Mahabharata, but a close reading of the end of the fifth book shows a remarkable relevance to the modern condition that gives the ring of truth to my teacher's statement. Although it portrays conditions at the end of the Dvapara Yuga, I think it is meant to reflect on what conditions will be like at the end of the Kali Yuga.
A teacher of mine, who has read the entire Mahabharata in Sanskrit, once remarked that parts of it seem to have been written with the modern reader in mind, notably the monologues of the low-caste character Karna. This may sound somewhat unlikely, given the age of the Mahabharata, but a close reading of the end of the fifth book shows a remarkable relevance to the modern condition that gives the ring of truth to my teacher's statement. Although it portrays conditions at the end of the Dvapara Yuga, I think it is meant to reflect on what conditions will be like at the end of the Kali Yuga.
