Hari Aum.
The yogis regard time as an endless cycle between four yugas each of which lasts for thousands of years. The four yugas are Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dwapara yuga and Kali yuga. The level of spirituality in the world is believed to progressively decline from the first to the fourth yuga- it peaks at the start of Satya yuga and reaches an all-time low at the end of Kali yuga. We are supposed to have been in Kali yuga for the past 5000 years and this period is supposed to last for a few hundred thousand years more.
The yogis regard time as an endless cycle between four yugas each of which lasts for thousands of years. The four yugas are Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dwapara yuga and Kali yuga. The level of spirituality in the world is believed to progressively decline from the first to the fourth yuga- it peaks at the start of Satya yuga and reaches an all-time low at the end of Kali yuga. We are supposed to have been in Kali yuga for the past 5000 years and this period is supposed to last for a few hundred thousand years more.
(Please note that the 'Kali' of 'Kali yuga' and Mother Kali are completely different. In English, they look the same, but in Sanskrit, they are written and pronounced completely differently. In Sanskrit, 'Kali yuga' is written and pronounced as 'Cully yuga'. Whereas Mother Kali's name is pronounced as 'Kaali' which rhymes with Bali, the province in Indonesia).
The ancient scripture, the Srimad Bhagavatam, describes life on Earth in Kali yuga, also known as the age of quarrels. It describes human beings as being mostly materialistic, full of worries and anxieties, running after sensual pleasures alone, and with little time or interest in acquiring spiritual wisdom and bliss. It says that this will be the age of hypocrisy where unethical people pose as spiritual leaders, and where rulers (modern day politicians) will steal money away from the people for their own benefit. The Bhagavatam seems to pretty accurately describe the goings-on on our planet today.
However, along with the description of all the misery in Kali yuga, the Bhagavatam mentions that it has one tremendously great virtue that cancels out the effect of all the negativity if one makes use of it. This virtue is so great, says the Bhagavatam, that great souls who were born in the previous spiritual ages yearn to be fortunate enough to be born in Kali yuga.
What is this great virtue of Kali yuga? Let me quote the sage Shuka who describes this to the King Parikshit in the Bhagavatam (12th section or 'skandha'):
Shuka says:
"Kaler dosha nidhe rajan, asti hyeko mahan gunah,
Kirtanadeva Krishnasya, mukta sangah param vrajet"
Meaning:
"The Kali yuga is an ocean of imperfections O King, but it certainly has one supreme virtue,
Singing the names of Krishna will grant one the supreme state/liberation"
Shuka goes on to say that "Whatever was attained by meditation in the Satya yuga, by yajna (fire sacrifice) in the Treta yuga, by ritualistic worship in the Dwapara yuga, can be attained by kirtana (singing the names of God) in Kali yuga".
In the 11th section of the Bhagavatam, the teaching of the nine great yogis (navayogis) to the noble King Nimi is given:
Here, one of the navayogis, called Karabhajana, explains how people in different yugas worship Narayana in different forms. He describes how in the first (Satya) yuga, Vishnu is worshipped in a fair white form, and is praised by people by the terms 'Ishwara', 'Paramatma', 'Hamsa', 'Yogeshwara' and so on. People would worship Him mainly through peaceful meditation in this first age.
In the second (Treta) yuga, he describes people as worshipping Narayana in a form that is red in colour and made up of the Vedas. Here, people praised Him by His names 'Vishnu', 'Yajna', 'Sarvadeva' and others and worshipped Him mainly through yajna (holy fire ritual, also called homam).
In the third (Dwapara) yuga, Karabhajana tells Nimi that that people worship Narayana in His blue-complexioned form, wearing a yellow silken cloth and jewels. Here He would be praised by people as 'Sankarshana', 'Aniruddha' and so on, and be worshipped by specific rituals.
In the fourth (current, Kali) yuga, the yogi explains that people will worship Narayana with a form that is black in colour, and that recital of His names and excellences would be the chief means of worship.
Karabhajana goes on to say that great souls regard a birth in Kali yuga as more precious than in the other three yugas. He explains that this is because simple spiritual practices in this age yield great results, and it is much easier to attain God in this age than the other three.
He states that people born in other yugas yearn to take birth in Kali yuga because more devotees of Narayana are born in this age than others. Furthermore, he says that the regions known as the 'Dravida' countries (Southern India) where the sacred rivers known as Kaveri, the west-flowing Mahanadi river (Periyar), Tamraparni, Kritamala and Payaswini (Palar) will have a particularly large number of worshippers of Narayana who, drinking the waters of these rivers, will become pure and develop true devotion to God.
We are all therefore very lucky to be born in this age of Kali yuga. God has given us a number of valuable spiritual blessings:
1. Human body (the only body capable of granting a soul liberation)
2. Strong desire for spiritual liberation (the one desire that defeats all worldly desires)
3. The care of a Guru (either God as God, or manifested as a self-realised soul)
(The above three according to Adi Shankaracharya are only acquired by the grace of God)
4. Birth in Kali yuga (the most precious yuga for sadhana and attainment of God)
5. A powerful attraction for His holy names, a strong desire for japa and kirtan (the ideal, most effective sadhana for this age according to rishis in the Puranas and recent sages such as Tulsidas, Ramakrishna and Sivananda)
What more can we ask for? Honestly, we've all been given everything we need to attain God! With all our trials and tribulations in life, we are really very blessed.
All we need to do is remember our blessings and keep up the daily sadhana. We are all bound to attain Him soon. If He will not give darshan to us who long to see Him, then who will He give darshan to? Sivananda says it is not so very difficult to get His darshan and that we must strive to attain Him in this lifetime itself.
He says: "Sankirtan Yoga is the easiest, quickest, safest, cheapest and best way for attaining God-realization in this age." (see link below for his inspiring article on sankirtan yoga)
http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/sankirtanyoga.htm
May God and Guru bless us all with sincerity in our sadhana and realisation in this very lifetime itself.
Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche. A very happy and spiritually-fruitful Navaratri to you.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
The ancient scripture, the Srimad Bhagavatam, describes life on Earth in Kali yuga, also known as the age of quarrels. It describes human beings as being mostly materialistic, full of worries and anxieties, running after sensual pleasures alone, and with little time or interest in acquiring spiritual wisdom and bliss. It says that this will be the age of hypocrisy where unethical people pose as spiritual leaders, and where rulers (modern day politicians) will steal money away from the people for their own benefit. The Bhagavatam seems to pretty accurately describe the goings-on on our planet today.
However, along with the description of all the misery in Kali yuga, the Bhagavatam mentions that it has one tremendously great virtue that cancels out the effect of all the negativity if one makes use of it. This virtue is so great, says the Bhagavatam, that great souls who were born in the previous spiritual ages yearn to be fortunate enough to be born in Kali yuga.
What is this great virtue of Kali yuga? Let me quote the sage Shuka who describes this to the King Parikshit in the Bhagavatam (12th section or 'skandha'):
Shuka says:
"Kaler dosha nidhe rajan, asti hyeko mahan gunah,
Kirtanadeva Krishnasya, mukta sangah param vrajet"
Meaning:
"The Kali yuga is an ocean of imperfections O King, but it certainly has one supreme virtue,
Singing the names of Krishna will grant one the supreme state/liberation"
Shuka goes on to say that "Whatever was attained by meditation in the Satya yuga, by yajna (fire sacrifice) in the Treta yuga, by ritualistic worship in the Dwapara yuga, can be attained by kirtana (singing the names of God) in Kali yuga".
In the 11th section of the Bhagavatam, the teaching of the nine great yogis (navayogis) to the noble King Nimi is given:
Here, one of the navayogis, called Karabhajana, explains how people in different yugas worship Narayana in different forms. He describes how in the first (Satya) yuga, Vishnu is worshipped in a fair white form, and is praised by people by the terms 'Ishwara', 'Paramatma', 'Hamsa', 'Yogeshwara' and so on. People would worship Him mainly through peaceful meditation in this first age.
In the second (Treta) yuga, he describes people as worshipping Narayana in a form that is red in colour and made up of the Vedas. Here, people praised Him by His names 'Vishnu', 'Yajna', 'Sarvadeva' and others and worshipped Him mainly through yajna (holy fire ritual, also called homam).
In the third (Dwapara) yuga, Karabhajana tells Nimi that that people worship Narayana in His blue-complexioned form, wearing a yellow silken cloth and jewels. Here He would be praised by people as 'Sankarshana', 'Aniruddha' and so on, and be worshipped by specific rituals.
In the fourth (current, Kali) yuga, the yogi explains that people will worship Narayana with a form that is black in colour, and that recital of His names and excellences would be the chief means of worship.
Karabhajana goes on to say that great souls regard a birth in Kali yuga as more precious than in the other three yugas. He explains that this is because simple spiritual practices in this age yield great results, and it is much easier to attain God in this age than the other three.
He states that people born in other yugas yearn to take birth in Kali yuga because more devotees of Narayana are born in this age than others. Furthermore, he says that the regions known as the 'Dravida' countries (Southern India) where the sacred rivers known as Kaveri, the west-flowing Mahanadi river (Periyar), Tamraparni, Kritamala and Payaswini (Palar) will have a particularly large number of worshippers of Narayana who, drinking the waters of these rivers, will become pure and develop true devotion to God.
We are all therefore very lucky to be born in this age of Kali yuga. God has given us a number of valuable spiritual blessings:
1. Human body (the only body capable of granting a soul liberation)
2. Strong desire for spiritual liberation (the one desire that defeats all worldly desires)
3. The care of a Guru (either God as God, or manifested as a self-realised soul)
(The above three according to Adi Shankaracharya are only acquired by the grace of God)
4. Birth in Kali yuga (the most precious yuga for sadhana and attainment of God)
5. A powerful attraction for His holy names, a strong desire for japa and kirtan (the ideal, most effective sadhana for this age according to rishis in the Puranas and recent sages such as Tulsidas, Ramakrishna and Sivananda)
What more can we ask for? Honestly, we've all been given everything we need to attain God! With all our trials and tribulations in life, we are really very blessed.
All we need to do is remember our blessings and keep up the daily sadhana. We are all bound to attain Him soon. If He will not give darshan to us who long to see Him, then who will He give darshan to? Sivananda says it is not so very difficult to get His darshan and that we must strive to attain Him in this lifetime itself.
He says: "Sankirtan Yoga is the easiest, quickest, safest, cheapest and best way for attaining God-realization in this age." (see link below for his inspiring article on sankirtan yoga)
http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/sankirtanyoga.htm
May God and Guru bless us all with sincerity in our sadhana and realisation in this very lifetime itself.
Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche. A very happy and spiritually-fruitful Navaratri to you.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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