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{{Italic title}}{{short description|Last of four yugas (ages) in Hindu cosmology}}
{{Other uses|Kalyug (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|text = [[Kali|goddess Kali]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}

The '''''Kali Yuga''''', in [[Hinduism]], is the fourth and worst of the four ''[[yuga]]s'' (world ages) in a ''[[Yuga Cycle]]'', preceded by ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' and followed by the next cycle's ''[[Satya Yuga|Krita (Satya) Yuga]]''. It is believed to be the present age, which is full of conflict and sin.<ref>{{Dictionary.com|yuga|access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref><ref>{{Dictionary.com|kali yuga|access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref><ref name=smithjohnd>[[w:John D. Smith|Smith, John D.]] (2009). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0YULAQAAMAAJ The Mahābhārata: an abridged translation]''. [[w:Penguin Classics|Penguin Classics]] ({{ISBN|978-0-670-08415-9}}), p. 200</ref>

The "Kali" of ''Kali Yuga'' means "strife", "discord", "quarrel" or "contention" and ''Kali Yuga'' is associated with the [[Kali (demon)|demon Kali]] (not to be confused with the [[Kali|goddess Kālī]]).{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

According to [[Purana|Puranic sources]],{{efn|The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' (1.18.6),<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Skanda I, Ch. 18: Curse of the Brahmana, Sloka 6 |title=Bhagavata Purana |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/BhagavataPuranaMotilalEnglish/page/n141/mode/1up |volume=Part I |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass|Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited]] |year=1950 |page=137 |quote=On the very day, and at the very moment the Lord [Krishna] left the earth, on that very day this Kali, the source of irreligiousness, (in this world), entered here.}}</ref> ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' (5.38.8),<ref>{{Cite book |author-last=Wilson |author-first=H. H. |author-link=Horace Hayman Wilson |year=1895 |chapter=Book V, Ch. 38: Arjuna burns the dead, etc., Sloka 8 |title=The Vishnu Purana |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47536/page/n73/mode/1up |publisher=S.P.C.K. Press |page=61 |quote=The Parijata tree proceeded to heaven, and on the same day that Hari [Krishna] departed from the earth the dark-bodied Kali age descended.}}</ref> and ''[[Brahma Purana]]'' (2.103.8)<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Ch. 103, Episode of Krsna concluded, Sloka 8 |title=Brahma Purana |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98294/page/n285/mode/1up |volume=Part II |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1955 |page=515 |quote=It was on the day on which Krishna left the Earth and went to heaven that the Kali age, with time for its body set in.}}</ref> state that the day [[Krishna]] left the earth was the day that the ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' ended and the ''Kali Yuga'' began.}} [[Krishna]]'s departure marks the end of ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' and the start of ''Kali Yuga'', which is dated to 17/18 February 3102 [[Common Era|BCE]].<ref name="Blackwell Companion to Hinduism" />{{sfn|Burgess|1935|p=19|ps=: The instant at which the [kali yuga] Age is made to commence is midnight on the meridian of Ujjayini, at the end of the 588,465th and beginning of the 588,466th day (civil reckoning) of the Julian Period, or between the 17th and 18th of February 1612 J.P., or 3102 B.C. [4713 BCE = 0 [[Julian day#Julian Period|JP]]; 4713 BCE - 1612 + 1 (no [[year zero]]) = 3102 BCE.]}} Lasting for 432,000 years (1,200 divine years), ''Kali Yuga'' began {{formatnum:{{NEXTYEAR|3101}}}} years ago and has {{formatnum:{{sum|432000|-{{NEXTYEAR|3101}}}}}} years left as of {{CURRENTYEAR}} [[Common Era|CE]].<ref name="Godwin 2011"/><ref name="Merriam-Webster"/><ref name="Springer measurements"/> ''Kali Yuga'' will end in the year 428,899 CE.{{sfn|Godwin|2011|p=301|ps=: The Hindu astronomers agree that the [Dvapara Yuga ended and] Kali Yuga began at midnight between February 17 and 18, 3102 BCE. Consequently [Kali Yuga] is due to end about 427,000 CE, whereupon a new Golden Age will dawn.}}

==Etymology==
'''''[[Yuga]]''''' ({{lang-sa|युग}}), in this context, means "an age of the world", or epoch, where its archaic spelling is '''''yug''''', with other forms of '''''yugam''''', '''{{IAST|yugānāṃ}}''', and '''''yuge''''', derived from '''''yuj''''' ({{lang-sa|युज्||to join or yoke}}), believed derived from '''''{{PIE|*yeug-}}''''' ([[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]: {{lit.}} 'to join or unite').<ref>{{cite web |title=युग (yuga) |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/युग#Sanskrit |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}} {{cite web |title=yuga |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yuga |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}} {{cite web |title=Yuga |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/yuga |website=Wisdom Library |access-date=2021-02-27}} {{cite web |title=युज् (yuj) |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/युज्#Sanskrit |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}} {{cite web |title=*yeug- |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/*yeug- |website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref>

'''''Kali Yuga''''' ({{lang-sa|कलियुग|kaliyuga or kali-yuga}}) means "the age of [[Kali (demon)]]", "the age of darkness", "the age of vice and misery", or "the age of quarrel and hypocrisy".<ref>{{cite web |title=कलि (kali) |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/कलि#Sanskrit |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}} {{cite web |title=Kali Yuga |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}} {{cite web |title=Kaliyuga, Kali-yuga |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kaliyuga |website=Wisdom Library |access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref>

''Kali Yuga'' is described in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', ''[[Manusmriti]]'', ''[[Surya Siddhanta]]'', ''[[Vishnu Smriti]]'', and various [[Puranas]].<ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Kane |author-first=P. V. |author-link=Pandurang Vaman Kane |date=September 1936 |editor-last1=Sukthankar |editor-first1=Dr. V. S. |editor-link1=Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar |editor-last2=Fyzee |editor-first2=A. A. A. |editor-link2=Asaf Ali Asghar Fyzee |editor-last3=Bhagwat |editor-first3=Prof. N. K. |title=Kalivarjya (actions forbidden in the Kali Age) |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.281640/page/n202/mode/1up |journal=Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |publisher=[[The Asiatic Society of Mumbai|The Asiatic Society of Bombay]] |page=4}}</ref>

==Epigraphy==
According to [[Pandurang Vaman Kane|P. V. Kane]], one of the earliest inscriptions with one of the four ''yugas'' named is the Pikira grant of [[Simhavarman II|Pallava Simhavarman]] (mid-5th century{{nbsp}}CE):{{sfn|Kane|1936|p=4|ps=: Among the earliest is the Pikira grant of Pallava Simhavarman where we have the words 'Who was ever ready to extricate dharma that had become sunk owing to the evil effects of Kaliyuga.'}}<ref>The Pikira grant inscription has the word "kaliyuga" on line 10 located on 3rd plate, first side. ⁠— {{cite book |editor-last=Hultzsch, Ph. D. |editor-first=E. |editor-link=E. Hultzsch |year=1981 |volume=VIII — 1905–06 |title=Epigraphia Indica and Records of the Archaeological Survey of India |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56654/page/n208/mode/1up |location=Bombay |publisher=Education Society's Press |page=162
}}</ref>

{{blockquote
|text=Who was ever ready to extricate dharma that had become sunk owing to the evil effects of Kaliyuga.
|source=Pikira grant of Pallava Simhavarman, line 10 (3rd plate, front)
}}

Other [[Epigraphy|epigraphs]] exist with named ''yugas'' in the [[Mysore State|Old Mysore]] region of [[India]], published in ''[[Epigraphia Carnatica]]''.<ref>Each term has an index of volumes: * p. 177: Dvapara, Yuga or age; Dvapara-yuga, do. * p. 301: Kali-yuga, age of Kali * p. 364: Kritayuga, age; Kritayuga, do. — {{cite book |author-last=Krishna |author-first=Dr. M. H. |author-link=M. H. Krishna |year=1934 |title=Mysore Archeological Survey: Epigraphia Carnatica |url=https://archive.org/details/p1epigraphiacarnat13myso |volume=XIII (Part I): General Index |publisher=Government Press |location=Bangalore |pages=[https://archive.org/details/p1epigraphiacarnat13myso/page/177/mode/1up 177], [https://archive.org/details/p1epigraphiacarnat13myso/page/301/mode/1up 301], [https://archive.org/details/p1epigraphiacarnat13myso/page/364/mode/1up 364]}}</ref>

==Start date==
[[File:BHALKA-03.jpg|thumb|Information kiosk at [[Bhalka]], the place from where Krishna returned to his heavenly abode]]
According to the ''[[Surya Siddhanta]]'', Kali Yuga began at midnight (00:00) on 18 February 3102 BCE.<ref name="Blackwell Companion to Hinduism">{{cite book |author-last1=Matchett |author-first1=Freda |author-last2=Yano |author-first2=Michio |year=2003 |chapter=Part II, Ch. 6: The Puranas / Part III, Ch. 18: Calendar, Astrology, and Astronomy |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Gavin |editor-link=Gavin Flood |title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKBxa-MNqA8C&pg=PA390 |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |page=390 |isbn=0631215352 |quote=The [Kali yuga] epoch arrived at ... was midnight of February 17/18 in 3102 BC according to the midnight (''ardharatika'') school, and the sunrise of February 18 (Friday) of the same year according to the sunrise (''audayika'') school.}}</ref>{{sfn|Burgess|1935|p=19|ps=: The instant at which the [kali yuga] Age is made to commence is midnight on the meridian of Ujjayini, at the end of the 588,465th and beginning of the 588,466th day (civil reckoning) of the Julian Period, or between the 17th and 18th of February 1612 J.P., or 3102 B.C. [4713 BCE = 0 [[Julian day#Julian Period|JP]]; 4713 BCE - 1612 + 1 (no [[year zero]]) = 3102 BCE.]}}<ref>The Induand the Rg-Veda, Page 16, By Egbert Richter-Ushanas, {{ISBN|81-208-1405-3}}</ref> This is also considered the date on which [[Krishna]] left the earth to return to [[Vaikuntha]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lord Krishna lived for 125 years.|work=The Times of India |date=8 September 2004|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lord-Krishna-lived-for-125-years/articleshow/844211.cms|access-date=31 December 2015 }}</ref> This information is placed at the temple of [[Bhalka]], the place of this incident (see photo).

According to the astronomer and mathematician [[Aryabhata]], Kali Yuga started in 3102 BCE. He finished his book ''Aryabhattiyam'' in 499 CE, in which he gave the exact year of the beginning of Kali Yuga. He writes, in the "year 3600 of the Kali Age" at the age of 23. As it was the 3600th year of the Kali Age when he was 23 years old, and given that Aryabhata was born in 476 CE, the beginning of the Kali Yuga would come to (3600 - (476 + 23) + 1 (One year from 1 BCE to 1 CE)) = 3102 BCE.<ref>H.D. Dharm Chakravarty Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. [http://www.encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/articles/51_the_bhartiya_chronology.htm Encyclopedia Of Authentic Hinduism] The True History and the Religion of India, Hardbound, 2nd Edition, 2003, {{ISBN|0967382319}} Retrieved 2015-01-21</ref>

According to K. D. Abhyankar, the starting point of Kali Yuga is an extremely rare planetary alignment, which is depicted in the [[Mohenjo-daro]] seals.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Astronomical significance to two Mohenjodaro seals|bibcode=1993BASI...21..475A |page= 477|author=Abhyankar, K. D.|journal=Astronomical Society of India, Bulletin|volume = 21|issue = 3–4|year = 1993}}</ref> Going by this alignment, the year 3102 BCE is slightly off. The actual date for this alignment is 7 February 3104 BCE. There is also sufficient proof to believe that Vrdhha [[Garga (sage)|Garga]] knew of [[precession]]s at least by 500 BCE. Garga had calculated the rate of precession to within 30% of what the modern scholars estimate.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Astronomical significance to two Mohenjodaro seals|bibcode=1993BASI...21..475A|page =475|author=Abhyankar, K. D.|journal=Astronomical Society of India, Bulletin|volume = 21|issue = 3–4|year = 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5f_19.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-02-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214201609/http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5f_19.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-14 }}</ref>{{Better source|reason=Citations are a bulletin from a journal.|date=July 2020}}

==Duration and structure==
{{See also|Yuga Cycle|Hindu units of time|List of numbers in Hindu scriptures}}

[[Hindu texts]] describe four ''[[yuga]]s'' (world ages)⁠ in a ''[[Yuga Cycle]]'', where, starting in order from the first age of ''[[Satya Yuga|Krita (Satya) Yuga]]'', each ''yuga's'' length decreases by one-fourth (25%), giving proportions of 4:3:2:1. Each ''yuga'' is described as having a main period ({{aka}} ''yuga'' proper) preceded by its {{IAST|yuga-sandhyā}} (dawn) and followed by its {{IAST|yuga-sandhyāṃśa}} (dusk)⁠, where each [[twilight]] (dawn/dusk) lasts for one-tenth (10%) of its main period. Lengths are given in divine years (years of the gods), each lasting for 360 [[Tropical year|solar]] (human) years.<ref name="Godwin 2011">{{cite book |author-last=Godwin |author-first=Joscelyn |author-link=Joscelyn Godwin |year=2011 |title=Atlantis and the Cycles of Time: Prophecies, Traditions, and Occult Revelations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H14oDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Inner Traditions]] |isbn=9781594778575 |pages=300–301}}</ref><ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite encyclopedia |author=Merriam-Webster |year=1999 |editor-last1=Doniger |editor-first1=Wendy |editor-link1=Wendy Doniger |editor-last2=Hawley |editor-first2=John Stratton |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440 |url-access=registration |encyclopedia=[[Merriam-Webster]] |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster|Merriam-Webster, Incorporated]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/445/mode/1up 445 (Hinduism)], [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/1159/mode/1up 1159 (Yuga)] |isbn=0877790442 |quote= * HINDUISM: Myths of time and eternity:{{nbsp}}... Each yuga is preceded by an intermediate "dawn" and "dusk." The Krita yuga lasts 4,000 god-years, with a dawn and dusk of 400 god-years each, or a total of 4,800 god-years; Treta a total of 3,600 god-years; Dvapara 2,400 god-years; and Kali (the current yuga) 1,200 god-years. A mahayuga thus lasts 12,000 god-years{{nbsp}}... Since each god-year lasts 360 human years, a mahayuga is 4,320,000 years long in human time. Two thousand mahayugas form one kalpa (eon) [and pralaya], which is itself but one day in the life of Brahma, whose full life lasts 100 years; the present is the midpoint of his life. Each kalpa is followed by an equally long period of abeyance (pralaya), in which the universe is asleep. Seemingly the universe will come to an end at the end of Brahma's life, but Brahmas too are innumerable, and a new universe is reborn with each new Brahma. * YUGA: Each yuga is progressively shorter than the preceding one, corresponding to a decline in the moral and physical state of humanity. Four such yugas (called{{nbsp}}... after throws of an Indian game of dice) make up a mahayuga ("great yuga"){{nbsp}}... The first yuga (Krita) was an age of perfection, lasting 1,728,000 years. The fourth and most degenerate yuga (Kali) began in 3102 BCE and will last 432,000 years. At the close of the Kali yuga, the world will be destroyed by fire and flood, to be re-created as the cycle resumes. In a partially competing vision of time, Vishnu's 10th and final AVATAR, KALKI, is described as bringing the present cosmic cycle to a close by destroying the evil forces that rule the Kali yuga and ushering in an immediate return to the idyllic Krita yuga.}}</ref><ref name="Springer measurements">{{cite book |author-last=Gupta |author-first=Dr. S. V. |year=2010 |chapter=Ch. 1.2.4 Time Measurements |editor-last1=Hull |editor-first1=Prof. Robert |editor-last2=Osgood, Jr. |editor-first2=Prof. Richard M. |editor-link2=Richard M. Osgood Jr. |editor-last3=Parisi |editor-first3=Prof. Jurgen |editor-last4=Warlimont |editor-first4=Prof. Hans |title=Units of Measurement: Past, Present and Future. International System of Units |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHiKycrLmEQC&pg=PA7 |series=Springer Series in Materials Science: 122 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |pages=6–8 |isbn=9783642007378 |quote=Paraphrased: Deva day equals solar year. Deva lifespan (36,000 solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Mahayuga equals 12,000 Deva (divine) years (4,320,000 solar years), and is divided into 10 charnas consisting of four Yugas: Satya Yuga (4 charnas of 1,728,000 solar years), Treta Yuga (3 charnas of 1,296,000 solar years), Dvapara Yuga (2 charnas of 864,000 solar years), and Kali Yuga (1 charna of 432,000 solar years). Manvantara equals 71 Mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Kalpa (day of Brahma) equals an Adi Sandhya, 14 Manvantaras, and 14 Sandhya Kalas, where 1st Manvantara preceded by Adi Sandhya and each Manvantara followed by Sandhya Kala, each Sandhya lasting same duration as Satya yuga (1,728,000 solar years), during which the entire earth is submerged in water. Day of Brahma equals 1,000 Mahayugas, the same length for a night of Brahma (Bhagavad-gita 8.17). Brahma lifespan (311.04 trillion solar years) equals 100 360-day years, each 12 months. Parardha is 50 Brahma years and we are in the 2nd half of his life. After 100 years of Brahma, the universe starts with a new Brahma. We are currently in the 28th Kali yuga of the first day of the 51st year of the second Parardha in the reign of the 7th (Vaivasvata) Manu. This is the 51st year of the present Brahma and so about 155 trillion years have elapsed. The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight on 17/18 February 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.}}</ref>

''Kali Yuga'', the fourth age in a cycle, lasts for 432,000 years (1,200 divine years), where its main period lasts for 360,000 years (1,000 divine years) and its two twilights each lasts for 36,000 years (100 divine years). The current cycle's ''Kali Yuga'', the present age, has the following dates based on it starting in 3102{{nbsp}}BCE:<ref name="Godwin 2011"/><ref name="Merriam-Webster"/><ref name="Springer measurements"/>

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="border-width:0; text-align:right;"
|+ style="font-size:120%;" | ''Kali Yuga''
|-
! scope="col" | Part
! scope="col" | Start (– End)
! scope="col" | Length
|-
! scope="row" | ''Kali-yuga-sandhya'' (dawn)*
| 3102{{nbsp}}BCE
| class="nowrap" | 36,000 (100)
|-
! scope="row" | ''Kali-yuga'' (proper)
| 32,899{{nbsp}}CE
| class="nowrap" | 360,000 (1,000)
|-
! scope="row" | ''Kali-yuga-sandhyamsa'' (dusk)
| 392,899{{nbsp}}CE{{snd}}428,899{{nbsp}}CE
| class="nowrap" | 36,000 (100)
|-
| colspan="3" style="background-color:#ffffff; font-weight:bold; padding-top:5px;" | Years: 432,000 [[Tropical year|solar]] (1,200 divine)
|-
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width:1px 0px 0px 0px; font-size:80%; padding-top:0; text-align:left;" | {{sup|(*) Current.}}
| style="background-color:#ffffff; border-width:1px 0px 0px 0px; padding-top:0;" | {{sfn|Godwin|2011|p=301|ps=: The Hindu astronomers agree that the [Dvapara Yuga ended and] Kali Yuga began at midnight between February 17 and 18, 3102 BCE. Consequently [Kali Yuga] is due to end about 427,000 CE, whereupon a new Golden Age will dawn.}}
|}

''[[Mahabharata]]'', Book 12 ([[Shanti Parva]]), Ch. 231:<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Dutt |author-first=Manmatha Nath |year=1903 |chapter=Ch. 231 (CCXXXI) |title=A Prose English Translation of The Mahabharata (Translated Literally from the Original Sanskrit text) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142208/page/n272/mode/1up |volume=Book 12 (Shanti Parva) |location=Calcutta |publisher=Elysium Press |page=351 (12.231.17, 19–21)}}.</ref>{{efn|Chapter 224 (CCXXIV) in some sources: ''Mahabharata'' 12.224.}}
{{blockquote
|text=(17) A year (of men) is equal to a day and night of the gods{{nbsp}}... (19) I shall, in their order, tell you the number of years that are for different purposes calculated differently, in the Krita, the Treta, the Dwapara, and the Kali yugas. (20) Four thousand celestial years is the duration of the first or Krita age. The morning of that cycle consists of four hundred years and its evening is of four hundred years. (21) Regarding the other cycles, the duration of each gradually decreases by a quarter in respect of both the principal period with the minor portion and the conjoining portion itself.
}}

''[[Manusmriti]]'', Ch. 1:<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Bühler |author-first=G. |author-link=Georg Bühler |year=1886 |chapter=Ch. 1, The Creation |editor-last=Müller |editor-first=F. Max |editor-link=Max Müller |title=The Laws of Manu: translated with extracts from seven commentaries |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lawsofman00manu/page/n163/mode/1up |series=[[Sacred Books of the East]] |volume=XXV |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=20 (1.67–70)}}</ref>
{{blockquote
|text=(67) A year is a day and a night of the gods{{nbsp}}... (68) But hear now the brief (description of) the duration of a night and a day of Brahman and of the several ages (of the world, yuga) according to their order. (69) They declare that the Krita age (consists of) four thousand years (of the gods); the twilight preceding it consists of as many hundreds, and the twilight following it of the same number. (70) In the other three ages with their twilights preceding and following, the thousands and hundreds are diminished by one (in each).
}}

''[[Surya Siddhanta]]'', Ch. 1:<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Burgess |author-first=Rev. Ebenezer |date=1935 |orig-date=1860 |chapter=Ch. 1: Of the Mean Motions of the Planets. |editor-last=Gangooly |editor-first=Phanindralal |title=Translation of the Surya-Siddhanta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; With notes and an appendix |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/SuryaSiddhantaTranslation/page/n59/mode/1up |publisher=[[University of Calcutta]] |pages=7–9 (1.13–17)}}</ref>
{{blockquote
|text=(13) ... twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the gods. (14) ... Six times sixty [360] of them are a year of the gods{{nbsp}}... (15) Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a Quadruple Age (caturyuga); of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two [4,320,000] solar years (16) Is composed that Quadruple Age, with its dawn and twilight. The difference of the Golden and the other Ages, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Virtue in each, is as follows : (17) The tenth part of an Age, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the Golden and the other Ages, in order : the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.
}}

==Characteristics==
{{Expand section|date=June 2021}}

Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga.<ref>[[Dimitri Kitsikis]], ''L'Orocc, dans l'âge de Kali'', Editions Naaman,1985, {{ISBN|2-89040-359-9}}</ref>

Hinduism often symbolically represents morality (''[[dharma]]'') as an Indian bull. In [[Satya Yuga]], the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, which is reduced by one in each age that follows. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the golden age, so that the bull of Dharma has only one leg.<ref name=Mahabharata>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03189.htm |title=The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Markandeya-Samasya Parva: Section CLXXXIX |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=2013-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{IAST|Bhāgavata Purāṇa}} 1.16.20</ref>

[[File:Kalki1790s.jpg|thumb|[[Kalki]] and his horse, Devadatta.]]
The [[Kali (demon)|demon Kali]] (not to be confused with the [[Kali|goddess Kālī]]) is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and his nemesis is [[Kalki]], the tenth and final [[Dashavatara|Avatar of Vishnu]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

===References in the ''Mahabharata''===
The [[Kurukshetra War]] and the decimation of [[Kaurava]]s thus happened at the ''Yuga-Sandhi'', the point of transition from one yuga to another.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Epic lessons for Kali Yuga: Rereading the 'Mahabharata' in our contemporary moment|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/epic-lessons-for-kali-yuga-rereading-the-mahabharata-in-our-contemporary-moment/article28196232.ece|website=The Hindu}}</ref> The scriptures mention [[Narada]] as having momentarily intercepted the demon Kali on his way to the Earth when [[Duryodhana]] was about to be born in order to make him an embodiment of ''[[arishadvargas]]'' and ''[[adharma]]'' in preparation of the era of decay in values and the consequent havoc.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Prophesied events===
A discourse by [[Markandeya]] in the [[Mahabharata]] identifies some of the attributes of Kali Yuga.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03189.htm Mahabharata SECTION CLXXXIX]</ref>

==10,000-year Golden Age==
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2020}}

The [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]] (related to [[Ratha]]ntara [[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpa]]) mentions a 10,000-year period, starting from the traditional dating of the Kali Yuga epoch, during which [[bhakti]] yogis will be present.<ref name=Chaturvedi_Nagar>Ramesh Chaturvedi, Shantilal Nagar. {{cite book | title = ''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' | publisher = Parimal Publications | isbn = 978-81-7110-170-2| year = 2001 }} [http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/kaliyuga.htm Online Book 4, Chapter 129, versus 49–60]</ref>
==In Sikhism==
{{Expand section|date=June 2021}}

[[Guru Granth Sahib]] on Ang:1185 says:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sikhitothemax.com/page.asp?ShabadID=4214 |title=Enabling Gurmat Knowledge |publisher=SikhiToTheMAX |access-date=2013-01-20}}</ref>
{{blockquote
|text=Now, the Dark Age of Kali Yuga has come. Plant the Naam, the Name of the One Lord. It is not the season to plant other seeds. Do not wander lost in doubt and delusion.
}}

==Other usage==
The Kali Yuga is an important concept in both [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]] and [[Anthroposophy]],<ref name="Steiner">{{cite book|title=Spiritualism, Madame Blavatsky & Theosophy: An Eyewitness View of Occult History : Lectures by Rudolf Steiner|editor= Christopher Bamford}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Across the Great Border Fault: The Naturalist Myth in America|author= Kevin T. Dann |publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2000}}</ref> and in the writings of [[Helena Blavatsky]], [[W.Q. Judge]], [[Rudolf Steiner]], [[Savitri Devi]], and [[Traditionalist School|Traditionalist]] philosophers such as [[René Guénon]] and [[Julius Evola]], among others. [[Rudolf Steiner]] believed that the Kali Yuga ended in 1900.<ref name="Steiner"/>

==See also==
* [[Hindu eschatology]]
* [[Hindu units of time]]
** [[Kalpa (aeon)|Kalpa]] (day of [[Brahma]])
** [[Manvantara]] (age of [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]])
** [[Pralaya]] (period of dissolution)
** [[Yuga Cycle]] (four [[yuga]] ages): [[Satya Yuga|Satya (Krita)]], [[Treta Yuga|Treta]], [[Dvapara Yuga|Dvapara]], and Kali
* [[Historicity of the Mahabharata]]
* [[Itihasa#Hindu Tradition|Itihasa (Hindu Tradition)]]
* [[List of numbers in Hindu scriptures]]
* [[Vedic-Puranic chronology]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{columns-list|
* Glass, Marty ''Yuga: An Anatomy of our Fate'' (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2004)
* Guénon, René ''The Crisis of the Modern World'', translated by Arthur Osborne, Marco Pallis and Richard C. Nicholson (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2004)
* [[Martin Lings|Lings, Martin]] ''The Eleventh Hour: The Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World in the Light of Tradition and Prophecy'' (Cambridge, UK: Archetype, 2002)
* Sotillos, Samuel Bendeck "New Age or the ''Kali-Yuga''?" ''AHP Perspective'', April/May 2013, pp. 15–21.
* [[Charles Upton (poet)|Upton, Charles]] ''Legends of the End: Prophecies of the End Times, Antichrist, Apocalypse, and Messiah from Eight Religious Traditions'' (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2005)
}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wiktionary-inline|Kali Yuga}}

{{Calendars}}
{{Brahmanda}}
{{Doomsday}}

[[Category:Eight Yugas]]
[[Category:Four Yugas]]
[[Category:Hindu eschatology]]
[[Category:Kali (demon)]]
[[Category:Prophecy in Hinduism]]

Kali Yuga - Revision history

Bot at 15:09, 31 August 2023