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Question - 24
Kali Yuga began 3179 years before the beginning of Shalivahana Shaka in CE 78, which gave the year 3101 BCE. On what basis this year was determined as the beginning of Kali Yuga?
Answer:
The beginning of Kali Yuga was determined by the time Krishna left his mortal coils.
Purana-s such as Vishnu Purana, Brahma Purana, Matsya Purana and Bhagavata Purana have stated that Kali Yuga dawned at the moment Krishna left this world.
Veda Vyasa also has stated in Bhagavata Purana that "Those who scientifically understand the past declare that on the very day that Lord Krishna departed for the spiritual world, the influence of the Kali Age began."
The last line “iti prāhuh purā-vidah” – thus say the experts of
the past – conveys that the linking the departure
of Krishna with the advent of Kali was not an arbitrary decision, but one that seemed to have been discussed
and accepted
unanimously.
At the time of his departure no one knew that Kali
Yuga had begun because his departure came to be known to the outside world only
after seven months. It sent shock waves such that the Pandava-s decided to relinquish
their householder (grahasta) status and take up sanyasa. Meanwhile considerable
discussion had taken place among the sages on the date of his departure and the
planetary conditions they were tracking all the time. This is indicated by the
term “purā-vidah”
in the above verse by Vyasa. They
had unanimously declared that both the events – Krishna leaving the earth and
the congregation of all the planets marking the start of a Yuga –
had occurred at the same time.
Thus, only months after the
actual date of departure of Krishna which also coincided with a super conjunction
of planets, the sages declared the date of Kali Yuga as having started.
Only two markers determined the
Kali Yuga date:-
1. Departure of Krishna
2. Congregation of all planets
(except Rahu) at the beginning of Aries.
Two other historical events occurred
following this:
1.
The
Pandava-s abdicating the throne.
2. Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna becoming the King
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