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{{short description|Last of four yugas (ages) in Hindu cosmology}}
{{Other uses|Kalyug (disambiguation)}}
{{Hatnote|This article is about the age associated with [[Kali (demon)]]. It is not to be confused with [[Kali|goddess Kālī]].}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
'''''Kali Yuga''''' ([[Devanagari]]: कलियुग), in [[Hinduism]], is the fourth, shortest, 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>{{cite book|author-link=John D. Smith |last=Smith |first=John D. |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YULAQAAMAAJ |title=The Mahābhārata: an abridged translation |publisher=[[Penguin Classics]] |isbn=978-0-670-08415-9 |pages=200}}</ref>

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> ''[[Brahmanda Purana]]'' (2.3.74.241),<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Ch. 74, Royal Dynasties, Sloka 241 |title=The Brahmanda Purana |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12922/page/n238/mode/1up |volume=Part III |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1958 |page=950 |quote=Kali Yuga began on the day when Krsna passed on to heaven. Understand how it is calculated.}}</ref> ''[[Vayu Purana]]'' (2.37.422),<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Ch. 37, Royal Dynasties, Sloka 422 |title=The Vayu Purana |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/the-vayu-purana-part-2-ancient-indian-tradition-and-mythology/page/824/mode/1up |volume=Part II |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1988 |page=824 | isbn=81-208-0455-4 |quote=Kali Yuga had started on the very day when Krsna passed away.}}</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#Death and ascension|Krishna's death]] marked the end of ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' and the start of ''Kali Yuga'', which is dated to 17/18 February 3102&nbsp;[[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}}&nbsp;[[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.}}{{efn|Calculations exclude [[year zero]]. 1{{nbsp}}BCE to 1{{nbsp}}CE is one year, not two.}}

Near the end of ''Kali Yuga'', when virtues are at their worst, a cataclysm and a re-establishment of ''[[Dharma#Hinduism|dharma]]'' occur to usher in the next cycle's ''Krita (Satya) Yuga'', prophesied to occur by [[Kalki]].{{snf|Merriam-Webster|1999|page=629 (Kalki)|ps=: At the end of the present Kali age, when virtue and religion have disappeared into CHAOS and the world is ruled by unjust men, Kalki will appear to destroy the wicked and usher in a new age.{{nbsp}}... According to some myths, Kalki's horse will stamp the earth with its right foot, causing the tortoise that supports the world to drop into the deep. Then Kalki will restore the earth to its initial purity.}}

== Etymology ==
''[[Yuga]]'' ({{langx|sa|युग}}), in this context, means "an age of the world", where its archaic spelling is ''yug'', with other forms of ''yugam'', {{IAST|yugānāṃ}}, and ''yuge'', derived from ''yuj'' ({{langx|sa|युज्||to join or yoke}}), believed derived from {{lang|ine-x-proto|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}}<br>{{cite web |title=yuga |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yuga |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=Yuga |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/yuga |website=Wisdom Library |date=29 June 2012 |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=युज् (yuj) |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/युज्#Sanskrit |website=[[Wiktionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=*yeug- |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/*yeug- |website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=yug |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yug |website=[[Wiktionary]] |date=6 June 2022 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>

''Kali Yuga'' ({{langx|sa|कलियुग|kaliyuga or kali-yuga}}) means "the age of [[Kali (demon)|Kali]]", "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}}<br>{{cite web |title=Kali Yuga |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga |website=[[Wiktionary]] |date=25 November 2020 |access-date=2021-02-27}}<br>{{cite web |title=Kaliyuga, Kali-yuga |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kaliyuga |website=Wisdom Library |date=11 April 2009 |access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref>

A complete description of ''Kali Yuga'' is found in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', ''[[Manusmriti]]'', ''[[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=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.<br>⁠— {{cite book |editor-last=Hultzsch |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:<br>* p. 177: Dvapara, Yuga or age; Dvapara-yuga, do.<br>* p. 301: Kali-yuga, age of Kali<br>* p. 364: Kritayuga, age; Kritayuga, do.<br>— {{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]] left for his realm in 3102 BCE.]]

The start date and time of ''Kali Yuga'' is traditionally dated to midnight (00:00) on 17/18 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|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.}}{{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.]}}{{sfn|Gupta|2010|p=8|ps=: The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight on 17/18 February 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.}}<ref>The Induand the Rg-Veda, Page 16, By Egbert Richter-Ushanas, {{ISBN|81-208-1405-3}}</ref>

Astronomer and mathematician [[Aryabhata]], who was born in 476 CE, finished his book ''[[Aryabhatiya]]'' in 499 CE, in which he wrote "When the three yugas (satyug, tretayug and dwaparyug) have elapsed and 60 x 60 (3,600) years of kaliyug have already passed, I am now 23 years old." Based on this information, ''Kali Yuga'' began in 3102 BCE, which is calculated from 3600 - (476 + 23) + 1 (no [[year zero]] from 1 BCE to 1 CE).<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 |last=Abhyankar |first=K. D. |journal=Astronomical Society of India, Bulletin |volume=21 |issue=3–4 |year=1993}}</ref>

== 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}}</ref><ref name="Springer measurements">{{cite book |author-last=Gupta |author-first=S. V. |year=2010 |chapter=Ch. 1.2.4 Time Measurements |editor-last1=Hull |editor-first1=Robert |editor-last2=Osgood |editor-first2=Richard M. Jr. |editor-link2=Richard M. Osgood Jr. |editor-last3=Parisi |editor-first3=Jurgen |editor-last4=Warlimont |editor-first4=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}}</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 last 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;"
|+ ''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)
| 392,899–428,899{{nbsp}}CE
| class="nowrap" | 36,000 (100)
|-
| colspan="3" style="font-weight:bold; padding-top:5px;" | Years: 432,000 [[Tropical year|solar]] (1,200 divine)
|-
| colspan="2" style="background-color:var(--background-color-base, #fff); color:inherit; border-width:1px 0px 0px 0px; font-size:80%; padding-top:0; text-align:left;" | {{sup|(*) Current.}}
| style="background-color:var(--background-color-base, #fff); color:inherit; 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 [(Brahma)] 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.
}}

== 10,000-year sub-period ==
A dialogue between [[Krishna]] and [[Ganga (goddess)|Ganga]] found in the ''[[Brahma Vaivarta Purana]]'' describes that for the first 10,000 years of ''Kali Yuga'', the ill effects of ''Kali Yuga'' will be reduced due to the presence of [[Bhakti yoga|bhakti yogis]] and the ability to nullify sinful reactions, after which Earth will be devoid of devout religious people and be shackled by ''Kali Yuga''.<ref name=Chaturvedi_Nagar>{{cite book |first1=Ramesh |last1=Chaturvedi |first2=Shantilal |last2=Nagar |title=''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' |publisher=Parimal Publications |isbn=978-81-7110-170-2 |year=2001 |url=http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/kaliyuga.htm |volume=Book 4 |chapter=129}} (verses 49–60)</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=November 2020}} [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism]] believes this sub-period started later in ''Kali Yuga'' with the birth of [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]] (1486 CE).<ref>{{cite web |title=Kali-yuga and Sakabda |url=http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/kaliyuga.htm |website=Veda - Vedic Knowledge Online |access-date=2023-05-15}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==
Hinduism often symbolically represents morality (''[[dharma]]'') as an Indian bull. In the [[Satya Yuga]], the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, which is reduced by one in each age that follows. The four legs of Dharma are '''{{IAST|Tapas}}''' {{literal translation|austerity}}, '''{{IAST|Śauca}}''' {{literal translation|cleanliness}}, '''{{IAST|Dayā}}''' {{literal translation|compassion}} and '''{{IAST|Satya}}''' {{literal translation|truth}}.<ref>{{cite book| date = 1974| title = Purāṇam| volume=16| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ge9jAAAAMAAJ| location = Varanasi| publisher = All-India Kasiraja Trust| page = 69}}</ref> 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, the one representing {{IAST|Satya}}.<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>

===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 news|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|date=29 June 2019 |last1=Vajpeyi |first1=Ananya }}</ref>

=== Prophesied events ===
A discourse by [[Markandeya]] in the [[Mahabharata]] identifies some of the attributes of people, animals, nature, and weather during the Kali Yuga.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03189.htm Mahabharata SECTION CLXXXIX]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-01-28 |title=Story of Kali |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/compilation/puranic-encyclopaedia/d/doc241670.html |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

== 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-first=Christopher |editor-last=Bamford}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Across the Great Border Fault: The Naturalist Myth in America |first=Kevin T. |last=Dann |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |year=2000}}</ref> and in the writings of [[Helena Blavatsky]], [[W.Q. Judge]], [[Rudolf Steiner]], the [[Esoteric Hitlerism|esoteric Nazi-sympathiser]] [[Savitri Devi]]<ref name="Devi">{{cite book|title=Memories and Reflections of an Aryan Woman |first=Savitri |last=Devi |publisher=Tradition |year=1976}}</ref><ref name="Greer 2003">{{cite book| title=The New Encyclopedia of the Occult | first=John Michael |last=Greer |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |year=2003 |chapter=Devi, Savitri |pages=130-131}}</ref> 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 (time)|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)]]
* [[Kali ahargana]]
* [[List of numbers in Hindu scriptures]]
* [[Puranic chronology]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist|30em}}

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

== Further reading ==
{{columns-list|
* {{cite journal
|author-last=Fleet
|author-first=J. F. 
|date=April 1911
|title=The Kaliyuga Era of B.C. 3102 (Part I)
|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25189878
|journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
|volume=
|issue=
|pages= 479–496
|jstor=25189878 
}}
* {{cite journal
|author-last=Fleet
|author-first=J. F. 
|date=July 1911
|title=The Kaliyuga Era of B.C. 3102 (Part II)
|journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
|volume=
|issue=
|pages= 675–698
|jstor=25189910 
|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25189910
}}
* {{cite book
|author-last=Glass
|author-first=Marty
|date=2004
|title=Yuga: An Anatomy of our Fate
|location=Hillsdale, NY
|publisher=Sophia Perennis
}}
* {{cite book
|author-last=Guénon
|author-first=René
|author-link=René Guénon
|date=2004
|title=The Crisis of the Modern World
|translator-last1=Osborne
|translator-first1=Arthur
|translator-last2=Pallis
|translator-first2=Marco
|translator-last3=Nicholson
|translator-first3=Richard C.
|location=Hillsdale, NY
|publisher=Sophia Perennis
}}
* {{cite journal
|author-last=Sotillos
|author-first=Samuel Bendeck
|date=2013
|title=New Age or the Kali-Yuga?
|journal=AHP Perspective
|volume=2013
|issue=April/May
|pages=15–21
}}
* {{cite book
|author-last=Raghavan
|author-first=K. Srinivasa
|date=1969
|title=The Date of the Mahabharata War and the Kali Yugadhi
|location=Srinivasanagar, Tambaram
|publisher=Srigam Printers
|url=https://archive.org/details/dateofmahabharat00srinuoft/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater
}}
* {{cite book
|author-last=Upton
|author-first=Charles
|author-link=Charles Upton (poet)
|date=2005
|title=Legends of the End: Prophecies of the End Times, Antichrist, Apocalypse, and Messiah from Eight Religious Traditions
|location=Hillsdale, NY
|publisher=Sophia Perennis
}}

}}

== 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]]