From the very moment a person is born, a hundred of their previous births are purified. No matter what births they have taken, wherever they have lived, or among whatever creatures they have dwelled, if that person is devoted to me, engaged in my worship, and endowed with my qualities, then simply by hearing of my virtues—with joy and with their hairs standing on end—they become transformed. Such a devotee seeks neither happiness nor liberation, nor even the four types of proximity to me. They do not covet the status of Indra, Manu, or even the gods, though these are exceedingly rare and difficult to attain. For, in the course of time, universes themselves perish, and the gods, including Brahmā, are not spared from dissolution. But my devotees, having earned a birth in the land of Bhārata—a birth that is exceedingly rare—wander upon this earth. Thus, all that is appropriate has been spoken as revealed in the Padma Purana. Nārāyaṇa then spoke: By the curse of Gaṅgā, she herself remained at the feet of Hari during the age of Kali. Bhāratī journeyed to Bhārata, and Brāhmī, beloved of Brahmā, pervaded the entire universe, manifesting as a flowing stream. Sarasvatī thus became a river, a supremely purifying sacred place. Later, the auspicious Bhāgīrathī was brought to earth by the efforts of Bhagiratha. At that very moment, Shiva received her upon his head. Padma, in her form, departed and became the river Padmavati, and by yet another form, she took birth in Bharata. Previously, Sarasvatī was cursed, and later she received a curse from Hari as well. After residing in Bharata for five thousand years of Kali, all the sacred places—except for Kashi and Vrindavana—were affected. Shalagrama, the form of Hari, and Jagannatha in Bharata, along with the Vaishnava Puranas, conch shells, rites of shraddha and tarpan, the worship of Hari, the chanting of his name, and the praise of his deeds and virtues, as well as goodness, truth, righteousness, the Vedas, and the village deities—all these became entangled in left-handed practices, filled with falsehood and deceit. Righteousness faded, and the observance of Ekadashi was abandoned. People became deceitful, cruel, hypocritical, and consumed by arrogance. There arose divisions among men, and among women, marriages and disputes proliferated. All people fell under the sway of women, and in every household, promiscuity became common. The mistress of the house was the wife, and the husband became inferior even to the servant. Those who acted most powerfully in the home were relatives connected by birth, and a man’s acquaintances determined his kinship. The four varnas—Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras—came to be defined by birth and conduct, but in the Kali age, all four adopted the ways of the mlecchas. The lineages of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas began to serve the Shudras, becoming cooks, runners, and bullock-cart drivers. Nature itself suffered: trees bore no fruit, and women were without children. Husbands and wives lacked affection, and householders were deprived of happiness. Rivers, streams, ponds, and caves ran dry. Among hundreds of thousands, not even a single virtuous person could be found. After this, only wicked occupations and disgraceful ways prevailed.