In the age of Kali, the world underwent profound changes. Acts that once held deep meaning became shallow and symbolic. The simple act of giving was deemed the sole measure of righteousness; marriage was reduced to mere acceptance, stripped of its sacred rituals. Worthiness was judged only by the wearing of fine clothes, and water brought from afar alone marked a place as a holy ford. Deceptive appearances came to be regarded as signs of greatness. In this era, strength alone determined kingship. Among all castes, whoever was the most powerful would rule, regardless of faults or virtue. The people, oppressed by greedy rulers, sought refuge in the valleys of mountains, fleeing the burdens of their lives. Their sustenance became honey, vegetables, roots, fruits, leaves, and flowers. They wore garments fashioned from tree bark, leaves, and coarse cloth, enduring the harshness of cold, wind, heat, and rain. Life itself grew short and fragile; none would live beyond twenty-three years. As the Kali age advanced, people steadily declined, without respite. When the duties prescribed by the Vedas and Smritis were utterly destroyed, and only a faint remnant of virtue remained, a portion of the all-pervading, self-born Lord Vāsudeva—without beginning, middle, or end, and endowed with all qualities—would descend as Kalki. He would be born in the house of Viṣṇuyaśas, the chief Brāhmaṇa of the village of Śambhala. Kalki would destroy the mlecchas, thieves, and those of evil conduct and mind, restoring all duties to their rightful place. With the end of Kali, as night gives way to dawn, the minds of people would become pure and clear, like flawless crystal petals, as if awakening from a deep sleep. Among these purified people, even those who were mature would produce offspring suited to the new time, and those children would embody the standards of the Kṛta (Golden) Age. It is said that when the Moon, Sun, and Jupiter (Bṛhaspati) come together in one sign, the Kṛta Age will indeed arise. O best of sages, thus have the kings of the two great lineages—past, present, and future—been described. From the birth of Parīkṣit to the coronation of Nanda, a period of one thousand and fifty years passed. The Seven Sages, when seen rising first in the sky, mark the constellation that appears at night. They remain joined with that constellation for a hundred years of men; at the time of Parīkṣit, they were in Maghā. Then the Kali age began, consisting of twelve hundred years. When the divine portion of Lord Viṣṇu, born in the family of Vasudeva, ascended to heaven, Kali entered the world. As long as Kṛṣṇa walked the earth with his lotus feet, Kali could not embrace the earth. When that eternal portion of Viṣṇu departed, Dharma's son Yudhiṣṭhira, with his brothers, renounced the kingdom. Seeing inauspicious omens after Kṛṣṇa's departure, the Pāṇḍava performed the coronation of Parīkṣit. When those great sages began to move toward Pūrvāṣāḍhā, a new increase in movement occurred. On the very day Kṛṣṇa ascended to heaven, Kali Yuga began, and its duration was set: by human reckoning, three hundred thousand and sixty thousand years, or seven hundred and five divine years. When that time is completed, the Kṛta Yuga will arise again. O best of the twice-born, in every age, thousands of great souls have been born among brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras. Because of the multitude of names and their repetition in each lineage, all cannot be enumerated. Devāpi, the Paurava king, and Puru, descended from the Ikṣvāku line, endowed with great yogic power, dwell in the village of Kalāpa. In the Kṛta Yuga, these two will return as the founders of the kṣatriya line, established as the seeds of Manu's lineage. Thus, by this succession, the earth has been ruled by Manu's sons through the three ages: Kṛta, Tretā, and Dvāpara. In Kali Yuga, some seed-bearers remain, just as Devāpi and Puru are presently established. Thus, the lineage of kings has been briefly described; it cannot be fully recounted even in a hundred years. These and other kings, blinded by delusion, claimed ownership of the earth, though their bodies are ever subject to decay. Thinking, "How is this immovable earth mine? How will it belong to my son or my lineage?"—these kings met their end. Others came before them, others after, and those yet to come will also be succeeded. Seeing kings intent on conquest and anxious for expeditions, the earth herself seems to laugh in autumn, adorned with blossoming flowers. O Maitreya, listen to the verses sung by the earth, which the sage Asita spoke to the righteous king Dharmadhvaja.