Lord Kalki’s Descent: Getting It Straight

"Thereafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Visnu Yasa.At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers… Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings…. When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness." (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.25; 12.2.19-20, 23)

These simple verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam announce the advent of Lord Kalki, when He comes, why He comes, and how religious principles are restored. Srila Prabhupada tells us this story, and so do the previous acaryas and the scriptures. They are all quite clear and easily understandable to even by the most simple-hearted devotees who take Srila Prabhupada straight.

This story, however, becomes complicated when we hear the statement of the shastra-s that lila-avataras, or the Lord’s pastime incarnations, do not appear in this Kali-yuga. In fact, the Lord is called "tri-yuga," or "One who appears in three yugas," also indicating that there are no incarnations in this age.

How can these facts be reconciled with the prediction of Kalki at the end of the yuga? One controversial essay attempts to resolve this Kalki issue by rejecting a literal interpretation of the Bhagavata verses and Srila Prabhupada’s explanation of them. We are told that the story of Kalki’s distinct descent at the end of this yuga occurs only in other Kali yugas. This story, taken straight, is supposedly a misunderstanding when applied to this Kali-yuga in particular, since He does not appear distinctly at all. We are told that Srila Prabhupada’s direct statements on the issue needs a clarification--a "deeper" and esoteric insight to "fully" understand the resolution to this mystery. However, this attempt is so drastic that it denies Srila Prabhupada’s numerous straight and direct statements in his books and lectures about the distinct appearance of Lord Kalki. Supposedly, he was all along really referring to the descent of Lord Chaitanya and that Srila Prabhupada’s straightforward words require decryption by a Mahabhagavat for proper understanding.

Yet how is it possible to dispose of the straightforward accounts by guru, sadhu, and shastra of Lord Kalki’s appearance? It is, after all, a prominent feature of many Puranic descriptions of Kali-yuga and of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings about it.

First of all, it is necessary to recognize that the shastric statement (as in Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 6) denying the appearance of lila-avataras is more complicated than it appears. Specifically, we need to be aware of one simplification that takes in the description of all the descents of the Lord as "avatars." For example, we usually refer to all incarnations as "avataras" as though they were all themselves God, Lord Vishnu Himself. However, there are two senses of the word "avatara".

One is in a primary sense indicating Visnu-tattvas and another in a secondary sense indicating avesa-avataras. This latter category refers to jivatama-s who are empowered by the Lord to perform a specific mission. Srila Rupa Gosvami informs us that even though these entities are called avatara, they are only such by metaphor, in only a secondary sense: they are not literally God. Specifically, he qualifies the word "avatara" with the word "aupacarikam" (metaphorical, figurative, secondary) in the Laghu bhagavatamrta.

Srila Rupa Gosvami, explicitly refers to this distinction as the key to understanding the Lord’s name "tri-yuga." Specifically, he cites the Vishnu-dharma Purana for his explanation:

"In the Kali-yuga Lord Hari is not directly seen in a directly visible incarnation. For this reason it is written that He appeared in three yugas (tri-yuga). At the end of Kali-yuga, Lord Vasudeva enters (anupraviSya) the learned Vedic scholar Kalki and corrects the situation in the material world. Then, entering many saintly persons who had taken birth before, the Lord fulfills His plan in Kali-yuga."

This verse from the Puranas neatly resolves the whole issue: There are no overtly manifest Vishnu-tattvas in the Kali-yuga (Lord Chaitanya being covered [channa]). Therefore, there is no regularly scheduled yuga-avatar in this Kali age. Lord Kalki does indeed appear in this Kali-yuga. However, He is a saktyavesa avatara empowered for destruction, rather than Lord Vishnu Himself. Thus, the truth of the name "tri-yuga" is maintained.

But what about the argument that Lord Chaitanya includes and, therefore, replaces all avataras in Kali-yuga?

Special avataras do occasionally appear in place of the regularly scheduled yuga-avatar. Locana dasa Thakura (Chaitanya Mangala, Adi khanda) explains this phenomenon in the cases of Rama and Krishna:

"In Treta-yuga, the Lord takes a red-colored form to teach the religion of yajna, sacrifice. In some Treta-yugas, the Lord appears as Lord Ramacandra."

"When the Lord appears as a yuga-avatara, He serves a particular purpose according to the needs of that age…In the Dvapara-yuga, Lord Sri Krishna comes as the yuga-avatara. By what activities did He establish the yuga dharma?…The Lord Himself, the completely independent Supreme Being, decides, whether He will establish the yuga-dharma or simply enjoy pleasure pastimes. The wonderful thing is that He did everything at once."

In both these cases, only the Lord’s yugavatara descents (Rakta and Syama) have been replaced. This is the exact same phenomenon that occurs in this Kali-yuga: Instead of descending as a dark Vishnu expansion named Krishna, He descends as Lord Chaitanya and (1) simultaneously enjoys special pastimes and (2) establishes the yuga-dharma. Lord Chaitanya clearly performs the function of, and thereby replacing, the expected yuga-avatara (the dark Vishnu form, in this case). There is neither any historical precedent for or any indication of Lord Kalki’s replacement by Lord Chaitanya.

Some insist as the fountainhead of all avataras, Lord Chaitanya can and is known to occasionally manifest the pastimes of all the dasavataras, and . However, these just illustrate His status as svayam-bhagavan. He does not appear at the end of the yuga for the destruction of plunderers—Kalki’s God-given shakti and role in this age. Just as there is no indication that Lord Krishna replaced the Vyasa incarnation and that all references to Vyasa actually refer to Krishna, similarly, there is no indication that Lord Chaitanya replaces the Kalki incarnation.

Furthermore, it may be argued that since this Kali yuga very special, Lord Kalki may come and chant "Haribol!" However, Srila Prabhupada’s statement was that after 10,000 years of sankirtana, there is neither any more "Haribol" nor any preaching. Lord Kalki’s mission is one of "killing" and "throat-cutting" only, quite distinct from (although inconceivably one with) the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, the patita pavana. Srila Prabhupada’s description is clearly grounded in scriptures like the Brahmavaivarta Purana which specifically discusses the current Kali-yuga.

It may be insisted that this blessed Kali-yuga is an exception to the rule of Kalki’s appearance. However, Srila Rupa Gosvami summarizes information from various Puranas which identify exactly which catur-yuga each lila-avatara chronologically one after one appears in. In his summary, Krishna appeared in this 28th yuga cycle and then discusses Buddha and Kalki who appear in the Kali-yuga. Since there is no mention of the 29th or any other yuga cycle, it is clearly referring to the current yuga cycle. This information is also consistent with translations of Brahmanda Purana, Devibhagavata Purana, etc. Interestingly, although the acharyas note that the Buddha mentioned in the incarnation list of Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.37 appeared in another catur-yuga, the very next verse (or any other one) about Kalki’s appearance is not qualified in anyway.

In fact, the Pancarata-samhita-s after identifying Lord Krishna’s appearance day give us the date of Kalki’s appearance: Sravana-masa sukla-paksa 6, which falls on August 17th this year.

In conclusion, Srila Rupa Gosvami’s authorized explanation of "tri-yuga" and Kalki’s status as only an empowered jiva clarifies the statements of the shastra-s, Srila Vyasadeva, Gopinath Acharya, Srila Prabhupada etc. Only a Maha-bhagavata (Srila Rupa Gosvami) can understand the mood and siddhanta of another Maha-bhagavata (Srila Vyasadeva). And only his authorized representatives, when taken straight, can help the conditioned souls understand.

Even if Lord Kalki does not appear, one can still have the blessed darshana of Lord Kalki astride His wonderful horse with a sword in His upraised hand by reading the Srimad Bhagavatam and also visiting the Lord Kalki website at http://kalki.avatara.org Enjoy your visit!