Shloka 51
कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना
स्वल्पाम्बुवृष्टिः पर्जन्यः सस्यं स्वल्पफलं तथा फलं तथाल्पसारं च विप्र प्राप्ते कलौ युगे
svalpāmbuvṛṣṭiḥ parjanyaḥ sasyaṃ svalpaphalaṃ tathā phalaṃ tathālpasāraṃ ca vipra prāpte kalau yuge
O brāhmaṇa, when the age of Kali arrives, the rains will be scant, the crops will yield little, and even the fruits that appear will be meagre in essence—poor in nourishment and sustaining power.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Material symptoms of Kali-yuga affecting nature, agriculture, and human sustenance.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Concept: Kali’s arrival is reflected in the weakening of life-supporting rhythms—rain, crop yield, and nutritive potency—producing widespread scarcity.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Practice restraint and stewardship (non-waste, charity, sustainable living) while strengthening sāttvika habits and prayerful dependence on the Lord.
Vishishtadvaita: The world (prakṛti) is a real mode of the Lord; caring for it and responding with dharmic conduct is service within His embodied cosmos.
Lakshmi Presence: Bhumi
FAQs
This verse uses scarcity—weak rains, low-yield crops, and nutritionally poor fruits—as a concrete marker of Kali Yuga, showing how dharmic decline is mirrored by disorder in nature and reduced sustenance for living beings.
Parāśara lists observable symptoms rather than abstract theory: diminished rainfall and weakened produce indicate a world losing balance, helping Maitreya understand Kali as a lived condition affecting survival and moral-spiritual stability.
Even as Kali manifests as scarcity and decline, the Vishnu Purana’s framework implies Vishnu’s continuing sovereignty over cosmic cycles—Kali is a phase within divine order, not a final defeat of dharma.