Shloka 12
कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना
यत्र तत्र कुले जातो बली सर्वेश्वरः कलौ सर्वेभ्य एव वर्णेभ्यो योग्यः कन्यावरोधने
yatra tatra kule jāto balī sarveśvaraḥ kalau sarvebhya eva varṇebhyo yogyaḥ kanyāvarodhane
Pada zaman Kali, seorang kuat—meski lahir dari keluarga mana pun secara sembarang—akan diperlakukan seakan-akan ia penguasa semua; dan dalam merampas gadis-gadis, ia dianggap ‘layak’ tanpa memandang varṇa atau tatanan sosial.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Kali-yuga’s moral inversion: illegitimate power and sexual exploitation disregarding dharma
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: severe and revelatory
Concept: In Kali-yuga, social legitimacy shifts from dharma to mere strength, and adharma—especially exploitation—gets falsely treated as acceptable.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Do not equate power with righteousness; protect the vulnerable, build communities with clear ethical accountability, and anchor conduct in śāstra-guided compassion and restraint.
Vishishtadvaita: Affirms moral realism: injustice is not ‘mere appearance’ but a genuine violation within the Lord’s world, demanding dharmic response and surrender to divine governance.
FAQs
This verse portrays Kali-yuga as an age where strength replaces virtue: social legitimacy, rulership, and even marital conduct are determined by power rather than dharma.
He describes a breakdown where birth, learning, and righteous conduct lose authority, while coercion becomes socially ‘acceptable,’ even across traditional boundaries like varṇa.
By highlighting Kali-yuga’s adharma, the text implicitly points to Vishnu as the sustaining Supreme Reality whose protection and restoration of order become the refuge when worldly power turns corrupt.