else. And the inhabited regions of the earth
will be afflicted with dearth and famine, and the
highways will be filled with lustful men and women
of evil repute. And, at such a time, the women
will also entertain an aversion towards their husbands.
And without doubt all men will adopt the behaviour
of the mlecchas, become omnivorous without distinction,
and cruel in all their acts, when the end of the Yuga
will come. And, O thou foremost of the Bharatas,
urged by avarice, men will, at that time, deceive
one another when they sell and purchase. And without
a knowledge of the ordinance, men will perform ceremonies
and rites, and, indeed, behave as listeth them, when
the end of the Yuga comes. And when the
end of the Yuga comes, urged by their very dispositions,
men will act cruelly, and speak ill of one another.
And people will, without compunction, destroy trees
and gardens. And men will be filled with anxiety
as regards the means of living. And, O king, overwhelmed
with covetousness, men will kill Brahmanas and appropriate
and enjoy the possessions of their victims. And
the regenerate ones, oppressed by Sudras, and afflicted
with fear, and crying Oh and Alas, will
wander over the earth without anybody to protect them.
And when men will begin to slay one another, and become
wicked and fierce and without any respect for animal
life, then will the Yuga come to an end.
And, O king, even the foremost of the regenerate ones,
afflicted by robbers, will, like crows, fly in terror
and with speed, and seek refuge, O perpetuator of
the Kuru race, in rivers and mountains and inaccessible
regions. And always oppressed by bad rulers with
burthens of taxes, the foremost of the regenerate
classes, O lord of the earth, will, in those terrible
times, take leave of all patience and do improper acts
by becoming even the servants of the Sudras.
And Sudras will expound the scriptures, and Brahmanas
will wait upon and listen to them, and settle their
course of duty accepting such interpretations as their
guides. And the low will become the high, and
the course of things will look contrary. And
renouncing the gods, men will worship bones and other
relics deposited within walls. And, at the end
of the Yuga, the Sudras will cease to wait
upon and serve the Brahmanas. And in the asylums
of great Rishis, and the teaching institutions
of Brahmanas, and in places sacred to the gods and
sacrificial compounds, and in sacred tanks, the earth
will be disfigured with tombs and pillars containing
bony relics and not graced with temples dedicated to
the gods. All this will take place at the end
of the Yuga, and know that these are the signs
of the end of the Yuga. And when men become
fierce and destitute of virtue and carnivorous and
addicted to intoxicating drinks, then doth the Yuga
come to an end. And, O monarch, when flowers will
be begot within flowers, and fruits within fruits,