राम

Bhaviṣya-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 116

40 versesSigns of the Yuga's End

Synopsis

"Whether the time is near or far we cannot tell; therefore, from the Dvāpara's collapse, I long for the end of the age." We have reached this time with thirst for dharma; we have attained our dharma with little effort. The middle describes the breakdown: "Sons will abandon the duties toward their fathers, falling upon hoarding in greed and anger." The chapter closes with a steady description of collapse: there will be none unafflicted, none unwounded; all will be envious; there will be no return of kindness in the exhausted age.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse 1

आसन्नं विप्रकृष्टं वा यदि कालं न विद्महे तस्माद् द्वापरविध्वंसाद् युगान्तं स्पृहयाम्य् अहम्

āsannaṃ viprakṛṣṭaṃ vā yadi kālaṃ na vidmahe tasmād dvāparavidhvaṃsād yugāntaṃ spṛhayāmy aham

'Whether close or far, we cannot tell the time. Therefore, from the Dvāpara's breaking, I long for the yuga's end.'

Verse 2

प्राप्ता वयं हि तं कालम् अनया धर्मतृष्णया प्राप्ता वयं च धर्मं स्वं सुखम् अल्पेन कर्मणा

prāptā vayaṃ hi taṃ kālam anayā dharmatṛṣṇayā prāptā vayaṃ ca dharmaṃ svaṃ sukham alpena karmaṇā

Verse 3

प्रजासमुद्वेगकरं युगान्तं समुपस्थितम् तस्मात् समुद्वेगकरे युगान्ते प्रत्युपस्थिते प्रनष्टधर्मं धर्मज्ञ निमित्तैर् वक्तुम् अर्हसि

prajāsamudvegakaraṃ yugāntaṃ samupasthitam tasmāt samudvegakare yugānte pratyupasthite pranaṣṭadharmaṃ dharmajña nimittair vaktum arhasi

Verse 4

पृष्ट एवं भविष्यस्य गतिं तत्त्वेन चिन्तयन् एवं भविष्ये तु गतिं योगेनैव विचिन्तयन् युगान्ते पूर्वरूपाणि भगवान् अब्रवीत् तदा

pṛṣṭa evaṃ bhaviṣyasya gatiṃ tattvena cintayan evaṃ bhaviṣye tu gatiṃ yogenaiva vicintayan yugānte pūrvarūpāṇi bhagavān abravīt tadā

Verse 5

अरक्षितारो हर्तारो बलिभागस्य पार्थिवाः युगान्ते प्रभविष्यन्ति स्वरक्षणपरायणाः

arakṣitāro hartāro balibhāgasya pārthivāḥ yugānte prabhaviṣyanti svarakṣaṇaparāyaṇāḥ

Verse 6

अक्षत्रियाश् च राजानो विप्राः शूद्रोपजीविनः शूद्राश् च ब्राह्मणाचारा भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये

akṣatriyāś ca rājāno viprāḥ śūdropajīvinaḥ śūdrāś ca brāhmaṇācārā bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye

Verse 7

शूद्रा धर्मं चरिष्यन्ति युगान्ते जनमेजय काण्डपृष्ठाः श्रोत्रियाश् च हवींषि भरतर्षभ एकपङ्क्त्याम् अशिष्यन्ति युगान्ते जनमेजय

śūdrā dharmaṃ cariṣyanti yugānte janamejaya kāṇḍapṛṣṭhāḥ śrotriyāś ca havīṃṣi bharatarṣabha ekapaṅktyām aśiṣyanti yugānte janamejaya

Verse 8

शिल्पवन्तो ऽनृतपराः नरा मद्यामिषप्रियाः परं धर्मं हनिष्यन्ति मनुष्या मन्दबुद्धयः भार्यामित्रा भविष्यन्ति युगान्ते जनमेजय

śilpavanto 'nṛtaparāḥ narā madyāmiṣapriyāḥ paraṃ dharmaṃ haniṣyanti manuṣyā mandabuddhayaḥ bhāryāmitrā bhaviṣyanti yugānte janamejaya

Verse 9

अल्पोदकास् तथा मेघा अल्पसस्या च मेदिनी राजवृत्ते स्थिताश् चोरा राकानश् चोरशीलिनः भृत्या अनिर्विष्टभुजो भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये

alpodakās tathā meghā alpasasyā ca medinī rājavṛtte sthitāś corā rākānaś coraśīlinaḥ bhṛtyā anirviṣṭabhujo bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye

Verse 10

धनानि श्लाघनीयानि सतां वृत्तम् अपूजितम् नार्यश् चापि करिष्यन्ति कृषिम् एव कलौ युगे अकुत्सना च पतिते भविष्यति युगक्षये

dhanāni ślāghanīyāni satāṃ vṛttam apūjitam nāryaś cāpi kariṣyanti kṛṣim eva kalau yuge akutsanā ca patite bhaviṣyati yugakṣaye

Verse 11

अशान्तास् तापसा नित्यं भविष्यन्ति कलौ युगे प्रनष्टचेतना मर्त्या मुक्तकेशा विचूलिनः उनषोडशवर्षाश् च प्रजास्यन्ति नरास् तदा

aśāntās tāpasā nityaṃ bhaviṣyanti kalau yuge pranaṣṭacetanā martyā muktakeśā vicūlinaḥ unaṣoḍaśavarṣāś ca prajāsyanti narās tadā

Verse 12

अट्टशूला जनपदाः शिवशूलाश् चतुष्पथाः प्रमदाः केशशूलाश् च भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये

aṭṭaśūlā janapadāḥ śivaśūlāś catuṣpathāḥ pramadāḥ keśaśūlāś ca bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye

Verse 13

अट्टम् अन्नम् इति प्रोक्तं शूलो विक्रय उच्यते चतुष्पथा ब्राह्मण इति शिवो वेद उदाहृतः केशो भग इति ख्यातो राजन् नैवात्र संशयः सर्वे ब्रह्म वदिष्यन्ति सर्वे वाजसनेयिनः शूद्रा भोवादिनश् चैव भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये

aṭṭam annam iti proktaṃ śūlo vikraya ucyate catuṣpathā brāhmaṇa iti śivo veda udāhṛtaḥ keśo bhaga iti khyāto rājan naivātra saṃśayaḥ sarve brahma vadiṣyanti sarve vājasaneyinaḥ śūdrā bhovādinaś caiva bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye

Verse 14

तपोयज्ञार्थवेदानां विक्रेतारो द्विजातयः ऋतवश् च भविष्यन्ति विपरीता युगक्षये

tapoyajñārthavedānāṃ vikretāro dvijātayaḥ ṛtavaś ca bhaviṣyanti viparītā yugakṣaye

Verse 15

शुक्लदन्ताजिताक्षाश् च मुण्डाः काषायवाससः शूद्रा धर्मं चरिष्यन्ति शाक्यबुद्धोपजीविनः

śukladantājitākṣāś ca muṇḍāḥ kāṣāyavāsasaḥ śūdrā dharmaṃ cariṣyanti śākyabuddhopajīvinaḥ

Verse 16

श्वापदप्रचुरत्वं च गवां चैव परिक्षयः स्वादूनां विनिवृत्तिश् च विद्याद् अन्तगते युगे

śvāpadapracuratvaṃ ca gavāṃ caiva parikṣayaḥ svādūnāṃ vinivṛttiś ca vidyād antagate yuge

Verse 17

अन्त्या मध्ये निवत्स्यन्ति मध्याश् चान्तावसायिनः यथानिम्नं प्रजाः सर्वा गमिष्यन्ति युगक्षये

antyā madhye nivatsyanti madhyāś cāntāvasāyinaḥ yathānimnaṃ prajāḥ sarvā gamiṣyanti yugakṣaye

Verse 18

तथा द्विहायना दम्यास् तथा पल्वलकर्षकाः चित्रवर्षी च पर्जन्यो युगे क्षीणे भविष्यति

tathā dvihāyanā damyās tathā palvalakarṣakāḥ citravarṣī ca parjanyo yuge kṣīṇe bhaviṣyati

Verse 19

सर्वे चोरकुले जाताश् चोरयानाः परसरम् स्वल्पेनाढ्या भविष्यन्ति यत् किंचित् प्राप्य दुर्गताः न ते धर्मं चरिष्यन्ति मानवा निर्गते युगे ऊषराबहुला भूमिः पन्थानो नगरान्तरा सर्वे वाणिजकाश् चैव भविष्यन्ति कलौ युगे

sarve corakule jātāś corayānāḥ parasaram svalpenāḍhyā bhaviṣyanti yat kiṃcit prāpya durgatāḥ na te dharmaṃ cariṣyanti mānavā nirgate yuge ūṣarābahulā bhūmiḥ panthāno nagarāntarā sarve vāṇijakāś caiva bhaviṣyanti kalau yuge

Verse 20

पितृकृत्यानि देयानि विधमन्तः सुतास् तदा हरणाय प्रपत्स्यन्ते लोभानृतविरोधिताः

pitṛkṛtyāni deyāni vidhamantaḥ sutās tadā haraṇāya prapatsyante lobhānṛtavirodhitāḥ

'Sons will then scatter the offerings due to the ancestors, falling upon hoarding in greed, anger, and falsehood.'

Verse 21

पितृदत्तानि वित्तानि निघ्नन्तस् तनयाः सदा ग्रहणाय प्रवर्तन्ते लोभाद् अनृतवादिनः सौकुमार्ये तथा रूपे रत्ने चोपक्षयं गते भविष्यन्ति युगस्यान्ते नार्यः केशैर् अलंकृताः

pitṛdattāni vittāni nighnantas tanayāḥ sadā grahaṇāya pravartante lobhād anṛtavādinaḥ saukumārye tathā rūpe ratne copakṣayaṃ gate bhaviṣyanti yugasyānte nāryaḥ keśair alaṃkṛtāḥ

Verse 22

निर्विहारस्य भीतस्य गृहस्थस्य भविष्यति युगान्ते समनुप्राप्ते नान्या भार्यासमा रतिः

nirvihārasya bhītasya gṛhasthasya bhaviṣyati yugānte samanuprāpte nānyā bhāryāsamā ratiḥ

Verse 23

कुशीलानार्यभूयिष्ठं वृथारूपसमावृतम् पुरुषाल्पं बहुस्त्रीकं तद् युगान्तस्य लक्षणम्

kuśīlānāryabhūyiṣṭhaṃ vṛthārūpasamāvṛtam puruṣālpaṃ bahustrīkaṃ tad yugāntasya lakṣaṇam

Verse 24

बहुयाचनका लोका दास्यन्ते च परस्परम् अविचार्य ग्रहीष्यन्ति दानं वर्णान्तरात् तथा राजचोरादिदण्डार्तो जनः क्षयम् उपैष्यति

bahuyācanakā lokā dāsyante ca parasparam avicārya grahīṣyanti dānaṃ varṇāntarāt tathā rājacorādidaṇḍārto janaḥ kṣayam upaiṣyati

Verse 25

सस्यनिष्पत्तिर् अफला तरुणा वृद्धशीलिनः ईहयासुखिनो लोका भविष्यन्ति गते युगे

sasyaniṣpattir aphalā taruṇā vṛddhaśīlinaḥ īhayāsukhino lokā bhaviṣyanti gate yuge

Verse 26

वर्षासु वाताः पुरुषा नीचाः शर्करवर्षिणः संदिग्धः परलोकश् च भविष्यति युगक्षये

varṣāsu vātāḥ puruṣā nīcāḥ śarkaravarṣiṇaḥ saṃdigdhaḥ paralokaś ca bhaviṣyati yugakṣaye

Verse 27

आत्मनश् च दुराचारा ब्रह्मदूषणतत्पराः आत्मानं बहु मन्यन्ते मन्युर् एवाभ्ययाद् द्विजान् वैश्याचाराश् च राजन्या धनधान्योपजीविनः युगापक्रमणे पूर्वं भविष्यन्ति द्विजातयः

ātmanaś ca durācārā brahmadūṣaṇatatparāḥ ātmānaṃ bahu manyante manyur evābhyayād dvijān vaiśyācārāś ca rājanyā dhanadhānyopajīvinaḥ yugāpakramaṇe pūrvaṃ bhaviṣyanti dvijātayaḥ

Verse 28

अप्रवृत्ताः प्रपत्स्यन्ते समयाः शपथास् तथा ऋणं च विनयभ्रंशो युगे क्षीणे भविष्यति

apravṛttāḥ prapatsyante samayāḥ śapathās tathā ṛṇaṃ ca vinayabhraṃśo yuge kṣīṇe bhaviṣyati

Verse 29

भविष्यत्य् अफलो हर्षः क्रोधश् च सफलो नृणाम् अजाश् चैवोपयोक्ष्यन्ते पयसो ऽर्थे युगक्षये

bhaviṣyaty aphalo harṣaḥ krodhaś ca saphalo nṛṇām ajāś caivopayokṣyante payaso 'rthe yugakṣaye

Verse 30

अशास्त्रविहिता प्रज्ञा एवम् एव भविष्यति अशास्त्रविदुषां पुंसाम् एवम् एव स्वभावतः अप्रमाणं करिष्यन्ति नीतिं पण्डितमानिनः शास्त्रोक्तस्याप्रवक्तारो भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये

aśāstravihitā prajñā evam eva bhaviṣyati aśāstraviduṣāṃ puṃsām evam eva svabhāvataḥ apramāṇaṃ kariṣyanti nītiṃ paṇḍitamāninaḥ śāstroktasyāpravaktāro bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye

Verse 31

सर्वः सर्वं विजानाति वृद्धान् अनुपसेव्य च न कश्चिद् अकविर् नाम युगान्ते प्रत्युपस्थिते

sarvaḥ sarvaṃ vijānāti vṛddhān anupasevya ca na kaścid akavir nāma yugānte pratyupasthite

Verse 32

न क्षत्राणि नियोक्ष्यन्ति विकर्मस्था द्विजातयः चोरप्रायाश् च राजानो युगान्ते प्रत्युपस्थिते

na kṣatrāṇi niyokṣyanti vikarmasthā dvijātayaḥ coraprāyāś ca rājāno yugānte pratyupasthite

Verse 33

कुण्डा वृषा नैकृतिकाः सुरापा ब्रह्मवादिनः अश्वमेधेन यक्ष्यन्ति युगान्ते जनमेजय

kuṇḍā vṛṣā naikṛtikāḥ surāpā brahmavādinaḥ aśvamedhena yakṣyanti yugānte janamejaya

Verse 34

अयाज्यान् याजयिष्यन्ति तथाभक्ष्यस्य भक्षिणः ब्राह्मणा धनतृष्णार्ता युगान्ते समुपस्थिते

ayājyān yājayiṣyanti tathābhakṣyasya bhakṣiṇaḥ brāhmaṇā dhanatṛṣṇārtā yugānte samupasthite

Verse 35

भोगार्थम् अभिपत्स्यन्ते न च कश्चित् पठिष्यति एकशङ्खास् तथा नार्यो गवेधुकपिनद्धकाः

bhogārtham abhipatsyante na ca kaścit paṭhiṣyati ekaśaṅkhās tathā nāryo gavedhukapinaddhakāḥ

Verse 36

नक्षत्राणि विहीनानि विपरीता दिशस् तथा संध्यारागो ऽथ दिग्दाहो भविष्यत्य् अपरे युगे

nakṣatrāṇi vihīnāni viparītā diśas tathā saṃdhyārāgo 'tha digdāho bhaviṣyaty apare yuge

Verse 37

पितॄन् पुत्रा नियोक्ष्यन्ति वध्वः श्वश्रूश् च कर्मसु वाक्शरैस् तर्जयिष्यन्ति गुरूञ् शिष्यास् तथैव च मुखेषु च प्रयोक्ष्यन्ति प्रमत्ताश् च नरास् तदा वियोनिषु चरिष्यन्ति प्रमदासु नरास् तदा

pitṝn putrā niyokṣyanti vadhvaḥ śvaśrūś ca karmasu vākśarais tarjayiṣyanti gurūñ śiṣyās tathaiva ca mukheṣu ca prayokṣyanti pramattāś ca narās tadā viyoniṣu cariṣyanti pramadāsu narās tadā

Verse 38

अकृताग्राणि भोक्ष्यन्ति नराश् चैवाग्निहोत्रिणः भिक्षां बलिम् अदत्त्वा च भोक्ष्यन्ति पुरुषाः स्वयम्

akṛtāgrāṇi bhokṣyanti narāś caivāgnihotriṇaḥ bhikṣāṃ balim adattvā ca bhokṣyanti puruṣāḥ svayam

Verse 39

पतीन् सुप्तान् वञ्चयित्वा गमिष्यन्ति स्त्रियो अण्यतः पुरुषाश् च प्रसुप्तासु भार्यासु च परस्त्रियम्

patīn suptān vañcayitvā gamiṣyanti striyo aṇyataḥ puruṣāś ca prasuptāsu bhāryāsu ca parastriyam

Verse 40

नाव्यधितो नाप्य् अरुजो जनः सर्वो ऽभ्यसूयकः न कृतप्रतिकर्ता च काले क्षीणे भविष्यति

nāvyadhito nāpy arujo janaḥ sarvo 'bhyasūyakaḥ na kṛtapratikartā ca kāle kṣīṇe bhaviṣyati

'No one will be unafflicted, unwounded; everyone will be envious; there will be no returning of kindness, when the age is exhausted.'

Verse commentary

The Signs of the Yuga's End

युगान्तलक्षणानि

Verses 1, 5, 10, 15, 31, 37, 40: Vaiśaṃpāyana's confession that the time of the yuga-end is not known, kings becoming takers-of-tribute rather than protectors, women doing agriculture as the fallen-man goes uncondemned, Buddhist-style ascetics among śūdras as religious practice, everyone knowing everything without serving the wise, sons commanding fathers and students wounding teachers, and the envious world that forgets reciprocity. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 116 is the Harivaṃśa's great Kali-yuga prophecy — the inventory of signs by which one will know the age is ending. Vaiśaṃpāyana begins by saying honestly that he cannot name the time, 'whether near or far', and then narrates the symptoms the yoga-sight has shown him: kings who take rather than protect, brāhmaṇas who sell what was never to be sold, women who take up the plough, śūdras who take up ascetic robes, sons who boss their fathers, students who wound their teachers, and the pervasive envy that replaces reciprocity. The chapter is the Harivaṃśa's most severe diagnosis, delivered not as condemnation but as the physician's recital of what the disease looks like.

HV 116.1

आसन्नं विप्रकृष्टं वा यदि कालं न विद्महे । तस्माद् द्वापरविध्वंसाद् युगान्तं स्पृहयाम्य् अहम् ॥

āsannaṃ viprakṛṣṭaṃ vā yadi kālaṃ na vidmahe | tasmād dvāpara-vidhvaṃsād yugāntaṃ spṛhayāmy aham

Whether near or far, if we do not know the time — then, from the collapse of the Dvāpara, I long for the yuga-end.

The Living Words

*Āsannaṃ viprakṛṣṭaṃ vā*, 'near or far'. *Kālaṃ na vidmahe*, 'we do not know the time'. *Tasmād dvāpara-vidhvaṃsāt*, 'then, from the Dvāpara's collapse'. *Yugāntaṃ spṛhayāmy aham*, 'I long for the yuga-end'.

The Heart of It

The verse is astonishing in its honesty. *Kālaṃ na vidmahe* — 'we do not know the time'. The scripture does not pretend to name the date. The Varkari tradition's strong preference for scriptures that decline to fix the hour — that speak instead of *signs* and leave dating to foolish commentators — is in this verse. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh does not preach an apocalypse; it preaches a readiness. *Spṛhayāmy aham*, 'I long for' — the longing is not for the ending but for the ending of the Dvāpara's particular decays. The bhakta does not wait for history to solve what devotion can address now.

HV 116.5

अरक्षितारो हर्तारो बलिभागस्य पार्थिवाः । युगान्ते प्रभविष्यन्ति स्वरक्षणपरायणाः ॥

arakṣitāro hartāro balibhāgasya pārthivāḥ | yugānte prabhaviṣyanti sva-rakṣaṇa-parāyaṇāḥ

'Kings will arise at the yuga-end — non-protectors, takers of the tribute-share, dedicated only to their own protection.'

The Living Words

*Arakṣitāraḥ*, 'non-protectors'. *Hartāro balibhāgasya*, 'takers of the tribute-share'. *Yugānte prabhaviṣyanti*, 'will arise at the yuga-end'. *Sva-rakṣaṇa-parāyaṇāḥ*, 'dedicated only to their own protection'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the inversion of kingship. *Arakṣitāro hartāraḥ* — 'non-protectors, takers'. The tribute meant for protection is taken without protection given. The Varkari tradition's sharp critique of worldly rulers who extract without giving — a critique that runs from Jñāneśvar through Tukaram — has this verse as its Sanskrit warrant. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh names *Vitthala* as the true *pārthiva*, the real king, whose tribute is not money but the Name, and whose protection is unconditional.

HV 116.10

धनानि श्लाघनीयानि सतां वृत्तम् अपूजितम् । नार्यश् चापि करिष्यन्ति कृषिम् एव कलौ युगे । अकुत्सना च पतिते भविष्यति युगक्षये ॥

dhanāni ślāghanīyāni satāṃ vṛttam apūjitam | nāryaś cāpi kariṣyanti kṛṣim eva kalau yuge | akutsanā ca patite bhaviṣyati yuga-kṣaye

'Wealth will be praised; the conduct of the good will not be honored. And women will take to agriculture in the Kali-age. There will be no reproach of the fallen at the yuga's close.'

The Living Words

*Dhanāni ślāghanīyāni*, 'wealth will be praised'. *Satāṃ vṛttam apūjitam*, 'the conduct of the good not honored'. *Nāryaḥ kariṣyanti kṛṣim*, 'women will do agriculture'. *Akutsanā ca patite*, 'no reproach of the fallen'.

The Heart of It

The verse names a reversal. *Dhanāni ślāghanīyāni satāṃ vṛttam apūjitam* — the list of what the age praises runs opposite to what it should. And *akutsanā patite* — 'the fallen are not reproached' — names the moral laxity that follows the praise-of-wealth. The Varkari tradition reads this verse with nuance: *akutsanā* is not cruelty; it is the absence of community conviction about right conduct. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh is precisely the counter to this: the bhakta community does name right and wrong, does reproach — but with compassion, because *Hari-nāma* makes reproach into invitation.

HV 116.15

शुक्लदन्ताजिताक्षाश् च मुण्डाः काषायवाससः । शूद्रा धर्मं चरिष्यन्ति शाक्यबुद्धोपजीविनः ॥

śukla-dantājitākṣāś ca muṇḍāḥ kāṣāya-vāsasaḥ | śūdrā dharmaṃ cariṣyanti śākya-buddhopajīvinaḥ

'With white teeth and restrained eyes, shaven-headed, in saffron robes, śūdras will practice dharma, living off [the teaching of] Śākya-Buddha.'

The Living Words

*Śukla-dantāḥ*, 'white-toothed'. *Ajita-akṣāḥ*, 'of restrained (unconquered) eyes'. *Muṇḍāḥ*, 'shaven-headed'. *Kāṣāya-vāsasaḥ*, 'saffron-robed'. *Śūdrāḥ*, 'śūdras'. *Śākya-buddhopajīvinaḥ*, 'living off Śākya-Buddha'.

The Heart of It

The verse is notable for naming Buddhism directly. *Śākya-buddhopajīvinaḥ* — 'living off Śākya-Buddha'. The Harivaṃśa, in its Kali-prophecy, sees varṇa-lines crossed: śūdras take up the *bhikṣu*'s robes and practice dharma by that means. The Varkari tradition's reading of this verse is not polemic. The Warkaris themselves have been called *śūdra-sants* — saints arising outside the brāhmaṇical order, dressed simply, restrained in eye. The verse, read by Jñāneśvar's successors, can sound less like condemnation than like scriptural foreshadowing of a Name-tradition opening itself to all castes.

HV 116.31

सर्वः सर्वं विजानाति वृद्धान् अनुपसेव्य च । न कश्चिद् अकविर् नाम युगान्ते प्रत्युपस्थिते ॥

sarvaḥ sarvaṃ vijānāti vṛddhān anupasevya ca | na kaścid akavir nāma yugānte pratyupasthite

'Everyone knows everything, without serving the elders; there is no one by the name of a non-poet, when the yuga-end has arrived.'

The Living Words

*Sarvaḥ sarvaṃ vijānāti*, 'everyone knows everything'. *Vṛddhān anupasevya ca*, 'without serving the elders'. *Na kaścid akavir nāma*, 'there is no one by the name of a non-poet'. *Yugānte pratyupasthite*, 'when the yuga-end has arrived'.

The Heart of It

The verse is piercingly accurate about a world where everyone writes and no one apprentices. *Vṛddhān anupasevya* — 'without serving the elders' — is the precise inversion of HV 79's long praise of *guru-seva*. *Na kaścid akavir nāma* — 'no one by the name of a non-poet' — is almost funny: everyone composes, nobody is content to listen. The Varkari tradition's strong teaching that bhakti requires *upāsana*, sitting-near-the-elder, and a long silence before one speaks — that the age of everyone-a-poet is the age of no-one-a-bhakta — is in this verse. Jñāneśvar's own humility about his work, insisting he is only passing on what Nivṛttināth transmitted, is its opposite.

HV 116.37

पितॄन् पुत्रा नियोक्ष्यन्ति वध्वः श्वश्रूश् च कर्मसु । वाक्शरैस् तर्जयिष्यन्ति गुरूञ् शिष्यास् तथैव च ॥

pitṝn putrā niyokṣyanti vadhvaḥ śvaśrūś ca karmasu | vāk-śarais tarjayiṣyanti gurūñ śiṣyās tathaiva ca

'Sons will order their fathers to labor, and daughters-in-law their mothers-in-law; and pupils likewise will wound their teachers with arrow-words.'

The Living Words

*Pitṝn putrā niyokṣyanti*, 'sons will order their fathers'. *Vadhvaḥ śvaśrūś ca karmasu*, 'daughters-in-law [will order] their mothers-in-law in work'. *Vāk-śaraiḥ tarjayiṣyanti*, 'they will wound with arrow-words'. *Gurūñ śiṣyās tathaiva ca*, 'and pupils likewise their teachers'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Harivaṃśa's picture of inverted respect. *Vāk-śaraiḥ tarjayiṣyanti* — 'wound with arrow-words'. The phrase *vāk-śara*, 'arrow of speech', is the kind of metaphor Warkari literature has absorbed deeply. Jñāneśvar's warning about *vāṇī-prahāra*, 'speech-blow' — that the student who wounds the teacher with speech cannot receive grace — is in this verse. And the deeper theological point: the Kali-yuga's characteristic violence is *not* physical; it is the *vāk-śara*, the arrow of contemptuous speech, between generations.

HV 116.40

नाव्यधितो नाप्य् अरुजो जनः सर्वो ऽभ्यसूयकः । न कृतप्रतिकर्ता च काले क्षीणे भविष्यति ॥

nāvyadhito nāpy arujo janaḥ sarvo 'bhyasūyakaḥ | na kṛta-pratikartā ca kāle kṣīṇe bhaviṣyati

'No one un-worn, no one un-wounded — every person envious; no one a doer-of-return-for-what-was-done — this will be when the age has waned.'

The Living Words

*Nāvyadhitaḥ nāpy arujaḥ*, 'no one un-worn, no one un-wounded'. *Janaḥ sarvo 'bhyasūyakaḥ*, 'every person envious'. *Na kṛta-pratikartā*, 'no doer-of-return-for-what-was-done'. *Kāle kṣīṇe*, 'when the age has waned'.

The Heart of It

The verse names the deepest symptom. *Na kṛta-pratikartā* — 'no one who returns what was done'. Reciprocity dies. The Varkari tradition's oldest counter to this is the *vari*, the pilgrimage of return: one walks again and again, *kṛta-pratikartā*, returning to Paṇḍharpūr what has been given. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh is the practice of reciprocity as devotion — Hari gives the Name, the bhakta returns the Name in song. The Kali-age's *abhyasūyā*, envy, is healed only by *kṛta-pratikāra*, the active return of what has been received.

Thread

The seven verses trace the chapter's diagnostic: the honest admission that the timing is unknown (116.1), kings as non-protectors (116.5), women in agriculture and the uncondemned fallen (116.10), śūdra-ascetics following Śākya-Buddha (116.15), universal self-taught knowledge without elder-service (116.31), sons ordering fathers and students wounding teachers with speech-arrows (116.37), and the pervasive envy and failure of reciprocity (116.40). The Harivaṃśa's inventory of the yuga-end, delivered not as condemnation but as medical description of what the age looks like.

Echo in the saints

HV 116's Kali-yuga prophecy is the scriptural antecedent of the Warkari tradition's ceaseless diagnosis of its own age. Tukaram's abhaṅgas frequently describe the same signs: envy without reciprocity, wealth-worship, contemptuous students. And HV 116's one healing gesture — the refusal to name the hour — is the same refusal that runs through Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh: no apocalypse, no end-date, only the daily invitation of the Name. The saints do not ask the bhakta to anticipate the age's end; they ask for readiness that is complete in this morning's singing. *Kālaṃ na vidmahe*, 'we do not know the time', is not resignation. It is the invitation to sing now.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 4.7–4.8

When dharma decreases, I manifest.

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत । अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata | abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṃ sṛjāmy aham

Whenever there is a decline of dharma, O Bhārata, and a rise of adharma, then I manifest myself.

The Gītā's promise answers HV 116's diagnosis. The Harivaṃśa catalogs the symptoms; the Gītā provides the theological response. The Warkari tradition reads them together: the age may decline, but the Lord's manifestation through the Name does not.

BORI critical edition, ed. P. L. Vaidya (1969). Digital text from the GRETIL Zurich constituted text. Distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.