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TheKalki Purana (Sanskrit:कल्किपुराण,romanized: Kalkipurāṇa) is aVaishnavaHindu text about the tenth avatar ofVishnu namedKalki.[1] The Sanskrit text was likely composed inBengal during an era when the region was being ruled by theBengal Sultanate or theMughal Empire. Wendy Doniger dates it to sometime between 1500 AD and 1700 AD. It has a floruit of 1726 AD based on a manuscript discovered inDhaka, Bangladesh.[1][2]
It is not one of the 18Maha-Puranas (great Puranas), and is counted as anUpapurana or secondary Purana. The extant text exists in many versions, which vary in structure and details. Some do not divide the text into sections and have about 35 chapters. One manuscript comprises threeaṃśas (sections) consisting 7 and 21 chapters respectively.[3]
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The beginning of theKalki Purana describesKali's lineage starting withBrahma, his great-great-grandfather, and ending with the birth of his children's children. Instead of being born of poison from the churning of the ocean of milk according to otherHindu texts, he is the product of a long line of incestuous monsters born from Brahma's back. Kali is the great-great-grandson ofBrahma. He is the son of Krodha (Anger) and his sister-turned-wife Himsa (Violence). He is the grandson of Dambha (Vanity) and his sisterMaya (Illusion). He is the great-grandson ofAdharma (Impropriety) and his wife, Mithya (Falsehood). Adharma was originally created from Brahma's back as a malinapataka (a very dark and deadly, sinful object). Kali and his family were created by Brahma to hasten the dissolution of the cosmos after thepralaya period was over. When his family takes human form on earth, they further taint the hearts and minds of mankind to bring about the end of theDvapara Yuga and the beginning of theKali Yuga. During the first stage of the Kali Yuga, thevarnashrama breaks down and deific worship is forsaken by man. All through the second, third, and fourth stages, man forgets the name of god and no longer offersyajna (offerings) to thedevas.[4]
Brahma and the devas approachVishnu for protection from the evils of theKali Yuga. After listening to accounts of violence and injustice occurring in the universe, Vishnu promises to be born into the family of Vishnuyashas and Sumati inShambala.[5]
At a young age, Kalki is taught the holy scriptures on topics such asdharma,karma,artha andjñāna, and undertakes military training under the care of theParashurama (the sixth incarnation of Vishnu).[6] Soon, Kalki worshipsShiva, who gets pleased by the devotion and provides him in return a divine white horse named Devadatta (a manifestation ofGaruda), a powerful sword, whereby its handle is bedecked with jewels, and a parrot namedShuka, who isall-knowing, knowing the past, the present and the future.[7] Other accessories are also given by otherdevas,devis,saints, and righteous kings. Kalki then marries princess Padmavati (an incarnation ofLakshmi), the daughter of King Vrihadratha and Queen Kaumudi of Simhala (the island of the lion) and princess Ramā, the daughter of King Shashidhvaja and Queen Sushanta.[8]
Kalki fights in many wars, ends evil, includingKali and his entire family bloodline, which is wiped out by the avatar's generals; he perishes from wounds inflicted byDharma andSatya Yuga personified. Kalki, meanwhile, battles and simultaneously kills the asura's most powerful generals,Koka and Vikoka, twin asuras adept in the dark arts. Kalki then returns toShambala to rule, inaugurates a newyuga for the good and divides the earth among his generals. Sumati and Vishnuyasha, his parents, will then travel to the holy place ofBadrikashrama, where they will live. Kalki then leaves the earth to go toVaikuntha as his dharma (duty) is completed.[8]
The Kalki Purana is a relatively recent text, likely composed inBengal. Its datingterminus ante quem is the 18th-century.[8] It is likely Bengal because its earliest manuscripts have been found in Bengal, and these are Sanskrit written in Bengali script, states the historian Sumit Sarkar. The colophons of these manuscripts places them in the 18th century.[9] According to the Indologist Wendy Doniger, theKalki Purana is broadly dated by scholars between 1500 and 1700 CE, though these earlier dates are "misguided conjectures". No manuscripts from or before the 17th century are known.[10]
According toEdwin Bernbaum, theKalki Purana is a Hindu version of Shambala and its future references, there is no mythology in Hindi Scriptures has many features found in the Buddhist counterpart.[11] Other scholars such as John Newman state that Buddhists borrowed the Hindu concept of Kalki and adapted the concept in the textKalachakra Tantra. They combined their idea ofShambhala with Kalki to reflect the theo-political situation they faced after the arrival of Islam in Central Asia and western Tibet.[12][13] The Buddhist texts also mention a king named Kalki from Shambhala who leads an army to destroy the Muslim persecutors of dhamma; then after the victory of good over evil and attainment of religious freedoms, Kalki ushers in a new era. The Buddhist text is dated to about the 10th-century.[14][15][16] While theKalachakra Tantra likely borrowed the Kalki concept, theKalki Purana post dates theKalachakra Tantra. The much later era Buddhist textVimalaprabha, which comments onKalachakra Tantra, also mentions Kalki and provides details not found in Kalki Purana such as the Shambala being north of River Shita. According to John Newman, this river is also calledTarim River in central Asia (east Turkistan).[17]
Media related toKalki at Wikimedia Commons