INTRODUCTION:

After the famous Battle of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna was preparing to end His mission on earth and return to Sri Vaikunta as the purpose of His incarnation as Krishna in DWAPARA Yuga was over and Dharma was established through elimination of all evil forces on earth. At that time, Udhava who eats the remnants of His food, clothes with His worn clothes and accompanies Him wherever He goes like a companion expressed a humble desire to take Him too to Sri Vaikunta! Then, Krishna advised him that he should continue to stay on earth for some more time and spread the universal principle of Dharma for the well- being of mankind! He advised him that the time was not ripe enough for him to merge with him, but to wait for some more time and practice certain stipulated methods for Moksha or Salvation!
In this featured article, we will examine the various things Lord Krishna spoke to him about worldly existence and the various aspects of dharma to live a worthy life. The detailed pieces of advice though given to him are applicable to the whole mankind as well. 
KRISHNA’S SERMONS TO UDHAVA:
Lord Krishna told Udhava “The whole world and life on earth are only maya or illusion. One who relinquishes the DWAITA BHAVA and realizes the ADWAITA BHAVA, by dint of his utmost devotion to God, he would know that Jeevathma and Paramathma are one and the same. I would leave this world shortly and merge with Mahavishnu, my basic stature. This DWARAKA would submerge in water very soon and the whole Yadava clan would be totally wiped out due to infighting after my departure. You shouldn’t stay here to witness all these things, but take a pilgrimage to Badaryashrama and do penance on Naranarayana and merge with me”. 
Udhava then wore a Yogi’s dress and got ready to leave for the pilgrimage. At that time Krishna served a few more sermons to him with suitable examples. Krishna told him that YADU His forefather once met an AVADHUTA who narrated to him may stories and examples and related them to the importance of earthly life with full realization of the supreme soul. He told him that he had many GURUS which included everything on earth. He explained to him the story of PINGALA a prostitute in Mithila who later repented for all her evil deeds and dedicated the rest of her life for devotion and service of the Lord. 
He continued-

Because of one’s urges (vasanas) of his/her previous birth, one is reborn with the selfish instinct to live for his kith and kin besides him and sees them as two separate entities. The next birth is determined by one’s thought at the last moment of life. The best example is the life of Bharata Rishi who, because of his thought about the deer at the time of his death, was reborn as a deer in his next birth. 
The power of Maya is such that it creates vibes of fascinations in the human mind. Different parts of the body called Five Senses which comprises of the ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose are giving different types of pleasures to the mind, the ultimate beneficiary. When the ears want to hear, the eyes want to view, the skin wants touching, the tongue wants to taste and the nose wants to smell and enjoy. So, all organs and senses are demanding differently. 
It's like a man with five wives who are tirelessly trying to please their husband differently. Here the wives are the five senses or Panchendriyas and the husband is the mind which is eager to enjoy all sensory pleasures. The body cooperates for every action and prevents the mind from leading a spiritual life, which is the ultimate purpose of human birth. Of all the spiritual masters, nature is the supreme master and one who realizes this truth identifies himself with the Almighty God! One should also realize that everything on earth is wrapped in illusion which blinds him with the fiber of attachment. Whatever one feels as comfort is only initially and becomes discomfort later on. All this is because of the shroud of ignorance which slowly disappears as the level of awareness and vision improves. 
Everything in this world is transitory and the only thing that is eternal is God. When the shroud of ignorance disappears and the mind becomes clear, one can view God very clearly and closely in his consciousness. Only a jnani or Avadhuta realizes the truth and he will see both the world and Me as one and he never views Me and him in the dual form. It is called Non duality or Advaitam. 
For the avadhuta, birth and death and happiness and unhappiness never affect him. The soul discards the body once it gets old and assumes another one and continues. Like matter is energy which can’t be destroyed, the soul is also a potential energy which has neither birth nor Death.
Death is only for the perishable body and not for the soul which remains pure and eternal. Excess involvement in material comfort is like adding more fuel to fire which subdues the individual gradually. So, one should discard his body consciousness and concentrate on Me to merge with Me later on. He should perform his duties selflessly and whatever fruit his action yields should be surrendered at My feet. One who realizes this truth is a Jeevan Muktha. 
The Avadhuta also explained to the king the pathetic story of PINGALA, an extremely beautiful prostitute who lived a sinful life with the sole intention of enticing and entertaining amorous visitors and making wealth every day. She simply ignored the poor and waited for the wealthy. One day a very rich man waited for a long time but she didn’t turn up He became furious and walked away. Seeing this she ran after him but he didn’t pay any heed to her calls, but vanished in darkness! This disregard disappointed her and she kept on looking for him at her doorstep painfully. 
This denoted a turning point and opened a new chapter in her life. She removed all her make up and spoke in soliloquy: “Alas! Due to greed for wealth, I indulged in all evil acts and totally forgot God and to do daily rituals. 
Then Udhava asked Krishna “what are the advantages one gets out of his devotion to God?”

Then Krishna described him the various methods of devotion and the procedure to be followed to attain salvation. There are eighteen -18- different methods to be followed scrupulously, out of which the first and foremost important eight are-
ANIMA, MAHIMA, LAKHIMA, GARIMA, PRAKASHYAM, EESHATHWAM, VASHITHAM AND PRAPTHI respectively. 
The next ten are-
DOORA DARSHANAM, DOORA SHRAVANAM, MANO JAVAM, PARAKAYA PRAVESHANAM, DEVA DARSHANAM, SWACHANDA MARANAM, BHAVA SANKALPPA SAMSIDHI, THRIKALA JNANAM, PAREMGITHA JNANAM AND ICHA SHAKTHI respectively. One who has acquired and mastered these spiritual techniques knows how to live visible and invisible in this world. Again, one who surrenders to Me absolutely and unconditionally and also knows that I am the cause for everything in this universe he can acquire all these techniques effortlessly. 
One who has assimilated well knows that SATHARUPA among women, LAKSHMI among thridevies, SWAYAMBHOOVA MANU among purushas, VASISHTA among Kulagurus, BRUHASPATHY among acharyas, SKANDHA (SUBRAMANIAN)among commanders, AHIMSA among Vruthas or penance, YAJNA among vruthas and BRAHMA YAJNA among yajnas, everything I am only. 
PRANAVAM the quintessence of all Vedas, AKARA of the Alphabets, and GAYATRI among all Manthras I am only. In short, everything you see in this universe is ultimately I am only. 
The chariot of which I was the charioteer is the universe and Arjuna is NARA and the charioteer was I, the Lord of the universe! Similarly, Kamadhenu among cows, Uchaishravas among horses, Airavath among elephants, Garuda among birds, Anantha among snakes, Vasuki among snakes, Vyali lion among lions, gold among metals, Padmaraga among gems and blue among colors- everything I am only. 
Again, sanyasa among the 4 ashramas (Brahmacharyam) Gruhastham(family life)vanaprastham( jungle life) and Sanyasam(Ascetic or monk’s life), Brahmanya among the four Varnas, Ganga among the holy rivers, Mahasagara among the seas, Mahameru among the peaks, Kailas among the mountains and Himalaya among forests -all beings movable as well as immovable all I am only. 
UDHAVA, therefore, relinquish everything, the KARMENDRIYAS and the JNANENDRIYAS as well all worldly relations, become selfless and win over the senses, become a Jitendra, renounce everything, surrender to me absolutely and unconditionally, seek salvation and get merged with Me ultimately. 
Lord Krishna blessed UDHAVA with the gist of advice and equipped him for his proposed pilgrimage preparatory to salvation. 
Subsequently, as told to UDHAVA, Krishna, in His VISWARUPA, sat in the yogic padmasana posture on the raised platform of the Pipal tree and totally immersed in deep meditation. Meanwhile, a hunter by name JARAN who viewed from afar through the bushes saw Krishna’s rosy soles (under surface of feet) and mistook for a deer and shot an arrow instantly. Alas! it struck on Lord Krishna’s lotus feet. 
The hunter rushed to the spot and on a closeup view, he realized he had shot the arrow at LORD KRISHNA who sat there in a meditative posture. He fell at the lotus feet of LORD KRISHNA and cried bitterly and apologized for his unawares. Then LORD KRISHNA consoled him that it was 
predetermined by Him as the time had come to exit from this world and he was no way guilty. KRISHNA therefore blessed JARA and gave him instant salvation. Meanwhile, a celestial chariot descended there took him and left for the heavens, Leaving his corpse behind. KRISHNA had foretold that following his departure, the whole world would be devastated and that would mark the end of DWAPARA YUGA and beginning of KALIYUGA! He therefore advised Arjuna to take away all the people from DWARAKA to a safer place as the whole DWARAKA would submerge in the deluge. 
When they moved out, they met GARGACHARYA who advised them to stay there for two more months and perform all rituals for the departed souls and he himself completed all the formalities. Subsequently they took blessings from the Acharya and on their way to HASTHINAPURI as advised by the Acharya, they had to pass through a forest where bandits were sitting in ambush to way lay the travelers. They surrounded Arjuna and the group and Arjuna could not do anything as his whole energy had eroded after the departure of Lord Krishna! They took away the whole group consisting of womenfolk leaving no trace behind them. While he was sitting disappointed, VYASA RISHI appeared before him and consoled him that those women had once ridiculed AGASTHYA RISHI at his short stature and in turn the Rishi had cursed them that they would become the secret wives of those robbers one day. 
After enthroning Parikshit as the successor, all PANDAVAS embraced VANAVASA, the third stage of the 4 ASHRAMS and finally left for heaven as advised by VYASACHARYA, marking the end of their earthly life!
All the above things were described by SUKACHARYA to Parikshit during his SAPTHAHAM, specially held for him following the young Rishi SHRUNGI’S curse to the king who had put a dead snake around his father SHAMIKA Rishi’s neck during his hunting in the forest while he was on his deep meditation. The king PARIKSHIT was very thirsty and wanted to have some water, but the meditating Rishi neither heard nor gave him which angered him. Parikshit also wanted to know about the forthcoming KALIYUGA which was waiting at the threshold of DWAPARAYUGA as well as what would be the experiences and also about KALKI’S (KHADGI)incarnation. KHADGAM =sword 
He explained to the king that in KALIYUGA, devotion to God would be deplorably reduced and all unethical or ADHARMA would prevail everywhere. The main concern for everybody would be to amass huge wealth. Honesty integrity and sincerity would vanish and instead, all treachery and perfidy would prevail in large measure, leading to moral and ethical degeneration of mankind. In   short, the whole world would be a breeding place for all atrocities and unethical activities. The earth would not give as much yield as in the past and poverty would come to stay everywhere. Earthily life would become horrible and miserable day by day. 
CONCLUSION:
INCARNATION OF KALKI:
Finally, SUKACHARYA predicted that as an eternal solution to take the world out of this predicament or vicious circle, MAHAVISHNU would take His tenth incarnation (MALSYA KOORMMA VARAHASHCHA, NARASIMHASHCHA VAMANA, RAMO RAMASHCHA RAMETI KRISHNA KALKI JANARDHANA) as KALKI and put an end to all unethical activities and establish DHARMA all over the world. Thereafter, He would merge with His MOOLA ROOPA MAHAVISHNU ultimately. 
BHAGAVAN NARAYANA would incarnate as son to a disciplined devout NAISHTIC Brahmin by name VISHNU YASHAS in a village called SHABALA GRAMA. He would be known as KALKI.  He would travel all over the world on a horseback at wind’s speed with a sword (KHADGAM) in His hand and annihilate all unethical and inhuman people and reestablish DHARMA and law and order everywhere and return to SREEVAIKUNTA to merge with MAHAVISHNU!
At the end of KALIYUGA, (4,32,000 years) the cycle of CHATURYUGA would start again with KRUTHAYUGA or SATHYA YUGA! The cycle goes on!
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A BRIEF NOTE ON PARIKSHIT AND KALKI:
PARIKSHIT is the son of ABHIMANYU and UTHARA and grandson of ARJUNA. PARIKSHIT had four sons viz, JANAMEJAYA, BHIMASENA, UGRASENA AND SRUTHASENA. All of them performed the ASWAMEDHA YAGA. One day while travelling he (PARIKSHIT) saw a man beating a one -legged bull with a rod and kicking a cow. PARIKSHIT became angry at this sight and questioned him and was about to kill him. The man revealed his identity and told him that he was KALI. KALI begged the king for mercy and forgiveness. He granted him but ordered him to quit the country. KALI then requested the king for some shelter and he allowed him to reside in GAMBLING, PROSTITUTION, LIQUOR, and IMMORAL ACTIVITIES. Then KALI asked for one more place called GOLD and the king granted him. As the king’s crown was of gold, KALI entered his mind also. It was because of KALI’s presence in the crown who entered his mind that he put the dead snake around SHAMIKA RISHI which led to the curse and further consequences. Though PARIKSHIT remained in a mansion created by his ministers, TAKSHAKA entered the place in the form of a worm in a fruit and killed him. Thus, he could not escape his fate but succumb to the curse of SHRUNGI!
Following his death, his eldest son JANAMEJAYAN was crowned as the next king! One Rishi by name UTHUNGAN told JANAMEJAYAN that It was TAKSHAKA who bit him (PARIKSHIT) and caused his death. Infuriated at this news, he conducted a SARPPAYAGAM or SARPPA SATHRAM and killed many snakes but TAKSHAKA who was frightened sought asylum at the feet of DEVENDRA who interfered and saved his life!
*The cow revealed herself that she was PRUTHVI who was grief-stricken as LORD KRISHNA had returned to VAIKUNTA and had left the earth. The bull was DHARMA whose, three legs were mutilated and had only one leg SATHYAM to stand in KALIYUGA. The four legs are DANAM, DAYA, THAPASS and SATHYAM. (GIFT, MERCY, PENANCE and TRUTH!)
YUGAS- KRUTHA YUGA (SATYA YUGA) 17,28,000 YEARS, THRETHA YUGA (12,96,000) DWAPARA YUGA (8,64,000) and KALIYUGA (4,32,000). TOTAL=429,40,80,000 YEARS. 
4 YUGAS- 1-CHATHUR YUGA 
71 CHATHUR YUGAS-1-MANWATHARAM (The ruling period of MANU is called MANWANTHARAM)
14- MANWANTHARAS-ONE KALPAM (DELUGE OR PRALAYAM)
1000 CHATHUR YUGAS- ONE DAY FOR BRAHMA (ACCORDING TO BRAHMA VARSHA)
BRAHMA IS NOW 50 PLUS
ANOTHER 1000 CHATHUR YUGAS- ONE NIGHT FOR BRAHMA (ACCORDING TO BRAHMA VARSHA)
There are 14 MANUS-Viz, SWAYAM BHUMAN, SWAROCHISHAN, OUTHAMI, THAPASAN, RAIVATHAN, CHAKSHUSAN, VAIVASWATHAN (PRESENT MANWANTHARA) SAVARNI, DAKSHA SAWARNI, BRAHMA SAWARNI, DHARMA SAVARNI, RUDRA SAWARNI, ROUCHYA RUDRA SAVARNI AND INDRA SAWARNI. 
14    WORLDS-
1.    ABOVE-(7) BHOOLOKAM, BHUVARLOKAM, SURLOKAM, MAHARLOKAM, JANARLOKAM   THAPOLOKAM, SATHYALOKAM 
(BRAHMA IS IN SATHYALOKAM)
2.    BELOW-(7) ATHALAM, VITHALAM, SUTHALAM, THALATHALAM, MAHATHALAM, RASATHALAM, PATHALAM (MAHABALI was sent to SUTHALAM where he is living like a king with all comforts and amenities like a king. He is guarded by MAHAVISHNU personally. 
14 worlds are called one ANDAM. It is believed that there are so many ANDAMS in the COSMOS or UNIVERSE!
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