FutureKalki PresentKali

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

In Kalki Purana, Kali is the great-great-grandson of Brahma. He is the son of Krodha (Anger) and his sister-turned-wife Himsa (Violence). He is the grandson of Dambha (Vanity) and his sister Maya (Illusion). He is the great-grandson of Adharma (Impropriety) and his wife, Mithya (Falsehood). Adharma was originally created from Brahma's back as a malina pataka (a very dark and deadly sinful object).

B. K. Chaturvedi, a modern translator of the Kalki Purana, states in a footnote that the growth of this dark sinful object into Adharma seems to "convey the growth of Kali Yuga and its obnoxious offshoots."

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Manu

Kali stipulates that he would only marry the apsara if she keeps her eyes closed while they are in the forest (presumably making love). However, Kali leaves after their marriage and the birth of their son Svarocisa. Svarocisa grows up to become a very learned scholar of the Vedas and learns to speak the languages of all creatures from one of his three wives. He later marries a goddess and fathers Svarocisa Manu, one of the progenitors of mankind.

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abode

The Kalki Purana describes him as a huge being, the color of soot, with a large tongue, and a terrible stench. From his birth, he carried an Upasthi (worship) bone. The Kalki Purana says that this asura (demon) chose gambling, liquor, prostitution, slaughter and illicitly obtained gold as his permanent abodes.

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Kashyapa

According to the Mahabharata, Kali was born as the fifteenth son of Kashyapa and his wife Muni. Kaśyapa, a prominent sage and progenitor, fathered sixteen sons, among whom Kali was classified as a deva-gandharva (a divine being associated with celestial musicians). His siblings included other gandharvas—Bhīmasena, Ugrasena, Suparṇa, Varuṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Gopati, Suvarcas, Satyavāk, Arkaparṇa, Prayuta, Viśruta, Citraratha, Śāliśiras, Parjanya, and Nārada.^[1]

The gandharva Kali became jealous when he was late to Princess Damayanti's Swayamvara ceremony and discovered she had overlooked the deities Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama (and ultimately himself) to choose Nala as her husband. In anger, Kali spoke to his companion Dvapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga:

I am ill able, O Dvapara, to suppress my anger. I shall possess Nala, deprive him of his kingdom, and he shall no more sport with Bhima's daughter. Entering the dice, it behoveth thee to help me.^[2]

Kali travelled to the great Nala's kingdom of Nishadhas and waited twelve long years for the right moment to strike. Because Nala had rendered himself impure by not washing his feet before his prayers, Kali was able to bewitch his soul. Kali then appeared before Pushkara and invited him to play a game of dice with his brother, guaranteeing Nala's downfall. Dvapara took the form of the Vrisha die that would be used in the fixed game. Kali forced Nala to lose and, each time, he would raise the stakes higher despite the protest of his advisors and wife. Finally, Nala lost his kingdom to Pushkara. Both he and Damayanti were exiled to the forest.

Duryodhana as depicted in Yakshagana, a popular drama from Karnataka

During their exile, Kali drove Nala to abandon Damayanti, who later enacted a curse against everyone that had caused the downfall of her husband. She eventually returned home after a short time as a handmaiden to the Princess of Chedi. Nala, meanwhile, saved the naga Karkotaka from fire (where he was cursed to suffer by sage Narada). Intending to exorcise the devil within him, the serpent bit Nala, injecting him with deadly poisons that forever tortured Kali. The venom also changed Nala into an ugly dwarf named Bahuka. He later became the charioteer of the Ayodhya King Rituparna, who was a master mathematician and dice player.

Years later, King Rituparna revealed to Bahuka the supreme skill of controlling the dice in exchange for horsemanship lessons. This skill awakened Nala from Kali's control and allowed him (with the help of Damayanti's curse and Karkotaka's venom) to exorcise the asura (demon);^[3] vomiting him in the form of poison from his mouth. Nala forced Kali's trembling spirit into a Vibhitaka tree. He then counted the fruits of the tree and left in search of his wife and later regained his true form. Kali returned to his abode as well.

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