te stations will, without
doubt, descend to the level of the lowest ones. Even such, O
Yudhishthira, will become the state of the world at the end of the
_Yuga_. Of robes those will be regarded the best that are made of flax,
and of grain the _Paspalum frumentacea_[5] will be regarded the best.
Towards this period men will regard their wives as their (only) friends.
And men will live on fish and milk, goats and sheep, for cows will be
extinct. And towards that period, even they that are always observant of
vows, will become covetous. And opposed to one another, men will, at
such a time, seek one another's lives; and divested of _Yuga_, people
will become atheists and thieves. And they will even dig the banks of
streams with their spades and sow grains thereon. And even those places
will prove barren for them at such a time. And those men who are devoted
to ceremonial rites in honour of the deceased and of the gods, will be
avaricious and will also appropriate and enjoy what belongs to others.
The father will enjoy what belongs to the son; and the son, what belongs
to the father. And those things will also be enjoyed by men in such
times, the enjoyment of which hath been forbidden in the scriptures. And
the Brahmanas, speaking disrespectfully of the Vedas, will not practise
vows, and their understanding clouded by the science of disputation,
they will no longer perform sacrifices and the _Homa_. And deceived by
the false science of reasons, they will direct their hearts towards
everything mean and low. And men will till low lands for cultivation and
employ cows and calves that are one year old, in drawing the plough and
carrying burthens. And sons having slain their sires, and sires having
slain their sons will incur no opprobrium. And they will frequently save
themselves from anxiety by such deeds, and even glory in them. And the
whole world will be filled with _mleccha_ behaviour and notions and
ceremonies, and sacrifices will cease and joy will be nowhere and
general rejoicing will disappear. And men will rob the possession of
helpless persons, of those that are friendless and of wisdoms also. And,
possessed of small energy and strength, without knowledge and given to
avarice and folly and sinful practices men will accept with joy the
gifts made by wicked people with words of contempt. And, O son of Kunti,
the kings of the earth, with hearts wedded to sin without knowledge and
always boastful of their wisdom, will chall