enge one another from desire
of taking one another's life. And the Kshatriyas also towards the end of
such a period will become the thorns of the earth. And filled with
avarice and swelling with pride and vanity and, unable and unwilling to
protect (their subjects), they will take pleasure in inflicting
punishments only. And attacking and repeating their attacks upon the
good and the honest, and feeling no pity for the latter, even when they
will cry in grief, the Kshatriyas will, O Bharata, rob these of their
wives and wealth. And no one will ask for a girl (for purposes of
marriage) and no one will give away a girl (for such purposes), but the
girls will themselves choose their lords, when the end of the _Yuga_
comes. And the kings of the earth with souls steeped in ignorance, and
discontented with what they have, will at such a time, rob their
subjects by every means in their power. And without doubt the whole
world will be _mlecchified_.[6] And when the end of the _Yuga_ comes,
the right hand will deceive the left; and the left, the right. And men
with false reputation of learning will contract Truth and the old will
betray the senselessness of the young, and the young will betray the
dotage of the old. And cowards will have the reputation of bravery and
the brave will be cheerless like cowards. And towards the end of the
_Yuga_ men will cease to trust one another. And full of avarice and
folly the whole world will have but one kind of food. And sin will
increase and prosper, while virtue will fade and cease to flourish. And
Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas will disappear, leaving, O king, no
remnants of their orders. And all men towards the end of the Yuga will
become members of one common order, without distinction of any kind. And
sires will not forgive sons, and sons will not forgive sires. And when
the end approaches, wives will not wait upon and serve their husbands.
And at such a time men will seek those countries where wheat and barley
form the staple food. And, O monarch, both men and women will become
perfectly free in their behaviour and will not tolerate one another's
acts. And, O Yudhishthira, the whole world will be _mlecchified_. And
men will cease to gratify the gods by offerings of _Sraddhas_. And no
one will listen to the words of others and no one will be regarded as a
preceptor by another. And, O ruler of men, intellectual darkness will
envelop the whole earth, and the life of man will then be