measured by
sixteen years, on attaining to which age death will ensue. And girls of
five or six years of age will bring forth children and boys of seven or
eight years of age will become fathers. And, O tiger among kings, when
the end of the _Yuga_ will come, the wife will never be content with her
husband, nor the husband with his wife. And the possessions of men will
never be much, and people will falsely bear the marks of religion, and
jealousy and malice will fill the world. And no one will, at that time,
be a giver (of wealth or anything else) in respect to any one else. And
the inhabited regions of the earth will be afflicted with dearth and
famine, and the highways will be filled with lustful men and women of
evil repute. And, at such a time, the women will also entertain an
aversion towards their husbands. And without doubt all men will adopt
the behaviour of the _mlecchas_, become omnivorous without distinction,
and cruel in all their acts, when the end of the _Yuga_ will come. And,
O thou foremost of the Bharatas, urged by avarice, men will, at that
time, deceive one another when they sell and purchase. And without a
knowledge of the ordinance, men will perform ceremonies and rites, and,
indeed, behave as listeth them, when the end of the _Yuga_ comes. And
when the end of the _Yuga_ comes, urged by their very dispositions, men
will act cruelly, and speak ill of one another. And people will, without
compunction, destroy trees and gardens. And men will be filled with
anxiety as regards the means of living. And, O king, overwhelmed with
covetousness, men will kill Brahmanas and appropriate and enjoy the
possessions of their victims. And the regenerate ones, oppressed by
Sudras, and afflicted with fear, and crying _Oh_ and _Alas_, will wander
over the earth without anybody to protect them. And when men will begin
to slay one another, and become wicked and fierce and without any
respect for animal life, then will the _Yuga_ come to an end. And, O
king, even the foremost of the regenerate ones, afflicted by robbers,
will, like crows, fly in terror and with speed, and seek refuge, O
perpetuator of the Kuru race, in rivers and mountains and inaccessible
regions. And always oppressed by bad rulers with burthens of taxes, the
foremost of the regenerate classes, O lord of the earth, will, in those
terrible times, take leave of all patience and do improper acts by
becoming even the servants of the Sudras. And Sudras will ex