eriods doth not live long. Indeed, the earth becometh reft of virtue in
every shape. And, O tiger among men, the merchants and traders then full
of guile, sell large quantities of articles with false weights and
measures. And they that are virtuous do not prosper; while they that are
sinful proper exceedingly. And virtue loseth her strength while sin
becometh all powerful. And men that are devoted to virtue become poor and
short-lived; while they that are sinful become long-lived and win
prosperity. And in such times, people behave sinfully even in places of
public amusements in cities and towns. And men always seek the
accomplishment of their ends by means that are sinful. And having earned
fortunes that are really small they become intoxicated with the pride of
wealth. And O monarch, many men at such periods strive to rob the wealth
that hath from trust been deposited with them in secrecy. And wedded to
sinful practices, they shamelessly declare--there is nothing in deposit.
And beasts of prey and other animals and fowl may be seen to lie down in
places of public amusement in cities and towns, as well as in sacred
edifices. And, O king girls of seven or eight years of age do then
conceive, while boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring. An in their
sixteenth year, men are overtaken with decrepitude and decay and the
period of life itself is soon outrun. And O king, when men become so
short-lived, more youths act like the aged; while all that is observable
in youth may be noticed in the old. And women given to impropriety of
conduct and marked by evil manners, deceive even the best of husbands and
forget themselves with menials and slaves and even with animals. And O
king, even women that are wives of heroes seek the companionship of other
men and forget themselves with these during the life-time of their
husbands.

"O king, towards the end of those thousands of years constituting the
four Yugas and when the lives of men become so short, a drought occurs
extending for many years. And then, O lord of the earth, men and
creatures endued with small strength and vitality, becoming hungry die by
thousands. And then, O lord of men, seven blazing Suns, appearing in the
firmament, drink up all the waters of the Earth that are in rivers or
seas. And, O bull of the Bharata race, then also everything of the nature
of wood and grass that is wet to dry, is consumed and reduced to ashes.
And then, O Bharata, the fire called Samvar