The age of Kali brings with it many surprises and we are so conditioned to these degradations that most times they go un-noticed. Today on Sankirtan some individuals asked me something really interesting. While I was showing them a book and they were holding it they said ‘Can I be really honest with you?’ She said it as a matter of fact and great pride that she was being honest – she was deciding to be different from others. And I said yes sure. Initially I said yes but when this happened a few times I realised – wow so now a day’s people need permission to be honest. In what other day and age would this be the norm and go completely un-noticed? Even when I am in the middle of a Yagya – Sankirtana Yagya, I did not realise that someone was asking me permission to be honest. It made me remember how Srimad Bhagvatam describes the meeting between Maharaj Pariksit and Kali personified.
‘In the age of Satya, religion was complete, still possessing its four legs of truth, mercy, austerity and charity. With the coming of each succeeding age, starting with Treta, these religious qualities each diminish by one quarter. In Kali-yuga the legs of religion retain only one fourth of their power, and even that will be lost with the progress of the age.’ Srimad Bhagvatam 12.3. Summary
Quotations in other places explain that the only remaining leg is this age is truthfulness and that too will disappear with the progress of the age.
Of the four principles of religion – austerity, cleanliness, mercifulness, and truthfulness – only truthfulness remains in Kali-yuga. When Maharaja Pariksit found the bull of religion after it had been attacked by the personified Kali, only one of the bull’s legs, that representing truthfulness, remained. (Gita Nagri Press, Satsvarup Das goswami)
It struck me how quickly the age of Kali is progressing with its wild effects and how important the Sankirtan Yagya is in such times. We should also not think we are immune to its effects and take deeper shelter of the Maha-mantra and the Sankirtan Yagya. At least through this yagya one can begin to see the degradation.
This is really insightful, that people know deep inside that honesty is no longer the norm! Someone could argue that this could just be a figure of speech, like an "umm" or "er", but still, one can realize that in fact people are not honest with each other, the person who wants to be honest often has to mince words or "put on" something acceptable to the hearer, and also one can see that sometimes the comment that follows "can I be honest with you?" is sometimes not honest also!
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