Editing Kalki (section)

== Development ==

While there is no mention of Kalki in the [[Vedas|Vedic]] literature,<ref name=academy81>{{cite book|title=Tattvadīpaḥ: Journal of Academy of Sanskrit Research, Volume 5|page=81|publisher=The Academy|year=2001|quote=Kalki, as an incarnation of Visnu, is not found in the Vedic literature. But some of the features of that concept, viz., the fearful elements, the epithet Kalmallkinam (brilliant, remover of darkness) of Rudra, prompt us to admit him as the forerunner of Kalki.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rabiprasad Mishra|title=Theory of Incarnation: Its Origin and Development in the Light of Vedic and Purāṇic References|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XvXAAAAMAAJ |year=2000|publisher=Pratibha |isbn=978-81-7702-021-2|page=146}}, Quote: "Kalki as an incarnation of Visnu is not mentioned in the Vedic literature."</ref> the epithet "Kalmallkinam", meaning "Brilliant Remover Of Darkness", is found in the Vedic Literature for [[Rudra]] (later Shiva), has been interpreted to be "Forerunner Of Kalki".<ref name=academy81/>

Kalki appears for the first time in the great war epic ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref name="Hiltebeitel2011p104">{{cite book|author=Alf Hiltebeitel|title=Reading the Fifth Veda: Studies on the Mahābhārata - Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lLfHSOWKB-sC&pg=PA531|year=2011|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-18566-1|pages=89–110, 530–531}}</ref> The mention of Kalki in the ''Mahabharata'' occurs only once, over the verses 3.188.85–3.189.6.<ref name="Brockington1998p287"/> The Kalki incarnation is found in the Maha Puranas such as ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Horace |authorlink=Horace Hayman Wilson |title=Vishnu Purana |year=2001 |publisher=Ganesha Publishing |isbn=1-86210-016-0 |page=72}}</ref> ''[[Matsya Purana]]'', and the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Theory of Avatāra and Divinity of Chaitanya|first=Janmajit|last=Roy|page=39 |publisher = Atlantic Publishers}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Myths and Gods of India: The Classic Work on Hindu Polytheism from the Princeton Bollingen Series|first=Alain|last=Daniélou|page=181|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co}}</ref> However, the details relating the Kalki mythologies are divergent between the epic and the Puranas, as well as within the Puranas.<ref name="Mitchiner2000p68">{{cite book|author=John E. Mitchiner|title=Traditions Of The Seven Rsis|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=phGzVwTTp_gC|year= 2000|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass |isbn= 978-81-208-1324-3|pages= 68–69 with footnotes}}</ref><ref name="Hiltebeitel2011p104"/>

In the ''Mahabharata'', according to Hiltebeitel, Kalki is an extension of the [[Parasurama|Parashurama]] incarnation legend, where a Brahmin warrior destroys Kshatriyas who were abusing their power to spread chaos, evil, and the persecution of the powerless. The epic character of Kalki restores dharma, restores justice in the world, but does not end the cycle of existence.<ref name="Hiltebeitel2011p104"/><ref name="Hiltebeitel2011p288">{{cite book|author=Alf Hiltebeitel|title=Dharma: Its Early History in Law, Religion, and Narrative|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U4NF8pYxdvIC |year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-539423-8|pages=288–292}}</ref> The Kalkin section in the ''Mahabharata'' is present in the Markandeya section. There, states Luis Reimann, can "hardly be any doubt that the Markandeya section is a late addition to the epic. Making [[Yudhishthira]] ask a question about conditions at the end of Kali and the beginning of Krta — something far removed from his own situation — is merely a device for justifying the inclusion of this subject matter in the epic."<ref>{{cite book|author=Luis González Reimann|title=The Mahābhārata and the Yugas: India's Great Epic Poem and the Hindu System of World Ages|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nXrXAAAAMAAJ|year =2002|publisher= Peter Lang|isbn= 978-0-8204-5530-3|pages= 89–99, quote is on page 97}}</ref>

According to Cornelia Dimmitt, the "clear and tidy" systematization of Kalki and the remaining nine incarnations of Vishnu is not found in any of the Maha Puranas.<ref name="Dimmitt2012p63"/> The coverage of Kalki in these Hindu texts is scant, in contrast to the legends of [[Matsya]], [[Kurma]], [[Varaha]], [[Vamana]], [[Narasimha]], and [[Krishna]], all of whom are repeatedly and extensively described. According to Dimmitt, this was likely because just like the concept of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] as a [[Buddha in Hinduism|Vishnu Incarnation]], the concept of Kalki was "somewhat in flux" when the major Puranas were being compiled.<ref name="Dimmitt2012p63">{{harvnb|Dimmitt|van Buitenen|2012|pp=63–64}}</ref>

This Kalki concept may have further developed in the Hindu texts both as a reaction to the invasions of the Indian subcontinent by various armies over the centuries from its northwest, and in reaction to the mythologies these invaders brought with them.<ref name="Brockington1998p287"/><ref name="Doniger2004p235">{{cite book |first=Wendy |last=Doniger |year=2004 |title=Hindu Myths: A sourcebook translated from the Sanskrit |pages=235–237 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-044990-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQ4IMQAACAAJ}}</ref> Similarly, the Buddhist Literature dated to the late 1st millennium, a future Buddha [[Maitreya]] is depicted as Kalki.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Robert |last2=Isaacson |first2=Estelle |language=en |title=Gautama Buddha's Successor |date=2013 |publisher=SteinerBooks |isbn=978-1-58420-162-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGhAAwAAQBAJ&q=Maitreya+Kalki&pg=PT32 |access-date=17 May 2020}}; {{cite book |last=Roerich |first=Elena Ivanovna |year=1987 |title=Letters, 1929-1938 |publisher=Agni Yoga Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-6zwAAAAIAAJ&q=Maitreya+Kalki |access-date=17 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Plott |first1=John C. |last2=Dolin |first2=James Michael |last3=Hatton |first3=Russell E. |year=1977 |title=Global History of Philosophy: The period of scholasticism |language=en |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher |isbn=978-0-89581-678-8 |page=358 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ErMRGiNcxJIC&q=Maitreya+Kalki&pg=PA358 |access-date=17 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lawrence |first=Troy |year=1990 |title=New Age Messiah identified: Who is Lord Maitreya? Tara Center's "mystery man" alive and living in London |language=en |publisher=Huntington House Publishers |isbn=978-0-910311-17-5 |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJo4wL49kugC&q=Maitreya+Kalki |access-date=17 May 2020}}; {{cite book |last=Stutley |first=Margaret |year=1985 |title=Hinduism: The Eternal Law: An introduction to the literature, cosmology, and cults of the Hindu religion |language=en |publisher=Aquarian Press |isbn=978-0-85030-348-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OPsXAAAAIAAJ&q=Maitreya+Kalki |access-date=17 May 2020}}</ref> According to John Mitchiner, the Kalki concept owes "in some measure" to Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian and other concepts.<ref name="Mitchiner2000p75">{{cite book|author=John E. Mitchiner|title=Traditions Of The Seven Rsis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phGzVwTTp_gC |year=2000|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1324-3|pages=75–76}}</ref> Mitchiner states that some Puranas such as the Yuga Purana do not mention Kalki and offer a different cosmology than the other Puranas. The Yuga Purana mythologizes in greater details the post-Maurya era Indo-Greek and Saka era, while the Manvantara theme containing the Kalki idea is mythologized greater in other Puranas.<ref name="Mitchiner2000p69">{{cite book|author=John E. Mitchiner|title=Traditions Of The Seven Rsis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phGzVwTTp_gC |year=2000|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1324-3|pages=69–76}}</ref><ref name="Hiltebeitel2011p104" /> Luis Gonzales-Reimann concurs with Mitchiner, stating that the Yuga Purana does not mention Kalki.<ref name="Reimann2002p95">{{cite book|author=Luis González-Reimann|title=The Mahābhārata and the Yugas: India's Great Epic Poem and the Hindu System of World Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXrXAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-5530-3|pages=95–99 }}</ref> In other texts such as the sections 2.36 and 2.37 of the Vayu Purana, states Reimann, it is not Kalkin who ends the Kali Yuga, but a different character named Pramiti.<ref name="Reimann2002p112">{{cite book|author=Luis González Reimann|title=The Mahābhārata and the Yugas: India's Great Epic Poem and the Hindu System of World Ages|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nXrXAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-5530-3|pages=112–113 note 39}}; Note: Reimann mentions some attempts to "identify both Pramiti and Kalkin with historical rulers".</ref> Most historians, states Arvind Sharma, link the development of Kalki mythology in Hinduism to the suffering caused by foreign invasions.<ref name="Sharma2012p244">{{cite book|author=Arvind Sharma|title=Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology: The Case for Reciprocal Illumination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfZ9y5-FGPgC |year=2012|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8325-1|pages=244–245}}</ref> Unlike other messianic concepts, Kalki's purpose is to destroy the invaders and heretics in order to reverse the current age [[Kali Yuga]], the age of evil.<ref>"Hindu Myths", p. 236, Penguin Books, 1994</ref>

===Predictions about birth and arrival===
[[File:Kalki1790s.jpg|thumb|Kalki and Devadatta]]
In the Cyclic Concept Of Time (''Puranic Kalpa''), ''[[Kali Yuga]]'' is estimated to last 432,000 years. In some Vaishnava texts, Kalki is foretold to appear on a white horse on the day of ''pralaya'' to end ''Kali Yuga'', to end the evil and wickedness, and to recreate the world anew along with A New Cycle Of Time ([[Yuga Cycle|Yuga]]).<ref name=coulter2013>{{cite book |first1=Charles Russell |last1=Coulter |first2=Patricia |last2=Turner |year=2013 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135963972 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWxekbhM1yEC}}</ref><ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Volume 2|author1=James R. Lewis|author2=Inga B. Tollefsen|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=488}}</ref>

Kalki's description varies with manuscripts. Some state Kalki will be born to Awejsirdenee and Bishenjun,<ref name=coulter2013/> others in the family of Sumati and Vishnuyasha.<ref name="emperor"/>{{sfn|Rocher|1986|p=183}} In Buddhist manuscripts, Vishnuyasha is stated to be a prominent headman of the village called [[Shambhala]]. He will become the king, a "Turner Of The Wheel", and one who triumphs. He will eliminate all barbarians and robbers, end ''adharma'', restart ''dharma'', and save the good people.<ref name="incarnation">{{cite book |first=J.A.B. |last=van&nbsp;Buitenen |year=1987 |title=The Mahabharata |at=Volume&nbsp;2, Book&nbsp;2, pages&nbsp;597–598 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226223681 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GfhJCgAAQBAJ}}</ref> After that, humanity will be transformed and the golden age will begin state the Hindu manuscripts.<ref name="incarnation"/>

In the Kanchipuram temple, two relief Puranic panels depict Kalki, one relating to lunar (moon-based) dynasty as mother of Kalki and another to solar (sun-based) dynasty as father of Kalki.<ref name="emperor"/> In these panels, states D.D.&nbsp;Hudson, the story depicted is in terms of Kalki fighting and defeating asura [[Kali (demon)|Kali]]. He rides a white horse called Devadatta, ends evil, purifies everyone's minds and consciousness, and heralds the start of [[Satya Yuga]].<ref name="emperor">{{cite book |first=D. Dennis |last=Hudson |year=2008 |title=The Body of God: An emperor's palace for Krishna in eighth&nbsp;century Kanchipuram |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bodygodemperorsp00huds_609/page/n359 333]–340 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536922-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/bodygodemperorsp00huds_609 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

[[File:Dasavatar, 19th century.jpg|thumb|center|650px|19th-century [[Dashavatara]] painting (from left): Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki.]]