The end of our world is not nigh

Book excerpt: The four ages of the Kali age. The decline of all things, and deterioration of mankind. Redeeming properties of the Kali age. Devotion to Vishnu sufficient to salvation in that age for all castes and persons. Three different kinds of dissolution of our world. Duration of a Pararddha. The clepsydra, or vessel for measuring time. The dissolution that occurs at the end of a day of Brahma. Continuation of the account of the first kind of dissolution. Of the second kind, or elemental dissolution; Of all being resolved into primary spirit. The third kind of dissolution, or final liberation from existence. Evils of worldly life. Sufferings in infancy, manhood, old age. Pains of hell. Imperfect felicity of heaven. Exemption from birth desirable by the wise. The nature of spirit or god. Meaning of the terms Bhagavat and Vasudeva. When the child is about to be born. When old age arrives. The agonies of death. The tortures in hell. There is no end of pain even in heaven. Only knowledge and works can make man a god. Means of attaining liberation. Anecdotes of Khandikya and Keshidhwaja. The former instructs the latter how to atone for permitting the death of a cow. Keshidhwaja offers him a requital, and he desires to be instructed in spiritual knowledge. With Appendix on the Sacred Astronomical Cycles by Rao Bahadur P. Srinivas Row.