Canto 12, Chapter 1
SB 12.1
The Age of Deterioration — Chapter 1
TEXT 1:TEXT 2:TEXT 3:The son of Rājaka will be Nandivardhana, and thus in the Pradyotana dynasty there will be five kings, who will enjoy the earth for 138 years.TEXT 4:Nandivardhana will have a son named Śiśunāga, and his son will be known as Kākavarṇa. The son of Kākavarṇa will be Kṣemadharmā, and the son of Kṣemadharmā will be Kṣetrajña.TEXT 5:The son of Kṣetrajña will be Vidhisāra, and his son will be Ajātaśatru. Ajātaśatru will have a son named Darbhaka, and his son will be Ajaya.TEXT 6:TEXT 7:TEXT 8:TEXT 9:That lord of Mahāpadma, King Nanda, will rule over the entire earth just like a second Paraśurāma, and no one will challenge his authority.TEXT 10:He will have eight sons, headed by Sumālya, who will control the earth as powerful kings for one hundred years.TEXT 11:A certain brāhmaṇa [Cāṇakya] will betray the trust of King Nanda and his eight sons and will destroy their dynasty. In their absence the Mauryas will rule the world as the Age of Kali continues.TEXT 12:This brāhmaṇa will enthrone Candragupta, whose son will be named Vārisāra. The son of Vārisāra will be Aśokavardhana.TEXT 13:Aśokavardhana will be followed by Suyaśā, whose son will be Saṅgata. His son will be Śāliśūka, Śāliśūka’s son will be Somaśarmā, and Somaśarmā’s son will be Śatadhanvā. His son will be known as Bṛhadratha.TEXT 14:O best of the Kurus, these ten Maurya kings will rule the earth for 137 years of the Kali-yuga.TEXT 15:TEXT 16:TEXT 17:TEXT 18:Vasudeva, an intelligent minister coming from the Kāṇva family, will kill the last of the Śuṅga kings, a lusty debauchee named Devabhūti, and assume rulership himself.TEXT 19:The son of Vasudeva will be Bhūmitra, and his son will be Nārāyaṇa. These kings of the Kāṇva dynasty will rule the earth for 345 more years of the Kali-yuga.TEXT 20:The last of the Kāṇvas, Suśarmā, will be murdered by his own servant, Balī, a low-class śūdra of the Andhra race. This most degraded Mahārāja Balī will have control over the earth for some time.TEXT 21:TEXT 22:TEXT 23:TEXT 24:TEXT 25:TEXT 26:TEXT 27:Then will follow seven kings of the Ābhīra race from the city of Avabhṛti, and then ten Gardabhīs. After them, sixteen kings of the Kaṅkas will rule and will be known for their excessive greed.TEXT 28:Eight Yavanas will then take power, followed by fourteen Turuṣkas, ten Guruṇḍas and eleven kings of the Maula dynasty.TEXT 29:TEXT 30:TEXT 31:TEXT 32:TEXT 33:TEXT 34:There will then appear a king of the Māgadhas named Viśvasphūrji, who will be like another Purañjaya. He will turn all the civilized classes into low-class, uncivilized men in the same category as the Pulindas, Yadus and Madrakas.TEXT 35:Foolish King Viśvasphūrji will maintain all the citizens in ungodliness and will use his power to completely disrupt the kṣatriya order. From his capital of Padmavatī he will rule that part of the earth extending from the source of the Gaṅgā to Prayāga.TEXT 36:At that time the brāhmaṇas of such provinces as Śaurāṣṭra, Avantī, Ābhīra, Śūra, Arbuda and Mālava will forget all their regulative principles, and the members of the royal order in these places will become no better than śūdras.TEXT 37:The land along the Sindhu River, as well as the districts of Candrabhāgā, Kauntī and Kāśmīra, will be ruled by śūdras, fallen brāhmaṇas and meat-eaters. Having given up the path of Vedic civilization, they will have lost all spiritual strength.TEXT 38:There will be many such uncivilized kings ruling at the same time, O King Parīkṣit, and they will all be uncharitable, possessed of fierce tempers, and great devotees of irreligion and falsity.TEXT 39:TEXT 40:TEXT 41:The citizens governed by these low-class kings will imitate the character, behavior and speech of their rulers. Harassed by their leaders and by each other, they will all suffer ruination.