Kali (Devanāgari: , IAST: , with both vowels short; from a root , 'suffer, hurt, startle, confuse') is the personification of sin which presides over the Kaliyuga, the present era characterized by moral decline and disorder in Hinduism. His origins and role in the cosmic cycle are detailed in various texts, including the Mahābhārata and Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
According to the Mahābhārata, Kali is a sinister deva-gandharva, born as the fifteenth son of the progenitor sage Kashyapa and Munni. As the lord of the Kaliyuga, Kali exerts his influence by promoting sinful acts, confined by King Parikshit to five domains: gambling, drinking, prostitution, murder, and gold. His narrative intertwines with figures like Nala, whom he possessed and tormented, and Duryodhana, considered his incarnation in the Mahābhārata.
Later Puranic texts reinterpret his origins, making him more fearsome and powerful, as well as associating him with personifications of malevolent forces such as Adharma (unrighteousness), Krodha (anger), Himsa (violence), Mithya (falsehood), Durukti (slander), and Alakshmi (misfortune). The Kalki Purāṇa focus on his role as the nemesis of Kalki, the tenth and final avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu. At the close of the Kaliyuga, he is prophesied to face Kalki in a climactic battle that will end his reign and restore righteousness, restarting the cycle of four yugas.
Mahabharata According to the Mahabharata, Kali was born as the fifteenth son of Kashyapa and his wife Muni. Kaśyapa, a prominent sage and progenitor, fathered sixteen sons, among whom Kali was classified as a deva-gandharva (a divine being associated with celestial musicians). His siblings included other gandharvas—Bhīmasena, Ugrasena, Suparṇa, Varuṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Gopati, Suvarcas, Satyavāk, Arkaparṇa, Prayuta, Viśruta, Citraratha, Śāliśiras, Parjanya, and Nārada. The gandharva Kali became jealous when he was late to Princess Damayanti's Swayamvara ceremony and discovered she had overlooked the deities Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama (and ultimately himself) to choose Nala as her husband. In anger, Kali spoke to his companion Dvapara, the personification of Dvapara Yuga:
Kali travelled to the great Nala's kingdom of Nishadhas and waited twelve long years for the right moment to strike. Because Nala had rendered himself impure by not washing his feet before his prayers, Kali was able to bewitch his soul. Kali then appeared before Pushkara and invited him to play a game of dice with his brother, guaranteeing Nala's downfall. Dvapara took the form of the Vrisha die that would be used in the fixed game. Kali forced Nala to lose and, each time, he would raise the stakes higher despite the protest of his advisors and wife. Finally, Nala lost his kingdom to Pushkara. Both he and Damayanti were exiled to the forest.
During their exile, Kali drove Nala to abandon Damayanti, who later enacted a curse against everyone that had caused the downfall of her husband. She eventually returned home after a short time as a handmaiden to the Princess of Chedi. Nala, meanwhile, saved the naga Karkotaka from fire (where he was cursed to suffer by sage Narada). Intending to exorcise the devil within him, the serpent bit Nala, injecting him with deadly poisons that forever tortured Kali. The venom also changed Nala into an ugly dwarf named Bahuka. He later became the charioteer of the Ayodhya King Rituparna, who was a master mathematician and dice player.
Years later, King Rituparna revealed to Bahuka the supreme skill of controlling the dice in exchange for horsemanship lessons. This skill awakened Nala from Kali's control and allowed him (with the help of Damayanti's curse and Karkotaka's venom) to exorcise the asura (demon); vomiting him in the form of poison from his mouth. Nala forced Kali's trembling spirit into a Vibhitaka tree. He then counted the fruits of the tree and left in search of his wife and later regained his true form. Kali returned to his abode as well.
Kali was then later incarnated as king Duryodhana, eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers. His companion Dvapara became his uncle Shakuni. The day Duryodhana was born, he unleashed a donkey-like scream which the donkeys outside the home replied to. Despite the advice from Vidura to discard the evil baby, Duryodhana's father Dhritarashtra kept the child because of his blind love for his son and overlooked his responsibility as the King.
At the onset of Kali Yuga, once king Parikshit went hunting in the forest. Just then in the middle of the way, Kali appeared before him and asked permission to enter his kingdom, which the king denied. Upon insisting, Parikshit allowed him five places to reside: where there is gambling, alcohol consumption, prostitution, animal slaughter and illicitly acquired gold. Kali smartly entered into Parikshit's golden crown (which Bhima had claimed after killing Jarasandha and had kept in the palace, Parikshit was attracted to the beauty of the crown and started wearing it from then on) and spoiled his thoughts. Parikshit entered the hut of a sage named Shamika as he was thirsty. He found the sage in deep meditation. He bowed to him several times but there was no response. In anger, he took a dead snake and threw it around the sage's neck. Later when the sage's son, Shringin, heard of this incident he cursed the king to die of snake bite on the seventh day. On hearing this, the king forswore the throne for his son Janamejaya and spent his last seven days listening to the discourses of sage Shuka, compiled as the Bhagavata Purana under the banyan tree of Shukratal. As prophesied, the snake king Takshaka bit Parikshita, who left his mortal remains behind and attained Moksha.
Puranic accounts The Kalki Purana describes him as a huge being, the color of soot, with a large tongue, and a terrible stench. From his birth, he carried an Upasthi (worship) bone. The Kalki Purana says that this asura (demon) chose gambling, liquor, prostitution, slaughter and illicitly obtained gold as his permanent abodes. The Sanskrit-English Dictionary states Kali is "of a class of mythic beings (related to the Gandharvas, and supposed by some to be fond of gambling)".Monier-Williams, Monier, Sir.Sanskrit-English Dictionary The Bhagavata Purana describes Kali as wearing the garments of a king and portrays him as a brownish-skinned asura (demon) with a dog-like face, protruding fangs, pointed ears and long green bushy hair, wearing a red loin cloth and golden jewelry.
Markandeya Purana According to Markandeya Purana, the Brahmin Pravara was given a magical ointment that allowed him to fly. But when he flew to the Himalayas, the ointment was washed away from the bottoms of his feet keeping him from returning home to his wife. During this time, the nymph Varuthini fell madly in love with him and begged the Brahmin to stay with her forever. But eventually, he rejected her. He prayed to Agni who returned him home safely.
The gandharva Kali was in love with ‘‘Varuthini’’ and had been rejected by her in the past. He saw how she hungered for the Brahmin, so he took on the appearance of Pravara and came before the courtesan. He led her into the bedchamber and told her to close her eyes during their sex [sambhoga]. As they made love, Varuthini noticed that his body became flaming hot and believed it was because his Brahmin spirit was infused with the sacrificial fire. After climax, Kali, still-as-Pravara, left the apsara and returned to his abode. Varuthini soon became pregnant and nine months later gave birth to a human child that not only looked like the Brahmin but possessed his soul as well.Doniger, Wendy. The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade. University Of Chicago Press, 2000 () The authors of the book Science in Culture comment this was an example of the Sanskrit phrase "from his semen and from her thinking," meaning the child was indeed Pravara's child because she believed it was his.Graubard, Stephen R. and Everett Mendelsohn. Science in Culture. Ed. Peter Galison and Stephen Graubard. Transaction Publishers, 2001 ()
In another version, Kali stipulates that he would only marry the apsara if she keeps her eyes closed while they are in the forest (presumably having sex). However, Kali leaves after their marriage and the birth of their son Svarocisa. Svarocisa grows up to become a very learned scholar of the Vedas and learns to speak the languages of all creatures from one of his three wives. He later marries a goddess and fathers Svarocisa Manu, one of the progenitors of mankind.Prasad, Ramanuj. Know The Puranas. Pustak Mahal, 2005 ()
Bhagavata Purana
The Bhagavata Purana states the very day and moment avatar Krishna left this earth, Kali, "who promotes all kinds of irreligious activities", came into this world.
After setting off to wage war against the evils of the world with his armies, Emperor Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna, came across a Sudra dressed as a king who was beating a cow and an ox with a club. Parikshit immediately led his chariot over to the scene and angrily berated the sudra for abusing the sacred cow and her mate. However, this was no ordinary sudra and these were no ordinary bovine, for the sudra was Kali and the cow and ox were embodiments of the earth goddess and Dharma. The Emperor noticed the ox was standing on one of his legs because the other three had been broken by Kali. Dharma explained his four legs represented "austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness", but he had only the leg of "truth" to stand on since the other three had been broken by Kali over the preceding yugas. Kali was intent on breaking all the legs that supported the reign of dharma so he could effect the expansion of his own dark reign on earth. The earth goddess cried for she had once been plentiful, but when Krishna ascended to heaven, she was forsaken and all of the prosperity left from the world. She feared evil kings like Kali would continue to lay waste to the earth.
When Parikshit raised his sword to kill Kali, the sudra stripped himself of his royal garments and prostrated himself at the emperor's feet. The emperor knew Kali tainted the world with his evil and so had no place in it and raised his sword once more. But Kali interceded again and begged the emperor to spare his life and allow him a place to live within his empire. Parikshit decided that Kali would live in "gambling houses, in taverns, in women and men of unchaste lives, in slaughtering places and in gold".Sastri, Natesa S. M. Hindu Feasts: Fasts And Ceremonies: Fasts and Ceremonies. Laurier Books Ltd., 2003 () And as long as Parikshit ruled India, Kali stayed within the confines of these five places. This act allowed Dharma to regain his legs and the earth to be relieved of much burden. However, Parikshit was later cursed to die by snake bite after hunting in the forest and throwing a dead snake on an unresponsive sage practicing austerities. Upon the emperor's death, "Kali made his way to other places like wild fire and established his power throughout the length and breadth of the whole world."
In another version of the tale, Kali enters into the Emperor's crown when Parikshit gives him permission to reside wherever there is gold. Upon returning home after offending the sage, Parikshit says to himself, Kali Yuga's abode is in gold; this was on my head; hence I had so evil a thought that, having taken a dead snake cast it on the sage’s neck. Therefore, I now understand that Kali Yuga has taken his revenge on me. How shall I escape this grievous sin?"The Prema-Sagara: Or the Ocean of Love (PDF ONLY)Bahadur, S.P. Gitavali: Complete Works of Goswami Tulsidas (Volume III). India: Prachya Prakashan, 1979 ()
Vamana Purana