Tulsidas Jayanti, which marks the birth anniversary of Goswami Tulsidas, will be celebrated on August 21, 2015. This occasion celebrates the life of the Hindu poet who has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poets of world literature. The impact of Tulsidas and his writings is widespread. One of his most outstanding works is Ramcharitramanas. Apart from the deep devotion that this text arouses, the formula he has provided to attain spirituality and the revelations of the present age of Kal Yug are most instructive. Outlined below are some of the characteristics of this age, which he describes as the storehouse of impurities and vices. Some predictions are as follows:
- Duties and rules of conduct for the four stages of life will be neglected.
- Self-control, compassion, charity and wisdom will disappear. Instead, stupidity and fraud will multiply.
- No one will respect the injunctions of the scriptures.
- A clever person will be considered one who robs another of his wealth.
- One who is given to lying and is clever at joking will be considered to be respected.
- The man of wisdom and dispassion will be that person who has abandoned the path outlined by the scriptures.
- A renowned ascetic will be one who carries about himself with long nails, long hair and matted locks.
- They who put on unsightly garb and ornaments, eat anything and everything, will be looked upon as ascetics, worthy of worship.
- Men will be dominated by women. They will dance to their tune like a monkey controlled by its trainer.
- Men and women will pamper their body.
- People would be overpowered by sensuality and greed and will be hostile to the holy ones, to scriptures and to God.
- Wives will desert their husbands and engage in illicit relationships.
- Wives will adorn themselves in a drab manner while their husbands are alive.
- Widows will dress themselves in the latest styles.
- The Guru will be blind to his disciples’ flaws, while the disciples will be deaf to the Guru’s words.
- Parents will teach their children the religion of the belly, that is, the means of earning and eating.
- Those who live adulterous lives, who are cunning, clever at wiles and steeped in delusion, malice and worldly attachment, will be considered to be self-realised beings.
- People who live lives bereft of self-control and discipline, will shave their heads and enter the order of ‘sannyaas’ (renunciation) when their wives die and will allow themselves to be worshipped by Brahmins.
- New religions will be invented almost every day.
- Hermits will live lives of luxury and sensuality.
- Sons will respect their parents as long as they are not married. On marriage, they will look upon their own as enemies.
- Charity, ‘jaap’ (recitation of mantras), sacrifices and austerities will be performed with unholy motives.
- Envy, harsh words and covetousness will become rampant while a sense of unity and fraternity will be absent.
- Famines will become frequent occurrences, causing people to perish en masse.
All good customs will be cast to the winds while righteous people will be rarely found. - Indeed, some of the above predictions have already become a reality. Yet, by chanting the name of God and fixing one’s mind on Him, one can be free from these scourges.
