Kalkin’s reign, the flood and the monks’ deliverance

74. Then Gautama, the leader of the disciples, bowed to the Lord and said: “Lord Rishabha appeared at the end of the third period. 75. “In the fourth period of the descending half-cycle, twenty-three Arhats appeared, beginning with Ajita and ending with you, teacher of the world. 76. “Lord, be gracious and tell us what will happen after this, in the fifth period called Duhshama.” 77. The Lord replied: “Three years and eight and a half months after my nirvana, the fifth period will begin. 78. “When nineteen hundred and fourteen years have passed after my nirvana, on the eighth day of Chaitra, in a mleccha family, 79. “during the Vishti division of the day, a king will be born in the city of Pataliputra, known by three names: Kalkin, Rudra and Chaturmukha. 80. “At that time the temple of Rama and Krishna in Mathura will suddenly collapse like an old tree struck by wind. 81. “Anger, pride, deception and greed will always be natural to that cruel-hearted man, like woodworms in timber. 82. “There will then be thieves, opposition to the king, fear of rulers, loss of fragrance and flavour, famine, calamity and failure of rain. 83. “He will be a youth for eighteen years and a rebel for as many more. After that, fierce Kalkin will become king. 84. “As he wanders in the city, he will see five stupas and ask his attendants who built them. 85. “They will tell him: ‘In the past there was a king named Nanda, renowned throughout the world and equal in wealth to the god of riches. 86. “‘He deposited much gold here in the stupas. No ruler has been able to take it.’ 87. “Hearing this, King Kalkin, naturally full of greed, will have the stupas dug up and take the gold. 88. “Seeking wealth, he will have the whole city excavated and count all other kings as straw. 89. “From the ground of his city, as Kalkin has it dug up, a stone cow named Lavanadevi will rise. 90. “Standing at the crossroads, by her miraculous power she will strike monks going for alms with the tip of her horn. 91. “The elders will say: ‘She foretells an overwhelming disaster by water. Go somewhere else.’ 92. “Hearing this, some great sages will depart on their wanderings. Others, coveting food and clothing, will say: 93. “‘If good or ill is to come through time or the force of karma, who can prevent it, even Jishnu himself?’ 94. “Then Kalkin will demand a tax from all the pashandins. Those who possess property and undertake worldly activities will pay him. 95. “‘The other religious people paid the tax. Why do you not pay?’ Saying this, the greedy man will also oppress the monks. 96. “The monks will tell him: ‘King, we own nothing. We live on alms. What can we give you except the blessing “May you gain dharma”? 97. “‘It is said in the Puranas that a king who protects ascetics devoted to brahman obtains a sixth share of their merit. 98. “‘Ruler of the earth, stop this wrongful action. Such an undertaking brings ill to both city and kingdom.’ 99. “Hearing the monks’ words, Kalkin will quickly grow angry, with raised brows and a dreadful face, terrifying as Death. 100. “Then the city’s deity will say to him: ‘Do you wish to die, lowest of mortals, that you demand money even from monks?’ 101. “Frightened by the deity’s words, like an elephant by a lion’s roar, Kalkin will bow and ask the monks’ forgiveness. 102. “Every day many frightening portents will occur, indicating the destruction of King Kalkin’s city. 103. “Clouds will rain for seventeen days and nights. The Ganges will swell and flood that city. 104. “The teacher Pratipada, some members of the community, some townspeople and Kalkin will stand on high ground. 105. “The water of the Ganges, spreading on every side, will bring immediate death to many inhabitants. 106. “When the flood has ceased, King Kalkin will build a new city with that wealth of Nanda. 107. “There will be temples, monks will wander, and rain will fall in season, bringing the crops to maturity. 108. “People will not buy grain even when a whole kumbha can be had for a dramma. There will thus be fifty years of plenty under Kalkin. 109. “As his death approaches, Kalkin will again make all religious ascetics abandon their identifying marks and will oppress them greatly. 110. “He will put Pratipada and the community into a cattle enclosure. With evil intent, he will demand a sixth share of their alms. 111. “The community will perform kayotsarga to call upon Shakra. The attendant goddesses will say: ‘Kalkin, this does not lead to well-being.’ 112. “The force of the community’s kayotsarga will shake Shakra’s throne. Taking an old Brahmin’s form, he will come there. 113. “Shakra will ask Kalkin, seated in the assembly on his great lion-throne: ‘Why have you confined these monks?’ 114. “Kalkin will tell Shakra: ‘These men live in my city, yet they give me no tax, not even a sixth of their alms. 115. “‘All the pashandas have become taxpayers to me, but these have not. Therefore they are confined in the enclosure, to be milked by force like an unruly cow.’ 116. “Shakra will tell him: ‘They have nothing. They will never give any portion of their alms to anyone. 117. “‘Are you not ashamed to demand a share of alms from mendicants? Release them, or great misfortune will come upon you.’ 118. “Angered by these words, Kalkin will say: ‘Soldiers! Seize this Brahmin by the neck and throw him out at once!’ 119. “At this command, Shakra will instantly turn Kalkin, that mountain of wickedness, into a heap of ashes with a slap. 120. “Having completed a lifespan of eighty-six years, King Kalkin will become an inhabitant of a dreadful hell. 121. “Shakra will instruct Kalkin’s son Datta in the religion of the Arhats and place him on the throne. He will pay homage to the community and depart. 122. “Remembering the terrible fruit of his father’s wrongdoing and Shakra’s instruction, Datta will adorn the earth with temples of the Arhats. 123. “From then until the end of the fifth period, the practice of the religion of the Jinas will continue without interruption.”