618 A FUTURE ERA FORECASTED
his father and mother are but sinners like the rest of mankind, he will sacrifice them also to appease his anger. After this a New Age will begin, when virtue and happiness will reign on the earth.
If one may believe certain learned Brahmins whom
I have had an opportunity of consulting on this subject, it would appear that the incarnation of Buddha has also not yet taken place. It ought to have occurred at the
beginning of the Kali-yuga in the country called Kitoki.
This Buddha will preach pure atheism to mankind: he
will lead even the gods themselves into sin and error. In these unhappy times Sudras will be seen wearing red cloths,
a colour which is only meet for Brahmins, and acquiring knowledge, the Vedas not excepted. So little virtue will then be practised on the earth that what there is will not suffice to render man happy in this world or the next. The
Brahmins will no longer fulfil the duties of their calling, will hold in no esteem the rules concerning defilement and cleanliness. Children will no longer obey their parents; there will be no more caste distinctions; even kings will practise all that is most vile and contemptible among men.
Earth itself and the other elements will feel the effects of the universal disorder which will then prevail in nature; the former will lose, at any rate partially, its fertility; little rain will fall from the clouds; the cows will yield but little milk, and that, moreover, will not be fit for making butter.
In the opinion of most Brahmins, however, the Avatar in question has already taken place. They cannot exactly
fix its date, but they maintain that it is this Avatar which put an end to the bloody sacrifices formerly in vogue.
It is probable the same epoch witnessed the establishment of Buddhism, which prevails throughout the greater part of Asia, but has been almost entirely destroyed by the
Brahmins in India. Be this as it may, it is certain that under this Avatar the Brahmins render no homage to
Buddha or to Vishnu.
I must mention in conclusion the famous incarnation of
Vishnu in the person of Rama, whichforms the subject of the celebrated epic poem known as the liamayana, the most famous of all Indian books, and read by persons of all castes.