Hindu texts Kalki is an
avatara of Vishnu.
Avatar means "descent", and refers to a descent of the divine into the material realm of human existence. Kalki appears for the first time in the
Mahabharata. He is described as the incarnation who appears at the end of the Kali Yuga. He ends the darkest, degenerating, and chaotic stage of the Kali Yuga to remove
adharma and ushers in the
Satya Yuga, while riding a white horse with a fiery sword. He restarts a new cycle of time. He is described as a Brahmin warrior in the Puranas. A minor text named
Kalki Purana is a relatively recent text, likely composed in
Bengal. Its dating
floruit is the 18th-century. Wendy Doniger dates the Kalki Mythology containing
Kalki Purana to between 1500 and 1700 CE. In the
Kalki Purana, Kalki is born into the family of Vishnuyashas and Sumati, in a village called
Shambala, on the thirteenth day during the fortnight of the waxing moon. At a young age, he is taught the holy scriptures on topics such as
dharma, karma, artha, jñāna, and undertakes military training under the care of the
Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Vishnu). Soon, Kalki worships
Shiva, who gets pleased by the devotion and provides him in return a divine white horse named Devadatta (a manifestation of
Garuda), a powerful sword, whereby its handle is bedecked with jewels, and a parrot named Shuka, who is an all-knower; the past, the present and the future. Other accessories are also given by other
devas,
devis,
saints, and righteous kings. He fights an evil army and in many wars, ending evil, but does not end existence. Kalki returns to Shambala, inaugurates a new
Yuga for the good, and then goes to
Vaikuntha. In the
Kalki Purana, there is a mention of a
Buddhist city whose residents don't adhere to
dharma (not worshipping the
devas,
ancestors, and not upholding the varna system), which Kalki fights and conquers. The
Agni Purana describes Kalki's role: The
Devi Bhagavata Purana features the
devas hailing Vishnu, invoking his Kalki avatara:
Buddhist texts , a meditation deity. The 25 seated figures represent the
25 Kings Of Shambhala. The middle figure in the top row represents
Tsongkhapa, who is in the top two middle rows. This comes from the scriptures that is part of the
Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist Tradition. In the Buddhist Text
Kalachakra Tantra, the
righteous kings are called Kalki (Kalkin, lit. chieftain) living in
Sammu. There are many Kalki in this text, each fighting barbarism, persecution and chaos. The last Kalki is called "Rudra Cakrin" and is predicted to end the chaos and degeneration by assembling a large army to eradicate a barbarian army. A great war, which will include an army of both Hindus and Buddhists, will destroy the barbaric forces, states the text. This is most likely borrowed from Hinduism to Buddhism due to the arrival of Islamic kingdoms from the west to the east, mainly settled in
West Tibet,
Central Asia and the
Indian Subcontinent. According to Donald Lopez – a
professor of
Buddhist Studies, Kalki is predicted to start the new cycle of perfect era where "Buddhism will flourish, people will live long, happy lives and righteousness will reign supreme". Lopez states that the Buddhist text likely borrowed it from Hindu vedic texts. Other scholars, such as Yijiu Jin, state that the text originated in Central Asia in the 10th-century, and Tibetan literature picked up a version of it in India around 1027 CE. The
Chaubis Avatar (24 incarnations) section mentions Sage Matsyanra describing the appearance of Vishnu incarnations to fight evil, greed, violence and ignorance. It includes Kalki as the twenty-fourth incarnation to lead the war between the forces of righteousness and unrighteousness.
Regional traditions According to the traditional narrative of the shrine, the goddess was originally a maiden named Trikuta, who is considered an incarnation of
Tridevi, During the
Treta Yuga, she performed intense penance to win the avatar Rama as her husband. Because Rama was already devoted to his wife Sita, he declined but promised to marry
Vaishno Devi during his future incarnation as Kalki in the
Kali Yuga. According to this belief, Vaishno Devi currently resides in the cave on
Trikuta mountain, where she awaits Kalki's arrival. == Development ==