The age of kali is therefore the culmination of a cycle of four ages during which human longevity gradually decreases. From 100,000 years old at the onset of the golden age, it goes up to 10,000 years old, then to 1,000 years old, and finally to 100 years old at the onset of the kali age, the present age. Already, on average, a man only lives seventy years, and the day will come when a man of thirty will be taken for an old man.

Another symptom of Kali's age is the decline in memory. Today, in fact, we can see how easily people tend to forget. You can tell them the same thing every day, they'll forget it anyway. There is also a decrease in physical strength, a phenomenon easily verifiable, because no one is unaware that our ancestors had a more solid physical constitution. All these signs of decay, decrease in physical strength, memory and longevity, so the Lord predicted them.

The Kali Age is also characterized by a decline in spirituality. So to speak, in this age, there is no longer even a question of religion, it does not interest anyone and everywhere we see churches and temples being closed. All of this therefore corresponds to a decline in spirituality.

Truthfulness, purity and leniency are no exception to this rule either. In the past, a man was ready to forgive an insult or an affront.

Arjuna [Krishna's friend, disciple and devotee] is the best example of this. Although he had suffered greatly from the intrigues of his enemies, he communicated to Krishna on the battlefield of kuruksetra his desire not to take revenge in bloody combat.

But these days we kill each other at the slightest argument, that's the sad truth. And likewise compassion is on the way out. Soon we will be able to assassinate someone in public without anyone intervening or getting upset, it is already happening today.

So spirituality, probity, purity, mercy, compassion, lifespan, physical strength and memory will gradually diminish and such symptoms remind us that the age of kali is progressing alarmingly.

During the age of kali, a man's worth and social standing will be judged according to his wealth.

In the past, however, a man was considered according to his spiritual elevation. A holy man, a sage, was honored for his knowledge of the spiritual, and because he was aware of the supreme spiritual reality.

But today, in the age we live in, there are no longer any true sages, authentic spiritual guides and masters, for men are usurping the title by claiming a hereditary right [the caste system]. In the past, of course, inheritance rights were also important, but it was by his conduct that the true worth of a man was judged.

Anyone born into a family of spiritual guides or administrator warriors should behave as a spiritual guide or administrator warrior. And it was the king's duty to see that no one usurped his position. In other words, we judged a person's respectability to their culture, education and behavior.