And, O king girls of seven or eight years of age do
then conceive, while boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring. And in
their sixteenth year, men are overtaken with decrepitude and decay and
the period of life itself is soon outrun. And O king, when men become so
short-lived, more youths act like the aged; while all that is observable
in youth may be noticed in the old. And women given to impropriety of
conduct and marked by evil manners, deceive even the best of husbands
and forget themselves with menials and slaves and even with animals. And
O king, even women that are wives of heroes seek the companionship of
other men and forget themselves with these during the life-time of their
husbands.
"'O king, towards the end of those thousands of years constituting the
four _Yugas_ and when the lives of men become so short, a drought occurs
extending for many years. And then, O lord of the earth, men and
creatures endued with small strength and vitality, becoming hungry die
by thousands. And then, O lord of men, seven blazing Suns, appearing in
the firmament, drink up all the waters of the Earth that are in rivers
or seas. And, O bull of the Bharata race, then also everything of the
nature of wood and grass that is wet to dry, is consumed and reduced to
ashes. And then, O Bharata, the fire called _Samvartaka_ impelled by the
winds appeareth on the earth that hath already been dried to cinders by
the seven Suns. And then that fire, penetrating through the Earth and
making its appearance, in the nether regions also, begetteth great
terror in the hearts of the _gods_, the _Danavas_ and the _Yakshas_.
Pages:
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178