Symptoms of Kali-yuga

[Bhakti Vikasa Swami]

Srila Prabhupada was speaking to Dr. Tarkatirtha about the condition of
Kali-yuga, our current age -- how everything would deteriorate -- and he asked
me to get the Twelfth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam from his desk. The Twelfth
Canto had not yet been translated, so Prabhupada wanted me to get the Sanskrit
version. When I fetched it, he asked me to turn to the second chapter and read
aloud. So I started to read the Sanskrit verses, and he gave the translation
and affirmed the accuracy of the statements -- how in the Age of Kali the
relationships between men and women would be based solely on sex. Families
would be reduced to just the husband and wife, and no one would take care of
their elder family members. Married sons would leave their parents and move
away, and even the relationship between husband and wife would last for only a
short while. Marriages would be based on sexual compatibility and sealed with
only verbal agreements. There would be rampant promiscuity and no spousal
loyalty. A man's appearance would be judged by the length of his hair. He
pointed out how in America and Europe young men were growing their hair long,
and how that had become the deciding factor for their physical attractiveness.

Prabhupada described how robbers would become rulers. They would extract money
from their subjects through taxes, and the people would become so disillusioned
that they would run away from the cities and villages to escape the
exploitation. The condition of the earth would become so precarious that cows
would stop giving milk, grain-bearing plants would become like plain grass, and
fruits would have no pulp.

(From "Ocean of Mercy" by HH Bhakti Caru Swami)