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Bhagawan Mahavir 1
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period; and, when the end comes nearer, religious faith and morals depart from earth bag and baggage; trees lose their sap and moisture; rains cease for years together; seeds sown into the ground are scorched by the heat of the sun and earth; if ever there is a crop, it vields very little and unsubstantial corn; people cry for food and water and die most miserably when they cannot get them; moreover, lasciviousness and sensual passion haunt them with still greater persistence even when they have little to eat and drink; they have no regard for their own mothers, their own sisters, and their own daughters, and fall like crows and dogs upon any and every to satisfy their lust; they indulge in coition at any time of the day without thinking even for one minute whether it is day or night, morning or evening; their children also grow like worms and insects and die like them too; 'very soon a recollection of the fact that they have got nothing to eat and drink makes them bewail most despondently sometimes. Instead of rain water, the clouds send thunderbolts to the ground, which scorch up the remaining trees and bushes and turn them into stumps; winds are very hot and dry and blow very fiereely; they uproot the trees and fell the houses which shake the ground with their velocity and crush human being like worms and insects. Thus death and destruction encompass living beings from all directions and put them into the fathomless pit of their mouth most recklessly. Caste system is abolished; arts and sciences are neglected; political changes take place in great abundance; people have no fear of their kings; the system of monarchical Government and Kingdoms is despised; religion e regarded as an idle talk; and charity and alms-giving lose
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