The great conqueror, Kalki then paid homage to his father and started for conquering Kikatpur with his army. The Buddhists live in that city. The residents of that city do not worship God or their forefathers. They do not fear after-life. Other than the body, they do not believe in any soul. They do not have any pride in their lineage or in their race; money, marriage etc. are insignificant to them. People of that place eat and drink a variety of things. When Jin (the leader) heard that Kalki has come to fight them, he gathered a huge army and went out of the city to fight Him.
~ Kalki Purana, II[6], Verses 40 to 44
Although the city of Kikatpur is unidentified, yet it is specified that "Buddhists" live there. But the descriptions of the belief of those people are anything but Buddhist and are more in consonance with the ideology of the Communists, i.e. people who do not worship God, do not believe in after-life, soul, race and the significance of wealth and give the collective more importance than the individual. The choice of foods of the Chinese (or Koreans) are also considered exotic in other parts of the world. Interestingly, the name of the leader is also mentioned as "Jin". As we all know, Jin, Xin or Xian are very common names among the Chinese. On 15th March 2003 the Chinese Communist Party elected Hu Jintao as the new President of China. By religion, China (or Korea) is predominantly Buddhist, although no religion is allowed to be openly practiced under the Communist rule. Thus the description of the belief of the people and their religion are not contradictory but very appropriate.
He (Jin) took up various types of arms and started war with Kalki. Even the Gods were surprised by the techniques of war adopted by Jin. Jin injured Kalki's horse with a javelin and made him disoriented and unconscious and attempted to take him away, but could not lift him...On seeing that, King Vishakhjupa got angry and encountered Jin and picked up unconscious Kalki in his own chariot. Kalki regained his consciousness in a while and encouraged his soldiers; following that, he rushed towards Jin after getting down from the chariot of Vishakhjupa.
~ Kalki Purana, II[7], Verses 5, 6, 8, 9
It seems that Jin was not a mean enemy and Kalki did not have a smooth ride either and had his moments of ups and downs. Of course this is what is expected if a western force confronts the mighty Chinese army, the biggest in the world in terms of numbers.
Soon, Garga (associate of Kalki) and his army killed 6000 Buddhist soldiers. Bharga and his soldiers killed and injured 11 million enemy soldiers and his mighty allies killed 2500 of them. Kobi along with his sons killed 2 million enemy soldiers, Pragya killed 1 million and Sumantu killed 5 million soldiers.
~ Kalki Purana, II[7], Verses 5, 6, 8, 9
It seems that Kalki and his allies kill or injure an army which is almost 20 million strong. An army of this huge proportions can only be assembled by a country like China and its allies. Thus, the attack on the city of Kikatpur does not merely represent an attack on a city but on a country, probably in alliance with others.
Soon Kalki smiled and said unto Jin - O Sinner ! Don't flee but come and face me...Soon your body will be pierced with my arrows. Soon you shall depart from this world. Then, no one will go along with you. So, you and your allies surrender before me. On hearing the words of Kalki, mighty Jin said "The fate can never be seen. I am a materialist, Buddhist. Nothing but the perceptible are accepted by us. The unseen and the imperceptible are banished by us. Hence your effort is fruitless. Even if you are Godly, I am before you; see if you manage to kill me. In that event, will the Buddhists forgive you?
~ Kalki Purana, II[7], Verses 15 to 18
Once again, the ideology of Jin is apparent from his own words. This is contrary to what the Buddhists profess - Buddhists believe in fate, soul and rebirth like the Hindus. But this "Buddhist" does not believe in fate or the imperceptible and this ideology is not the ideology of any religion, but that of Communism. But for communism, China would have been the world's largest Buddhist country and its people, at least in private, still follow the religion. Verse 26 describes the death of Jin in the hands of Kalki. The next few verses describe the battle betweenSuddhodhan, the brother of Jin and the forces of Kalki, in which the former manage to inflict some heavy damages on the forces of Kalki, using, among other things an weapon if illusion (Maya). Ultimately Kalki managed to defeat the Buddhist forces who either died, lay injured or fled the battlefield.
But it was not the end of the war yet. On the verge of the defeat of the "Buddhist" army, their womenfolk gathered to battle Kalki and his allies. This is quite unprecedented in the annals of Hindu epics or for that matter, history and stories from anywhere in the world.
The wives of the Buddhists, gathered for battle riding on chariots, birds, horses, camels and bulls to defend their husbands. These beautiful, powerful young ladies devoted to their husbands did not seek the shelter of their children. These glorious women, dressed in battle-gear and various jewellery came to the battlefield armed with swords, power-weapons, arrows and javelins. In their hands were heavenly rings. These beautiful women consisted of hair dressers, women devoted to husbands (house-wives) and even prostitutes. These women, troubled by the death of their husbands and fathers came forth to fight the army of Kalki. People even care to protect objects like soil, ashes, wood etc. Therefore, how can these women tolerate the death of their husbands in their presence? The womenfolk of the Buddhists, seeing their husbands injured and troubled came in front of them and started to fight the soldiers of Kalki. Seeing the women take to battle, the soldiers of Kalki were amazed and came to Kalki to inform him about the whole matter in details. Hearing this, Kalki, clever as he is, arrived there on a chariot accompanied by his allies and army with a cheerful mind. Seeing the women astride in various types of vehicles, standing in formations, Kalki started saying "Ladies, please hear what I have to say. It is against the principles for men to fight against women..."
~ Kalki Purana, III[1], Verses 11 to 20
We can guess that Kalki indulged in intense diplomacy to dissuade the women from fighting. Kalki Purana describes in the next few verses the words of Kalki which can be called the unashamed flattery of the women by Kalki. Though not quite relevant, it will show that the Kalki Purana is not simply a text of war and conquest and gloom and doom that we associate these times with. Rather, it shows the human and the spiritual aspects of the whole war.
...On your beautiful moon-like face, falls the locks of fine hair. Everyone's mind become cheerful on seeing this. Which man can hit on such a face? On these beautiful faces are a pair of eyes like lotus with long eyelashes and dark pupil. Which man can hit such a face? Your breasts are decorated like the necklace of Shiva. Even the pride of the cupid gets hurt on seeing this. Which man can hit on such a place? Which man can hit the spotless face of a woman on which play the locks of fine hairs from the head? Which man can hit your slim waists weighed down by breasts and decorated by very fine body-hair? Can any man shoot an arrow in your eye-soothing and feminine pubic area covered by fine hair and untouched by sin? Hearing these words of Kalki, the infidel-women smiled and said - "Sir ! When our husbands died in your hand, we too have died". Saying this, the women prepared to kill Kalki.
~ Kalki Purana, III[1], Verses 21 to 27
All such attempts of eulogizing femininity by Kalki cut no ice with the women. At this point of time however, a miracle happened which persuaded the women from fighting Kalki :
...However the weapons remained in their hands. The various weapons metamorphosed and stood before the infidel-women decorated in gold and said "Ladies! Do ye know Kalki as the Supreme God, empowered by whom we take the lives of living beings. Have confidence in our words. On His command we propagate and on his glory we have attained various forms and by His mercy we have become renowned. By His empowerment does the five elements carry out their own actions. He is the Supreme Being Himself. Under His wishes has the nature created the whole Universe. The creation and the continuity of the creation is nothing but His action. He is the Beginning and the End, from Him arise all the holy things in the world. It is He, who is our husband, our wife, son, friend and relative. From Him comes forth all these illusion-like happenings. Those who know that life and death are nothing but coming and going under the influence of love, affection and fondness, those who are devoid of any feelings of anger and hate, who are the devotees of Kalki, they know the above illusion-like happenings as false. How was Time created? Where does death come from? Who isYama (Death incarnate and lord of the underworld)? Who are the Gods? By His illusion, it is Kalki who has become many. O Ladies! We are not weapons and no one gets hurt by us. He is the weapon and it is he who hits. These distinctions are nothing but the illusion (Maya) created by the Supreme Being. ...We cannot hit the devotees of Kalki. Hearing the words of the weapons, the women were surprised. They shed their illusion of attachment and came to seek Kalki.
~ Kalki Purana, III[1], Verses 27 to 39
Whether it was a miracle or diplomacy, the end result was that the Buddhist women did not fight Kalki's army, thus averting what could have been the only war between a male and a female army. After the war and victory, Kalki returned from Kikatpur with his army.
द्वादश्यां शुक्ल-पक्षस्य माधवे मासि माधवम्।
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