Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for your coming here to participate in this transcendental movement, saṅkīrtana movement, which we are trying to spread all over the world.
Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt (SB 12.3.52). This age is called Kali-yuga. According to Vedic calculation there are different ages—Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga then Kali-yuga. The duration of life of the Satya-yuga is about eighteen hundred thousands of years. The next yuga, Tretā, about twelve hundred thousands of years. Next, Dvāpara-yuga, about eight hundred thousands of years.
And this Kali-yuga, four hundred and thirty-two thousands of years. Out of that, we have passed only five thousand years. The modern history, they can give account, chronological account, utmost for three thousand years, but the Kali-yuga has begun since five thousands of years after the Battle of Kurukṣetra.
There was a big battle, Mahābhārata. Mahābhārata means this whole planet was known as Bhārata. At that time your country, or any other country, they were all included within the jurisdiction of Bhārata-varṣa. Therefore the history is called Mahābhārata—greater Bhārata-varṣa. Before this, this planet was known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa, but since the reign of one big emperor whose name was Bharata, after him this planet is called Bhārata-varṣa.
So there was a war between, long, long ago. The kṣatriya kings, they did not rule very nicely. As it is the nature of this world, everything deteriorates. So at that time Paraśurāma wanted to kill all the kṣatriyas. From Mahābhārata history we can understand that many kṣatriyas, they left that part of the country..., world, and they domiciled in this western part of the world. They are called Indo-Āryan stock.
So these Europeans and Americans, they are also formally kṣatriyas. From the Mahābhārata history we can understand. But somehow or the other they have lost their Vedic culture by long separation with the mainland. Otherwise, the whole world was under Vedic culture, and five thousand years ago, when the Battle of Kurukṣetra was there, all different kings from different parts of the world joined either in this party or that party, as it is usual whenever there is a great war some parties join this party, some parties join that. So we can see all these facts. It is estimated that sixty-four crores of men were massacred in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. That means the whole world fought. That was the greatest world war, five thousand years ago.
So the point is, Vedic culture means Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means that we are trying to revive the old Vedic culture throughout the whole world. That is the original culture, because any other cultural history does not go beyond three thousand years in the modern history, but before three thousand years, what was the culture in the world? Practically there is no information. Darwin's theory is not perfect; it is only a theorizing. Human civilization is existing since the creation of this universe. So it is not that there was no human being some thousands of years ago. That is not a fact. The human civilization is coming since a very, very long time.