Kali-yuga-the "Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy " The fourth and last age in the cycle of a maha-yuga. This is the present age in which we are now living. It began 5,000 years ago and lasts for a total of 432,000 years. It is characterized by irreligious practice and stringent material miseries. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam the age is personified as an evil black man who tries to kill a helpless cow and bull. The four legs of the cow represent the four principles of religiosity-namely, truth, cleanliness, mercy and austerity. The bull represents religion itself; The most recommended process of spiritual upliftment in this age is sahkirtana, the congregational glorification of the Lord through chanting His holy name. See Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Hare Krsna Maha-mantra, ISKCON, Sahkirtana, Time. Karma-1. material action performed according to scriptural regulations; 2. action pertaining to the development of the material body; 3. any material action which will incur a subsequent reaction; 4. the material reaction one incurs due to fruitive activities; This Sanskrit word means 'action' or, more specifically, any material action that brings a reaction binding us to the material world. According to the law of karma, if we cause pain and suffering to other living beings, we must endure pain and suffering in return; One of the five tattvas, or Vedic ontological truths: the activity or work which the embodied living entity performs with the karmendriya, as well as the resultant reaction. The soul receives the due reaction to work by taking his next birth in a subhuman species, or the human species, or a superhuman species. Or the soul may be liberated from birth and death altogether. All this depends upon whether the karma performed within this lifetime is ignorant, passionate, good or transcendental. Karma dedicated in sacrifice as directed by Vedic injunctions raises the quality of a human being's work. Sacrifice culminates in activity dedicated only to Lord Krsna's service. Such transcendental karma is called naiskarma. See Liberation, Life after death, Reincarnation, Samsara, Supersoul, Tattva. Kirtana-glorification of the Supreme Lord. Narrating or singing the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His Holy Names; the devotional process of chanting the names and glories of the Supreme Lord; A related Sanskrit word is kirti (fame). Hence, kirtana means to glorify, and sahkirtana means to glorify congregationally, the fame of the Supreme Lord. Sahkirtana is the yuga-dharma, or the main occupation and attribute of the present age (Kali-yuga). See Bhakti, Hare Krsna Maha-mantra, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sahkirtana; Krsna Literally, the all-attractive Lord; the main Sanskrit name of the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Krsna is the source of all incarnations, and no one is equal to Him or greater than Him. The Vedas glorify His partial incarnations (which include the demigods), His impersonal Brahman effulgence, His almighty Narayana feature with four hands, and at last His superexcellent pastimes as the most sublime youth who herds millions of cows in the forest of Vrndavana and dances with millions of cowherd girls (gopis). There is nothing to compare with this, the two-armed form of the Lord, blackish like a rain cloud, with reddish lotus eyes and a world-enchanting smile. In the material world the owner of the body is called the soul, and the body is called a material designation. In the spiritual Vaikuntha world, however, there is no such distinction. The owner of the body is not different from the body, for both are pure spirit. The divine body of Lord Krsna in Vaikuntha is the first and the cynosure of all spiritual forms. He is eternal, and His appearance within the material world as an avatara is perpetual. Krsna is personally Bhagavan, the possessor of six opulences in unlimited fullness: wealth, strength, beauty, knowledge, fame and renunciation. Semi-personally and impersonally, Krsna is represented by the Supersoul and the brahma-jyoti Besides all-attractive, the name Krsna also means the whole of existence and He who stops birth and death. Krsna has unlimited other names like Govinda, Gopala, Mukunda and Hari. These holy names are nondifferent from Him and indicate the forms He displays in His various pleasure pastimes. See Avatara, Bhagavan, Bhakti, Brahmajyoti, Brahman, Deity, ISKCON, Īsvara, Lila, Radharani, Supersoul, Spiritual world, Visnu.