A small correction to
splitrocket's write-up above... The
advent of the
Kalki avatara is predicted in the Vedic literatures, thus:
athasau yuga-sandhyayam
dasyu-prayeshu rajasu
janita vishnu-yashaso
namna kalkir jagat-patih
Therafter, at the conjunction of two yugas, the Lord of the creation will take His birth as the Kalki incarnation and become the son of Vishnu Yasha. At this time the rulers of the earth will have degenerated into plunderers.
(Bhag., 1:3:25)
True, this will signal
the beginning of the end, however the dating of this is slightly out. The present
Kali-yuga lasts for 432,000 years, and only five thousand years have passed since the Battle of
Kurukshetra, the end of the régime of King
Parikshit, and the passing of Sri
Krishna. Thus, it will be in approximately 429,000 CE that this will occur.