We all know that on the era of king Parikshita, Kali came. When the king has gone for hunting he saw a person hitting a one legged cow...
But from where did he come from and who are his parents? When was he born? Has he come from any Deva or Asura/Rakshyasa?
The coincidence of name between the Hindu Goddess Kali and the demon Kali is one of translation of the name and context of expression.
The Kalki Purana is the primary source for this mortal demon in which he is described as the source of all evil. In the Mahabharata, Kali is described as a gandharva. In the Mahabharat, he created the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas in a game of Chaupar.
Kali is basically a incarnation of sin god. He is enlisted in the category of Deva-Gandharva i.e. God- and nature spirits Prajapati kashyapa is the father of Kali and , kashyapa is son of Brahmadeva one among triad of gods. kashyapa Prajapati gave birth to Kali and other 15 Deva-gandharvas from his wife called Muni.
from the epic Mahabharata we come to know about his birth.
P.134 O king, Parjanya, the fourteenth in the list, Kali, the fifteenth, and Narada, the sixteenth--these Devas and Gandharvas are known to be the sons of Muni (Daksha's daughter as mentioned before).
He was born at the time of creation by God Brahma . Brahma gave birth to Prajapatis and instructed to increase their offspring on earth , these prjapati begot many children. So he was born during at the time of primary creation of species on earth , before humans . But he started his reign just after Krishna departed from the earth to heaven. Kali is the ruler of Kali Yuga i.e. his effects will be more prominent during this cycle of ages and he will be brought down from his reign by Kalki , a future avatara of Vishnu.
This is not actually a reference to a person, but to a yuga (an era).
In the present days we may be said to live in Kali Yuga, which is said to have started in 3102 BCE with the end of the Mahabharata war. From the Mahabharata text:
Parikshit was a great ruler and looked very well after Hastinapur. But unknown to the Pandavas and Parikshit, a greater threat loomed with the death of Lord Krishna.
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During the ninth day of the Mahabharatha war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the third yuga had ended and last yuga - Kali yuga had started. However because of the power of Lord Krishna, Kali could not spread all through the earth....
The Kali (destructive) Yuga is the last era in the Hinduist cycle of time. It follows the Satya (golden, perfect), Treta (some negative), and Dwapara (50% negative) Yugas. It is named after Kali, the Hindu female deity of death and destruction.
It is a depiction of KaliYuga - an era of lies and corruption, which is presently going on. It is written in different Vedas that there are four Yugas and their relation to the cow is given as:
Satya Yuga (or Krita Yuga) - it can be depicted as a cow standing on four legs
Treta Yuga - the cow is standing on three legs
Dwapara Yuga - the cow is standing on two legs
Kali Yuga - the cow is standing on one leg.
Here, no of legs is inversely proportional to the corruption level. Also after every four Yugas, cosmic destruction occurs generally called as Pralaya, and a new cycle of life begins. It shows how destruction is necessary for new beginnings. Last time this destruction happened, Manu was there to assemble a pair of each living being for the new cycle of life. Manu can be considered as Noah of Hinduism.
