Lord Kalki’s Birthplace: Evidence from Hindu Scriptures, Puranas, and Bhaviṣya Mālikā

Lord Maha-Vishnu’s tenth incarnation, the ‘Kalki Avatar’, is said to be born in a village called ‘Sambal’. This information is mentioned in various Hindu scriptures, including the Shreemad Bhagavat, Shreemad Mahabharata, Kalki Purana, and Bhaviṣya Mālikā. However, there has been much confusion regarding the location of Sambal village. Today, many individuals from different parts of India claim to be the Kalki Avatar and attribute their birthplace to the Sambal village. However, there are only two places in India named Sambal (also referenced as Sambhut Sambal), about which there are descriptions in Shreemad Bhagavat, Mahabharata’s ‘Vana Parva’, and Panchasakha’s Bhaviṣya Mālikā.

Shree Vedvyas, in his writings of the Shreemad Bhagavat, mentions that Lord Kalki will take birth in Sambal village, where He will destroy the sins and the sinners (mlecchas). This is described in the following shloka:

“śambala-grāma-mukhyasya brāhmaṇasya mahātmanaḥ

bhavane viṣṇuyaśasaḥ kalkiḥ prādurbhaviṣyati”

(Source: Shreemad Bhagavat Mahapurana – Canto 12, Chapter 2, Verse 18)

Purport:

According to the above verse, Lord Kalki will be born in the home of a prominent Brahmin in Sambal village. The Brahmin is described as a staunch devotee of Lord Maha-Vishnu, known to sing His glories daily.

The significance of Sambal village as the birthplace of Lord Kalki is also highlighted in the ‘Vana Parva’ of the Mahabharata. Shree Vedvyas, who had composed the Mahabharata at the end of the Dwapara Yuga, included a verse that refers to Lord Kalki’s birth in Sambal village.

“Kalki Viṣhṇu jaśānāma dvija kāla pracoditā

uptasayate mahābirajeyā mahābuddhi parākrama

saṁbhūta saṁbalagrāme brāhmaṇa basati subhe”

(Source: Vanaparva chapter, Sanskrit Mahabharat, Vyasadev)

Purport:

As per the aforementioned verse, Lord Kalki will be born in the home of a prominent Brahmin residing in Sambhut Sambal, a village newly established in the past by King Shree Jajati Keshari for performing Yagna in the region of Goddess Maa Biraja.

According to the history of Odisha, King Shree Jajati Keshari from the Soma Vanshi dynasty, to perform ten Ashwamedha Yagnas, brought 10,000 Brahmins from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh and settled them in a region to the east of Goddess Maa Biraja region (in the Jajpur district of Odisha), and thus established a new (i.e., ‘Sambhut’ in Sanskrit) village called Sambal. Great sage Vedvyas refers to this village as Sambhut Sambal in the above verse (the Sanskrit word ‘Saṁbhūta’ means ‘newly created’. Since the place Sambal never existed earlier and came into existence by the king, it is referred to as Saṁbhūta Sambal).

It is essential to note that there is also a village named Sambal in the Moradabad district of present-day Uttar Pradesh. However, it is inferred from the above verse that Lord Kalki will be born in the new Sambal, i.e., Sambhut Sambal, in Odisha, and not in the Sambal village of Uttar Pradesh.

The Panchasakha, in the Bhaviṣya Mālikā, have also reiterated this exact location of Sambal village. Mahapurush Achyutananda, in the second chapter of his text ‘Biraja Mahatmya’, corroborates Shree Vedvyas’s words by stating that the village of Sambal is located in the eastern part of the Goddess Maa Biraja Kshetra (region) of Odisha. He also mentions that the Brahmins who were brought from Kannauj by King Jajati Keshari to perform Yagnas resided in this Sambal village, later known as ‘Sambhut Sambal’. He has given ample proof about this in his book, and an excerpt is below, 

“suna bāra suta nihāra bacanā e aṭe acyuta ṭhāra

Nābhi gayā tīrtha harihara kṣetra grāmaṭī saṁbala pura”

(Source: Biraja Mahatmya, Vyasadev)

Purport:

Mahapurush Achyutananda has stated in the above verse that Sambal village or the Sambhut Sambal is the place of Brahmin settlement, which was established in the eastern part of Goddess Maa Biraja Devi’s temple in the Jajpur district of Odisha. This place of pilgrimage is also known as ‘Nabhi Gaya’ or Hari-Har Kshetra.

Therefore, it can be concluded that according to the various scriptures, including Shreemad Bhagavat, Shreemad Mahabharata, Kalki Purana, Bhaviṣya Mālikā, and the scripture ‘Biraja Mahatmya’ inscribed by Mahapurush Achyutananda, Lord Kalki will be born in the ‘Sambhut Sambal’ village of the Goddess Maa Biraja Kshetra in the state of Odisha, India.