Shiva himself announced that Narayana is the first and foremost among all the gods. He has the first right to all offerings that are made.

Though kali yuga was created by Narayana, the curse of the sage Goutama is also important in understanding why kali yuga had to come about. If that curse had not been there, the nature of kali yuga would have been quite different.

The sage Goutama had obtained a boon from Narayana that rice and fruits would always be plentiful with him. In a time of severe drought, he used this boon to feed many sages at his hermitage in Mount Shatashringa. The sages were only too happy to be thus relieved in a time of general famine. But the moment the situation improved, they decided to leave Goutama’s hermitage without even bothering to ask the sage’s permission. They even went further than that. They hit upon a deceitful trick to make to look as if they were leaving the hermitage because of a sin that Goutama had committed. It would then seem that it had become essential for them to leave.

The deceitful sages used their powers to create a magical cow. This they then placed in the hermitage so that Goutama would easily see it. Goutama was pleased to see the cow in his hermitage and offered it some water. But as soon as he did this, the cow fell down as if it was dead. It was of course nothing but a trick that had been planned by the other sages.