Sri Bhagavatam - Canto 12 (Skandha 12) Chapter 3

VedaVyasa

Praneetha

The Mad Bhagavatam

 

Canto 12
Chapter 3  
The Song of Mother Earth and Kali-yuga its Remedy

(The Bhūmi-gītā)

This chapter describes how the earth took note of the foolishness of the many kings bent on conquering her. It also describes how even though the age of Kali is full of faults, the glorification of the name of Lord Hari destroys them all.

Great kings, who are actually just playthings of death, desire to subdue their six internal enemies-the five senses and the mind-and afterward they imagine they will go on to conquer the earth and all its oceans. Seeing their false hopes, the earth simply laughs, for eventually they all must leave this planet and go elsewhere, as have all the great kings and monarchs of the past. Moreover, after usurping the earth or some part of it-which is actually unconquerable and must in every case be given up-fathers, sons, brothers, friends and relatives quarrel over it.

Thus the study of history naturally leads to the conclusion that all worldly achievements are temporary, and this conclusion should give rise to a sense of renunciation. Ultimately, the highest goal of life for any living entity is pure devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa, which annihilates all inauspiciousness. In the age of Satya, religion was complete, still possessing its four legs of truth, mercy, austerity and charity. With the coming of each succeeding age, starting with Tretā, these religious qualities each diminish by one quarter. In Kali-yuga the legs of religion retain only one fourth of their power, and even that will be lost with the progress of the age. The mode of goodness is predominant during Satya-yuga, and the mode of passion is predominant during the Tretā-yuga. The mixed modes of passion and ignorance are predominant during Dvāpara-yuga, and in the age of Kali the mode of ignorance is predominant. Atheism, the smallness and inferiority of all things, and devotion to the genitals and belly are very much evident in the age of Kali. Living entities contaminated by the influence of Kali do not worship the Supreme Lord, Śrī Hari, even though they can be freed from all bondage and easily achieve the supreme destination simply by chanting the glories of His name and taking shelter of Him. But if somehow or other the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes manifest within the hearts of the conditioned souls in Kali-yuga, then all faults of place, time and personality inherent in the age will be destroyed. Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, but it possesses one great quality: simply by the chanting of the name of Kṛṣṇa, one can be delivered from material association and attain the Absolute Truth. All that was accomplished in the age of Satya by meditation, in the age of Tretā by sacrificial performances and in the age of Dvāpara by temple worship is easily gained during the Kali-yuga by the simple process of hari-kīrtana.

12.3.1

śrī-śuka uvāca
dṛṣṭvātmani jaye vyagrān
nṛpān hasati bhūr iyam
aho mā vijigīṣanti
mṛtyoḥ krīḍanakā nṛpāḥ

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'When the earth saw the kings busily engaged in conquering her, she laughed and said: 'Ah, just see how these kings, these playthings of death, wish to conquer me!

12.3.2

kāma eṣa narendrāṇāṁ
moghaḥ syād viduṣām api
yena phenopame piṇḍe
ye 'ti-viśrambhitā nṛpāḥ

 (2) This lust of the rulers of man and even the wise is doomed to fail with those kings who put their faith in this lump [of earthly matter] that compares to bubbles [of foam on water].

12.3.3-4

pūrvaṁ nirjitya ṣaḍ-vargaṁ
jeṣyāmo rāja-mantriṇaḥ
tataḥ saciva-paurāpta-
karīndrān asya kaṇṭakān
evaṁ krameṇa jeṣyāmaḥ
pṛthvīṁ sāgara-mekhalām
ity āśā-baddha-hṛdayā
na paśyanty antike 'ntakam

(3-4) They may think: 'First of all conquering the division of six [the senses and the mind], we will conquer the leading ministers, then the advisors and then rid ourselves of the thorns [or the thugs], the citizens, the friends and the elephant keepers. This way we will step by step conquer the earth and her girdle of seas', but thus being bound by the hopes in their heart, they do not see their own finality [compare B.G 16: 13-18].

To satisfy their greed for power, determined politicians, dictators and military leaders undergo severe austerities and sacrifice, with much self-discipline. Then they lead their great nations in a struggle to control the sea, land, air and space. Although the politicians and their followers will soon be dead—since birth and death are all inevitable in this world—they persist in their frenetic struggle for ephemeral glory.

12.3.5

samudrāvaraṇāṁ jitvā
māṁ viśanty abdhim ojasā
kiyad ātma-jayasyaitan
muktir ātma-jaye phalam

(5) After having conquered the lands by the sea they with all their might enter the seas; what's the use of this kind of victory of self-control? Spiritual liberation is the [actual] fruit of self-control!

12.3.6

yāṁ visṛjyaiva manavas
tat-sutāś ca kurūdvaha
gatā yathāgataṁ yuddhe
tāṁ māṁ jeṣyanty abuddhayaḥ

(6) O son of the Kurus[, she said:] 'Unintelligently they in that struggle try to conquer me [for the sake of eternal 'fame'] while the Manus and their sons, all had to give it up and had to leave [this world] the way they came [viz. helplessly].

12.3.7

mat-kṛte pitṛ-putrāṇāṁ
bhrātṛṇāṁ cāpi vigrahaḥ
jāyate hy asatāṁ rājye
mamatā-baddha-cetasām

(7) For my sake conflict thus arises among materialistic persons, a conflict wherein fathers fight with sons and sons with each other, because in their striving for power their hearts are bound to politics.

12.3.8

mamaiveyaṁ mahī kṛtsnā
na te mūḍheti vādinaḥ
spardhamānā mitho ghnanti
mriyante mat-kṛte nṛpāḥ

(8) Saying things like: 'This for sure is my land and not yours, you fool', the rulers of man thus quarreling kill each other and get killed for my sake [compare e.g. 2.5: 13, 2.7: 42, 4.29: 5, 5.5: 8, 6.16: 41; 7.8: 7-10; 9.4: 2-12].

This verse describes with brilliant clarity the mundane political mentality that provokes innumerable conflicts in the world. For example, as we prepare this translation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, British and Argentine military forces are bitterly fighting over the tiny Falkland Islands.

The fact is that the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of all land. Of course, even in a God-conscious world political boundaries exist. But in such a God-conscious atmosphere political tensions are greatly eased, and people of all lands welcome each other and respect each other's right to live in peace.

12.3.9-13

pṛthuḥ purūravā gādhir
nahuṣo bharato 'rjunaḥ
māndhātā sagaro rāmaḥ
khaṭvāṅgo dhundhuhā raghuḥ
tṛṇabindur yayātiś ca
śaryātiḥ śantanur gayaḥ
bhagīrathaḥ kuvalayāśvaḥ
kakutstho naiṣadho nṛgaḥ
hiraṇyakaśipur vṛtro
rāvaṇo loka-rāvaṇaḥ
namuciḥ śambaro bhaumo
hiraṇyākṣo 'tha tārakaḥ
anye ca bahavo daityā
rājāno ye maheśvarāḥ
sarve sarva-vidaḥ śūrāḥ
sarve sarva-jito 'jitāḥ
mamatāṁ mayy avartanta
kṛtvoccair martya-dharmiṇaḥ
kathāvaśeṣāḥ kālena
hy akṛtārthāḥ kṛtā vibho

(9-13) Prithu, Purûravâ, Gâdhi, Nahusha, Bharata, Kârtavîryârjuna, Mândhâtâ, Sagara, Râma [*], Khathvânga, Dhundhuhâ [or] Kuvalayâs'va [9.6: 23-24], Raghu [9.10: 1], Trinabindu [9.2: 30], Yayâti, S'aryâti [9.3: 1], S'antanu [9.22: 12-13], Gaya [5.15: 6-13], Bhagîratha [9.9: 2-17], Kakutstha [9.6: 12], Naishadha [Nala, 9.9: 16-17, 9.23: 20-21, from the descendants of Nishadha, 9.12: 1], Nriga [Nâbhâga, 10.64: 10], Hiranyakas'ipu, Vritra, Râvana, who made the whole world lament, Namuci [8.11: 29-49], S'ambara [10.36: 36], Bhauma, Hiranyâksha and Târaka [8.10: 19-24], as well as many other demons and kings of great control over others, were each and everyone heroes who well informed were unconquerable and subdued everyone. Living for me, o mighty one, they expressed great possessiveness but, by the force of Time being subjected to death, they failed to accomplish their goals, all that remained of them are the historical accounts [see also B.G. 4: 7].'

the King Rāma mentioned here is not the incarnation of Godhead Rāmacandra. Pṛthu Mahārāja is understood to be an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who completely exhibited the characteristics of an earthly king, claiming proprietorship over the entire earth. A saintly king like Pṛthu Mahārāja, however, controls the earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas a demon such as Hiraṇyakaśipu or Rāvaṇa tries to exploit the earth for his personal sense gratification. Nevertheless, both saintly kings and demons must leave the earth. In this way their political supremacy is ultimately neutralized by the force of time.

Modern political leaders cannot even temporarily control the entire earth, nor are their opulences and intelligence unlimited. Possessing hopelessly fragmented power, enjoying a miniscule life span, and lacking deep existential intelligence, modern leaders inevitably are symbols of frustration and misdirected ambition.

12.3.14

kathā imās te kathitā mahīyasāḿ

vitāya lokeṣu yaśaḥ pareyuṣām

vijñāna-vairāgya-vivakṣayā vibho

vaco-vibhūtīr na tu pāramārthyam

(14) [S'uka continued:] These narrations that were related to you about great kings who spread their fame in all worlds and then departed, do not express the highest purpose; they, o mighty one, are but a wealth of words [a backdrop] for dilating on the renunciation and wisdom [of God].
Since all the narrations of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam bring the reader to the perfection of transcendental knowledge, they all give supreme spiritual lessons though apparently dealing with kings or other mundane subject matter. In relation with Kṛṣṇa, all ordinary topics become transcendental narrations, with the power to bring the reader to the perfection of life.

12.3.15

yas tūttamaḥ-śloka-guṇānuvādaḥ

sańgīyate 'bhīkṣṇam amańgala-ghnaḥ

tam eva nityaḿ śṛṇuyād abhīkṣṇaḿ

kṛṣṇe 'malāḿ bhaktim abhīpsamānaḥ

(15) It is still the repeatedly discussing and singing about the qualities of the Lord who is Praised in the Verses which destroys everything inauspicious; he who desires Lord Krishna's untainted devotional service should therefore forthwith engage in regularly being of that listening.'
Since any topic related to Lord Kṛṣṇa is auspicious and transcendental, the direct narration of Lord Kṛṣṇa's own activities, political and nonpolitical, is certainly the supreme subject matter for hearing. The word nityam here indicates regulated cultivation of the topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and abhīkṣṇam indicates constant remembrance of such regulated spiritual experiences.

12.3.16

śrī-rājovāca

kenopāyena bhagavan

kaler doṣān kalau janāḥ

vidhamiṣyanty upacitāḿs

tan me brūhi yathā mune

(16) The honorable king [Parîkchit] said: 'By what means, my Lord, do the people living in Kali-yuga eradicate the faults that accumulate because of that age, please explain that as-it-is to me.

King Parīkṣit was a compassionate, saintly ruler. Thus, after hearing of the abominable qualities of the age of Kali, he naturally inquired as to how those born in this age can free themselves of its inherent contamination.

12.3.17

yugāni yuga-dharmāḿś ca

mānaḿ pralaya-kalpayoḥ

kālasyeśvara-rūpasya

gatiḿ viṣṇor mahātmanaḥ

(17) [Explain to me] the yugas, the duties prescribed for them, and the time they last and find their end, and the Time itself that constitutes the movement of the Controller, of Lord Vishnu the Supreme Soul [see also timequotes page]'.

12.3.18

śrī-śuka uvāca

kṛte pravartate dharmaś

catuṣ-pāt taj-janair dhṛtaḥ

satyaḿ dayā tapo dānam

iti pādā vibhor nṛpa

(18) S'rî S'uka said: 'In Krita-yuga the people of the time maintain the religion with all its four legs of truth [satya], compassion [dayâ], penance [tapas] and charity [dâna, or also s'auca, purification [**], compare 1.17: 24, 3.11: 21 and see niyama].
Just as there are four seasons, there are four ages of the earth, each lasting hundreds of thousands of years. The first of these is Satya-yuga, when such good qualities as charity are prominent.
Actual charity, here referred to as dānam, is to award fearlessness and freedom to others, not to give them some material means of temporary pleasure or relief. Any material "charitable" arrangement will inevitably be crushed by the onward march of time. Thus only realization of one's eternal existence beyond the reach of time can make one fearless, and only freedom from material desire constitutes real freedom, for it enables one to escape the bondage of the laws of nature. Therefore real charity is to help people revive their eternal, spiritual consciousness.
Religion is here referred to as vibhu, "the mighty," because universal religious principles are not different from the Supreme Lord Himself and ultimately lead one to His kingdom. The qualities mentioned here — truthfulness, mercy, austerity and charity — are universal, nonsectarian aspects of pious life.
In the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the fourth leg of religion is listed as cleanliness. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, this is an alternative definition of the word dānam in the present context.

12.3.19

santuṣṭāḥ karuṇā maitrāḥ

śāntā dāntās titikṣavaḥ

ātmārāmāḥ sama-dṛśaḥ

prāyaśaḥ śramaṇā janāḥ

(19) The [hamsa-]people [of that age] are content, merciful, friendly, peaceful, self-controlled, tolerant, satisfied within, equal-minded and mostly ascetic [see also 3.13: 35 and 11.17: 10].
Sama-darśana, equal vision, is based on the perception of the Supreme Spirit behind all material variety and within all living entities.

12.3.20

tretāyāḿ dharma-pādānāḿ

turyāḿśo hīyate śanaiḥ

adharma-pādair anṛta-

hiḿṣāsantoṣa-vigrahaiḥ

(20) In Tretâ-yuga is one fourth of [the strength of each of] the legs of dharma gradually lost because of opposite, irreligious qualities: falsehood, violence, dissatisfaction and quarrel [compare 1.17: 25].
By falsity truth is diminished, by violence mercy is diminished, by dissatisfaction austerity is diminished, and by quarrel charity and cleanliness are diminished.

12.3.21

tadā kriyā-tapo-niṣṭhā

nāti-hiḿsrā na lampaṭāḥ

trai-vargikās trayī-vṛddhā

varṇā brahmottarā nṛpa

 (21) They are in that time devoted with rituals and penances, without any excessive violence or wanton desires. Prospering in their respect for the three Vedas they follow the three paths [of regulating the religion, the economy and sense gratification], and the four classes are predominantly oriented on the brahminical, o King.

12.3.22

tapaḥ-satya-dayā-dāneṣv

ardhaḿ hrasvati dvāpare

hiḿsātuṣṭy-anṛta-dveṣair

dharmasyādharma-lakṣaṇaiḥ

(22) The dharmic qualities of austerity, compassion, truth and charity are in Dvâpara-yuga reduced to one half because of the adharma qualities of violence, discontent, lies and hatred.

12.3.23

yaśasvino mahā-śīlāḥ

svādhyāyādhyayane ratāḥ

ādhyāḥ kuṭumbino hṛṣṭā

varṇāḥ kṣatra-dvijottarāḥ

(23) One is [in that age] of moral fiber and one loves the glory and is absorbed in vedic study. One is opulent with large families and joyful, and the four classes are for the greater part of brahminical nobility.

12.3.24

kalau tu dharma-pādānāḿ

turyāḿśo 'dharma-hetubhiḥ

edhamānaiḥ kṣīyamāṇo

hy ante so 'pi vinańkṣyati

(24) Next in Kali-yuga the legs of religiousness are decreasing to one fourth because of an increase of adharmic principles [compare 1.17: 25] and that one fourth will in the end also be destroyed.

12.3.25

tasmin lubdhā durācārā

nirdayāḥ śuṣka-vairiṇaḥ

durbhagā bhūri-tarṣāś ca

śūdra-dāsottarāḥ prajāḥ

(25) In that era the people will be greedy, ill-mannered, lack in compassion, prone to useless quarrel [politicizing], unfortunate, obsessed with material desires and predominantly enslaved to [fruitive] labor.
In this age, we can already observe that most people are laborers, clerks, fishermen, artisans or other kinds of workers within the śūdra category. Enlightened devotees of God and noble political leaders are extremely scarce, and even independent businessmen and farmers are a vanishing breed as huge business conglomerates increasingly convert them into subservient employees. Vast regions of the earth are already populated by barbarians and semibarbarous peoples, making the entire situation dangerous and bleak. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is empowered to rectify the current dismal state of affairs. It is the only hope for the ghastly age called Kali-yuga.

12.3.26

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti
dṛśyante puruṣe guṇāḥ
kāla-sañcoditās te vai
parivartanta ātmani

(26) The modes of the goodness, passion and ignorance of a person are set in motion by the Time and are observed in different combinations within the mind [***].
The four ages described in these verses are manifestations of various modes of material nature. The age of truth, Satya-yuga, manifests the predominance of material goodness, and Kali-yuga manifests the predominance of ignorance. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, within each age the other three ages occasionally manifest as sub-ages. Thus even within Satya-yuga a demon in the mode of ignorance may appear, and within the age of Kali the highest religious principles may flourish for some time. As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the three modes of nature are present everywhere and in everything, but the predominant mode, or combination of modes, determines the general character of any material phenomenon. In each age, therefore, the three modes are present in varying proportions. The particular age represented by goodness (Satya), passion (Tretā), passion and ignorance (Dvāpara) or ignorance (Kali) exists within each of the other ages as a subfactor.

12.3.27

prabhavanti yadā sattve
mano-buddhīndriyāṇi ca
tadā kṛta-yugaṁ vidyāj
jñāne tapasi yad ruciḥ

(27) When the mind, the intelligence and the senses flourish in the mode of goodness, that time of taking pleasure in knowledge and austerity should be understood as the time of Krita.
The word kṛta means "performed" or "executed." Thus in the age of truth all religious duties are duly performed, and people take great pleasure in spiritual knowledge and austerity. Even in the Kali-yuga, those who are situated in the mode of goodness take pleasure in the cultivation of spiritual knowledge and the regulated performance of austerity. This sublime state of existence is possible for one who has conquered sex desire.

12.3.28

yadā karmasu kāmyeṣu
bhaktir yaśasi dehinām
tadā tretā rajo-vṛttir
iti jānīhi buddhiman

 (28) O intelligent one, when the conditioned souls in their duties are of ulterior motives and in their devotional service strive for honor, that predominance of passion must be considered the time of Tretâ.

12.3.29

yadā lobhas tv asantoṣo
māno dambho 'tha matsaraḥ
karmaṇāṁ cāpi kāmyānāṁ
dvāparaṁ tad rajas-tamaḥ

(29) When greed and dissatisfaction, false pride, envy and hypocrisy are seen everywhere and what one does is dominated by selfhood one speaks with that [predominance of] passion and ignorance of the time of Dvâpara.

12.3.30

yadā māyānṛtaṁ tandrā
nidrā hiṁsā viṣādanam
śoka-mohau bhayaṁ dainyaṁ
sa kalis tāmasaḥ smṛtaḥ

(30) When there is deceit, false testimony, sloth and drowsiness, violence, depression, lamentation and delusion, fear and poverty is that time remembered as Kali, the time of ignorance.
In Kali-yuga, people are almost exclusively devoted to gross materialism, with hardly any affinity for self-realization.

12.3.31

tasmāt kṣudra-dṛśo martyāḥ
kṣudra-bhāgyā mahāśanāḥ
kāmino vitta-hīnāś ca
svairiṇyaś ca striyo 'satīḥ

(31) As a consequence the mortals will be shortsighted, unfortunate, eating too much, lusty and poverty-stricken and the women will act on their own accord and be unchaste.
In the age of Kali certain pseudointellectuals, seeking individual freedom, support sexual promiscuity. In fact, identification of the self with the body and the pursuit of "individual freedom" in the body rather than in the soul are signs of the most dismal ignorance and slavery to lust. When women are unchaste, many children are born out of wedlock as products of lust. These children grow up in psychologically unfavorable circumstances, and a neurotic, ignorant society arises. Symptoms of this are already manifest throughout the world.

12.3.32

dasyūtkṛṣṭā janapadā
vedāḥ pāṣaṇḍa-dūṣitāḥ
rājānaś ca prajā-bhakṣāḥ
śiśnodara-parā dvijāḥ

(32) The populated areas will be dominated by impious people [or thieves], the vedic scriptures will be slighted by false doctrines [heretics], the political leaders will devour the people and the twice-born ones will be dedicated to their bellies and genitals.

Many large cities are unsafe at night. For example, it is understood that no sane person will walk in New York's Central Park at night because he knows he will almost certainly be mugged. Apart from ordinary thieves, who abound in this age, large cities are filled with cutthroat businessmen, who enthusiastically convince people to purchase and consume useless or even harmful products. It has been well documented that beef, tobacco, liquor and many other modern products destroy one's physical health, what to speak of mental health, and yet modern capitalists do not hesitate to use every psychological trick in the book to convince people to consume these things. Modern cities are full of mental and atmospheric pollution, and even ordinary citizens are finding them unbearable.

This verse also points out that the teachings of the Vedic scriptures will be distorted in this age. Great universities teach courses on Hinduism in which Indian religion, despite limitless evidence to the contrary, is described as polytheistic and leading to an impersonal salvation. In fact, all Vedic literature is a unified whole, as stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (Vedas I [Kṛṣṇa] am to be known." All Vedic literature is meant for enlightening us about the Supreme Personal Absolute Truth—Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa. Although known by many names and appearing in many forms, God is a single absolute entity, and He is a person. But this true Vedic understanding is hidden in the Kali-yuga.

In this verse Śukadeva astutely observes that "political leaders will virtually consume the citizens, and the so-called priests and intellectuals will be devotees of their bellies and genitals." How sadly true this statement is.

12.3.33

avratā baṭavo 'śaucā
bhikṣavaś ca kuṭumbinaḥ
tapasvino grāma-vāsā
nyāsino 'tyartha-lolupāḥ

 (33) The youngsters [students] will averse to vows be impure in their engagements, the householders will [with what they claim] tend to be beggars, the withdrawn ones [the middle-aged with no nature left to retreat into] will be city-dwellers and the renounced order will greedily endeavor for financial profits [be engaged in 'reli-business'].

Brahmacarya, celibate student life, is practically nonexistent in the age of Kali. In America, many boys' schools have become coeducational because young men frankly refuse to live without the constant companionship of lusty young girls. Also, we have personally observed throughout the Western world that student residences are among the dirtiest places on earth, as predicted here by the word aśaucāḥ.

Concerning householder beggars, when devotees of the Lord go door to door distributing transcendental literature and requesting donations for the propagation of God's glories, irritated householders commonly reply, "Someone should give me a donation." Householders in Kali-yuga are not charitable. Instead, because of their miserly mentality, they become irritated when spiritual mendicants approach them.

In Vedic culture, at the age of fifty, couples retire to sacred places for austere life and spiritual perfection. In countries like America, however, retirement cities have been constructed wherein elderly people can make fools of themselves by wasting the last years of their lives playing golf, ping-pong and shuffleboard and by engaging in pathetic attempts at love affairs even while their bodies are horribly rotting and their minds are growing senile. This shameless abuse of the venerable last years of life denotes a stubborn unwillingness to acknowledge the actual purpose of human life and is certainly an offense against God.

The words nyāsino 'tyartha-lolupāḥ indicate that charismatic religious leaders, and even those who are not charismatic, will proclaim themselves prophets, saints and incarnations to cheat the innocent public and fatten their bank accounts.

12.3.34

hrasva-kāyā mahāhārā
bhūry-apatyā gata-hriyaḥ
śaśvat kaṭuka-bhāṣiṇyaś
caurya-māyoru-sāhasāḥ

(34) Smaller in size and voracious having many children [the women will have] lost their timidity and constantly speak harshly and with great audacity be as deceitful as thieves.

12.3.35

paṇayiṣyanti vai kṣudrāḥ
kirāṭāḥ kūṭa-kāriṇaḥ
anāpady api maṁsyante
vārtāṁ sādhu jugupsitām

(35) The merchants will for no reason be of cheating so that their business dealings are truly miserly and the people will consider a degraded occupation [like e.g. in the sex industry or gambling business] a good job.
Although other occupations are available, people do not hesitate to work in coal mines, slaughterhouses, steel mills, deserts, floating oil rigs, submarines and other equally abominable situations. As also mentioned here, businessmen will consider cheating and lying to be a perfectly respectable way to do business. These are all symptoms of the age of Kali.

12.3.36

patiṁ tyakṣyanti nirdravyaṁ
bhṛtyā apy akhilottamam
bhṛtyaṁ vipannaṁ patayaḥ
kaulaṁ gāś cāpayasvinīḥ

 (36) Servants will abandon a master lacking in property even if he is the best one around, masters will abandon a handicapped servant even when he belonged to the family for generations and cows will be [killed] when they have stopped giving milk.
In India, the cow is considered sacred not because Indian people are primitive worshipers of mythological totems but because Hindus intelligently understand that the cow is a mother. As children, nearly all of us were nourished with cow's milk, and therefore the cow is one of our mothers. Certainly one's mother is sacred, and therefore we should not kill the sacred cow.

12.3.37

pitṛ-bhrātṛ-suhṛj-jñātīn
hitvā saurata-sauhṛdāḥ
nanāndṛ-śyāla-saṁvādā
dīnāḥ straiṇāḥ kalau narāḥ

 (37) In Kali-yuga men under the control of women will be wretched and forsake the association of their own family members, friends, brothers and father, in favor of an upon their sexuality based friendship with the sisters and brothers of his wife's family.

12.3.38

śūdrāḥ pratigrahīṣyanti
tapo-veṣopajīvinaḥ
dharmaṁ vakṣyanty adharma-jñā
adhiruhyottamāsanam

(38) Labor minded people will for their living appearing as renunciates acquire funds religiously and climbing a high seat speak about the religious principles without any sense of duty concerning the knowledge [of sacrificing, or false preachers...].
The epidemic of bogus gurus, swamis, priests and so forth is explicitly described here.

12.3.39-40

nityaṁ udvigna-manaso
durbhikṣa-kara-karśitāḥ
niranne bhū-tale rājan
anāvṛṣṭi-bhayāturāḥ
vāso-'nna-pāna-śayana-
vyavāya-snāna-bhūṣaṇaiḥ
hīnāḥ piśāca-sandarśā
bhaviṣyanti kalau prajāḥ

(39-40) With their minds constantly upset, troubled by taxes and famine in times of scarcity with droughts on the surface of the earth, they will, being troubled by countless worries, live in fear. Lacking in clothing, food, drink, rest, change, bathing and personal ornaments the people of Kali-yuga will appear like ghostly creatures.
The symptoms described here are already prevalent in many countries of the world and will gradually spread to other places engulfed by impiety and materialism.

12.3.41

kalau kākiṇike 'py arthe
vigṛhya tyakta-sauhṛdāḥ
tyakṣyanti ca priyān prāṇān
haniṣyanti svakān api

(41) In the age of Kali one will even over a single coin develop enmity [5.14 and 5.14: 26]. Rejecting friendly relations one will kill oneself and even kill one's relatives.

12.3.42

na rakṣiṣyanti manujāḥ
sthavirau pitarāv api
putrān bhāryāṁ ca kula-jāṁ
kṣudrāḥ śiśnodaraṁ-bharāḥ

 (42) Not even born in a decent family one will protect the elderly, the parents, the wife and the children; simply in support of the petty self-interest of one's own belly and genitals.

In this age many people are already sending their elderly parents away to lonely, and often bizarre, old-age homes, although the elderly parents spent their entire lives serving their children.

Young children are also tormented in many ways in this age. Suicide among children has increased dramatically in recent years because they are being born not to loving, religious parents but to degraded, selfish men and women. In fact, children are often born because a birth-control pill, a prophylactic or some other contraceptive device malfunctioned. Under such conditions, it is very difficult nowadays for parents to morally guide their children. Generally ignorant of spiritual science, parents cannot lead their children on the path of liberation and thus fail to fulfill their primary responsibility in family life.

As predicted in this verse, adultery has become common, and people in general are extremely concerned with eating and sex, which they consider far more important than knowing the Absolute Truth.

12.3.43

kalau na rājan jagatāṁ paraṁ guruṁ
tri-loka-nāthānata-pāda-paṅkajam
prāyeṇa martyā bhagavantam acyutaṁ
yakṣyanti pāṣaṇḍa-vibhinna-cetasaḥ

(43) O King, in Kali-yuga the mortals will predominanly be of sacrifice for atheistic reasons with their intelligence which factually originated from The Infallible One, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the Supreme Spiritual Master of the three worlds and at whose feet the various masters bow down.

The impulse to find the Absolute Truth, the source of all existence, has motivated philosophers, theologians and other intellectuals of various persuasions since time immemorial, and continues to do so today. However, soberly analyzing the ever-increasing plurality of so-called philosophies, religions, paths, ways of life and so on, we find that in almost all cases the ultimate objective is something impersonal or formless. But this idea of an impersonal or formless Absolute Truth has serious logical flaws. According to ordinary rules of logic, a particular effect should directly or indirectly embody the attributes, or nature, of its own cause. Thus that which has no personality or activity could hardly be the source of all personality and all activity.

Our irrepressible proclivity to philosophize about the ultimate truth often expresses itself through philosophical, scientific and mystical attempts to discover that from which everything emanates. This material world, which is a seemingly limitless network of interactive causes and effects, is certainly not the Absolute Truth, since scientific observation of material elements indicates that the stuff of this world, material energy, is endlessly transformed into different states and shapes. Therefore, one particular instance of material reality cannot be the ultimate source of all other things.

We may speculate that matter in some shape or other has always existed. This theory, however, is no longer attractive to modern cosmologists, such as those at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And even if we do posit that matter has always existed, we still must explain the source of consciousness if we want to satisfy our philosophical impulse toward discovering the Absolute Truth. Although modern empirical fanatics state that nothing is real except matter, everyone commonly experiences that consciousness is not the same kind of substance as a stone, a pencil or water. Awareness itself, in contradistinction to the objects of awareness, is not a physical entity but rather a process of perception and understanding. While there is ample evidence of a systematic interdependent relationship between matter and consciousness, there is no rigid empirical evidence whatsoever that matter is the cause of consciousness. Thus the theory that the material world has always existed and is therefore the ultimate truth does not scientifically or even intuitively explain the source of consciousness, which is the most fundamentally real aspect of our existence.

Furthermore, as demonstrated by Dr. Richard Thompson of the State University of New York at Binghamton and confirmed by several Nobel laureates in physics who have praised his work, the laws of nature governing the transformation of matter simply do not contain sufficiently complex information to account for the inconceivable complexity of events taking place within our own bodies and those of other life forms. In other words, not only do the material laws of nature fail to account for the existence of consciousness, but they cannot explain even the interaction of material elements at complex organic levels. Even Socrates, the first great Western philosopher, was disgusted with the attempt to establish ultimate causality in terms of mechanistic principles.

The heat and luminosity of the sun's rays demonstrate to the satisfaction of any rational man that the sun, the source of the rays, is certainly not a dark, cold globe but rather a reservoir of almost unlimited heat and light. Similarly, the innumerable instances of personality and personal consciousness within creation are more than adequate to demonstrate the existence, somewhere, of an unlimited reservoir of consciousness and personal behavior. In his dialogue Philebus, the Greek philosopher Plato argued that just as the material elements in our body are derived from a vast reservoir of material elements existing within the universe, our rational intelligence is also derived from a great cosmic intelligence existing within the universe, and this supreme intelligence is God, the creator. Unfortunately, in Kali-yuga many leading thinkers cannot understand this and instead deny that the Absolute Truth, the source of our personal consciousness, has consciousness and personality. This is as reasonable as saying that the sun is cold and dark.

In Kali-yuga, many people present cheap, stereotyped arguments, such as "If God had a body or personality, He would be limited." In this inadequate attempt at logic, a qualified term is falsely presented in a universal sense. What really should be said is, "If God had a material body or a material personality like those we have experienced, He would be limited." But we leave out the qualifying adjective material and make a pseudouniversal assertion, as if we understood the full range, within total reality, of bodies and personality.

Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other Vedic literatures teach that the transcendental form and personality of the Absolute Truth are unlimited. Clearly, to be truly infinite God must be not only quantitatively but also qualitatively infinite. Unfortunately, in our mechanistic, industrial age we tend to define infinity only in its quantitative sense, and thus we fail to notice that an infinity of personal qualities is a necessary aspect of infinity. In other words, God must have infinite beauty, infinite wealth, infinite intelligence, infinite humor, infinite kindness, infinite anger and so on. Infinite is an absolute, and if anything we observe in this world is not contained, somehow or other, within our conception of the Absolute, then that conception is of something limited and not of the Absolute at all.

Only in Kali-yuga are there philosophers foolish enough to proudly define the most absolute of all terms—God—in materialistic, relative ways and then declare themselves enlightened thinkers. No matter how big our brain may be, we should have the common sense to place it at the feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

12.3.44

yan-nāmadheyaṁ mriyamāṇa āturaḥ
patan skhalan vā vivaśo gṛṇan pumān
vimukta-karmārgala uttamāṁ gatiṁ
prāpnoti yakṣyanti na taṁ kalau janāḥ

(44) In Kali-yuga the people do not worship Him unto whom a person dying, in distress collapsing and with a faltering voice helplessly chanting His name, is freed from the chains of karma and achieves the topmost destination [see also B.G. 8: 10 and 6.2].
You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

12.3.45

puṁsāṁ kali-kṛtān doṣān
dravya-deśātma-sambhavān
sarvān harati citta-stho
bhagavān puruṣottamaḥ

 (45) The things, the place and the individual nature of man are as a result of Kali-yuga all faulty, but when one installs Bhagavân, the Supreme Personality in one's heart, He takes it all away.
In the Kali-yuga, objects, places and even individual personalities are all polluted. The almighty Personality of Godhead, however, can remove all such contamination from the life of one who fixes the Lord within his mind.

12.3.46

śrutaḥ sańkīrtito dhyātaḥ

pūjitaś cādṛto 'pi vā

nṛṇāḿ dhunoti bhagavān

hṛt-stho janmāyutāśubham

(46)  Of those human beings who but even heard, glorified, meditated, worshiped or venerated the Supreme Lord, the inauspicious which accumulated from a thousand births in their hearts is cleansed away.

12.3.47

yathā hemni sthito vahnir

durvarṇaḿ hanti dhātu-jam

evam ātma-gato viṣṇur

yoginām aśubhāśayam

(47) Just as the discoloration one finds in gold because of other metals is undone by fire are the same way the impurities of mind of the yogis undone by Lord Vishnu residing in the soul.
Although one may practice the mystic yoga system, his actual spiritual advancement is due to the mercy of the Supreme Lord within the heart; it is not directly the result of his austerity and meditation. If one becomes foolishly proud in the name of yoga, his spiritual position becomes ridiculous.

12.3.48

vidyā-tapaḥ-prāṇa-nirodha-maitrī-

tīrthābhiṣeka-vrata-dāna-japyaiḥ

nātyanta-śuddhiḿ labhate 'ntarātmā

yathā hṛdi-sthe bhagavaty anante

(48) Knowledge ['demigod worship'], penance, arresting one's breath, friendship, bathing in holy waters, vows, charity and praying with prayer beads gives not as much purification of mind as is achieved with Him, the Unlimited Personality of Godhead present in the heart.

12.3.49

tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan

hṛdi-sthaḿ kuru keśavam

mriyamāṇo hy avahitas

tato yāsi parāḿ gatim

(49) Therefore o King do your utmost best to establish Lord Kes'ava in your heart; the moment you die [here after this week] you will thus concentrated attain the highest destination.
Although the Supreme Lord is always in the heart of every living being, the words hṛdi-sthaḿ kuru keśavam indicate that one should endeavor to realize the Lord's presence there and maintain this awareness at every moment. Parīkṣit Mahārāja is about to give up this world and is receiving final instructions from his spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī. In the context of the King's imminent departure, this verse has special significance.

12.3.50

mriyamāṇair abhidhyeyo

bhagavān parameśvaraḥ

ātma-bhāvaḿ nayaty ańga

sarvātmā sarva-saḿśrayaḥ

(50) The Supreme Lord meditated upon by those who are dying is the Supreme Controller, the Soul and Shelter of All, who leads them to their true identity, my dearest.

12.3.51

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann

asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ

kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya

mukta-sańgaḥ paraḿ vrajet

(51) In the ocean of faults that is Kali-yuga, there is luckily one great good quality: just by chanting about Krishna [see bhajans] one can, liberated from material bondage, attain the kingdom of heaven [see also bhâgavata dharma and kîrtana].

After mentioning the innumerable faults of this age of Kali, Śukadeva Gosvāmī now mentions its one brilliant aspect. Just as one powerful king can kill innumerable thieves, one brilliant spiritual quality can destroy all the contamination of this age. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of chanting Maha Mantra especially in this fallen age.

12.3.52

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuḿ

tretāyāḿ yajato makhaiḥ

dvāpare paricaryāyāḿ

kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt

(52) The same result in Satya-yuga achieved by meditating on Vishnu, in Tretâ-yuga achieved by worshiping with sacrifices and in Dvâpara-yuga achieved by serving the lotus feet [of Him as a King], is in Kali-yuga achieved by singing about the Lord [see also 11.5: 38-40].'

A similar verse is found in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (6.2.17), and also in the Padma Purāṇa (Uttara-khaṇḍa 72.25) and the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa (38.97):
dhyāyan kṛte yajan yajñais

tretāyāḿ dvāpare 'rcayan

yad āpnoti tad āpnoti

kalau sańkīrtya keśavam

"Whatever is achieved by meditation in Satya-yuga, by the performance of sacrifice in Tretā-yuga, and by the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet in Dvāpara-yuga is obtained in the age of Kali simply by glorifying the name of Lord Keśava."
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has further quoted from the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa concerning the degraded condition of people in Kali-yuga:
ataḥ kalau tapo-yoga-

vidyā-yajñādikāḥ kriyāḥ

sāńgā bhavanti na kṛtāḥ

kuśalair api dehibhiḥ

"Thus in the age of Kali the practices of austerity, yoga meditation, Deity worship, sacrifice and so on, along with their various subsidiary functions, are not properly carried out, even by the most expert embodied souls.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has also cited the Cāturmāsya-māhātmya of the Skanda Purāṇa concerning the necessity of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa in this age:
tathā caivottamaḿ loke

tapaḥ śrī-hari-kīrtanam

kalau yuge viśeṣeṇa

viṣṇu-prītyai samācaret

"In this way the most perfect penance to be executed in this world is the chanting of the name of Lord Śrī Hari. Especially in the age of Kali, one can satisfy the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu by performing sańkīrtana.''
In conclusion, massive propaganda should be made all over the world to induce people to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, by which human society can be rescued from the dangerous ocean of the age of Kali.
Thus end  of  the Twelfth Canto, Third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Bhūmi-gītā."

(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swamyjis, Philosophers, Scholars and Knowledge Seekers for the collection)