कालस्य च गतिं रौद्रां विपर्यस्तर्तु धर्मिणः पापीयसीं नृणां वार्तां क्रोधलोभानृतात्मनाम्
kālasya ca gatiṁ raudrāṁ viparyastar tu dharmiṇaḥ pāpīyasīṁ nṛṇāṁ vārtāṁ krodha-lobhānṛtātmanām
Synonyms
kālasya—of the eternal time; ca—also; gatim—direction; raudrām—fearful; viparyastaḥ—discrepancies; tu—but; dharmiṇaḥ—specific function; pāpīyasīm—sinful; nṛṇām—of the human being; vārtām—means of livelihood; krodha—anger; lobha—greed; anṛta—falsehood; ātmanām—of the people..
Translation
He saw that the direction of eternal time had changed, and this was very fearful. There were disruptions in the seasonal regularities. The people in general had become very greedy, angry and deceitful. And he saw that they were adopting foul means of livelihood.
Purport
When civilization is disconnected from the loving relation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, symptoms like changes of seasonal regulations, foul means of livelihood, greed, anger and fraudulence become rampant. The change of seasonal regulations refers to the atmosphere of one season becoming manifest in another season, for example the rainy season being transferred to autumn, or the fruits and flowers of one season fructifying in another season. A godless man is invariably greedy, angry and fraudulent. Such a man can earn his livelihood by any means, black or white. During the reign of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, all the above symptoms were conspicuous by their absence. But Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was astonished to experience even a slight change in the godly atmosphere of his kingdom, and at once he suspected the disappearance of the Lord. Foul means of livelihood implies deviation from one's occupational duty. There are prescribed duties for everyone, such as the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra, but any one of them who deviates from his prescribed duty and declares another’s duty to be his own is following a foul and improper duty. A man becomes too greedy for wealth and power when he has no higher objective in life and when he thinks that this earthly life of a few years is all in all. Ignorance is the cause for all these anomalies in human society, and to remove this ignorance, especially in this age of degradation, the powerful sun is there to distribute light in the shape of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.