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Chapter 17: Punishment and Reward of Kali

Verse 32 of 43
SB 1.17.32

त्वां वर्तमानं नरदेवदेहेष्वनुप्रवृत्तो ऽयमधर्मपूगः लोभो ऽनृतं चौर्यमनार्यमंहो ज्येष्ठा च माया कलहश्च दम्भः

tvāṁ vartamānaṁ nara-deva-deheṣv anupravṛtto 'yam adharma-pūgaḥ lobho 'nṛtaṁ cauryam anāryam aṁho jyeṣṭhā ca māyā kalahaś ca dambhaḥ

Synonyms

tvāmyou; vartamānamwhile present; nara-devaa man-god, or a king; deheṣuin the body; anupravṛttaḥbeginning all over; ayamall these; adharmairreligious principles; pūgaḥin the masses; lobhaḥgreed; anṛtamfalsity; cauryamrobbery; anāryamincivility; aṁhaḥtreachery; jyeṣṭhāmisfortune; caand; māyācheating; kalahaḥquarrel; caand; dambhaḥvanity..

Translation

If the personality of Kali or irreligion is allowed to act as a man-god or an executive head, certainly irreligious principles like greed, falsehood, robbery, incivility, treachery, misfortune, cheating, quarrel and vanity will abound.

Purport

The principles of religion, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, as we have already discussed, may be followed by the follower of any faith. There is no need of turning the coat of a Hindu to Mohammedan to Christian or some other faith and thus become a renegade without following the principles of religion. The Bhāgavatam religion urges following the principles of religion. The principles of religion are not the dogmas or regulative principles of a certain faith. Such regulative principles may be different in terms of the time and place concerned. One has to see whether the aims of religion have been achieved. Sticking to the dogmas and formulas without attaining the real principles is no good. A secular state may be impartial to any particular type of faith, but the state cannot be indifferent to the principles of religion as above mentioned. But in the age of Kali, the executive heads of state will be indifferent to such religious principles, and therefore under their patronage the opponents of religious principles, namely greed, falsehood, cheating, pilfery, etc., will naturally follow, and so there is no meaning in a propaganda crying to stop corruption in the state.

Verse 32 of 43
Prabhupāda Says