SB 12.3.25
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Please note: The synonyms, translation and purport of this verse were composed by disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda
TEXT 25
- tasmin lubdhā durācārā
- nirdayāḥ śuṣka-vairiṇaḥ
- durbhagā bhūri-tarṣāś ca
- śūdra-dāsottarāḥ prajāḥ
SYNONYMS
tasmin — in that age; lubdhāḥ — greedy; durācārāḥ — ill-behaved; nirdayāḥ — merciless; śuṣka-vairiṇaḥ — prone to useless quarrel; durbhagāḥ — unfortunate; bhūri-tarṣāḥ — obsessed by many kinds of hankering; ca — and; śūdra-dāsa-uttarāḥ — predominantly low-class laborers and barbarians; prajāḥ — the people.
Translation and purport composed by disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda
TRANSLATION
In the Kali age people tend to be greedy, ill-behaved and merciless, and they fight one another without good reason. Unfortunate and obsessed with material desires, the people of Kali-yuga are almost all śūdras and barbarians.
PURPORT
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.