FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.3.25

तस्मिन् लुब्धा दुराचारा निर्दया: शुष्कवैरिण: । दुर्भगा भूरितर्षाश्च शूद्रदासोत्तरा: प्रजा: ॥ २५ ॥
tasmin lubdhā durācārā
[tasmin lubdhaa duraachaaraa]
nirdayāḥ śuṣka-vairiṇaḥ
[nirdayaah shushka-vairinah]
durbhagā bhūri-tarṣāś ca
[durbhagaa bhoori-tarshaash cha]
śūdra-dāsottarāḥ prajāḥ
[shoodra-daasottaraah prajaah]
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.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tasmin lubdhā durācārā
tasmin
in that age
lubdhāḥ
greedy
durācārāḥ
ill-behaved
nirdayāḥ śuṣka-vairiṇaḥ
nirdayāḥ
merciless
śuṣka-vairiṇaḥ
prone to useless quarrel
durbhagā bhūri-tarṣāś ca
durbhagāḥ
unfortunate
bhūri-tarṣāḥ
obsessed by many kinds of hankering
ca
and
śūdra-dāsottarāḥ prajāḥ
śūdra-dāsa-uttarāḥ
predominantly low-class laborers and barbarians
prajāḥ
the people.
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.

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.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
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 many material desires, the people of Kali-yuga are almost all śūdras and barbarians. Śūdra-dāsottrāḥ means the śūdras and fishermen are most numerous.
Kali-yuga people tend toward greed, bad behavior, mercilessness, and meaningless conflict. Most are śūdras or barbarians — not by birth but by quality. Knowing this is not snobbery; it is a clear-eyed acceptance that the bar is low, and we choose to live higher.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I letting the low bar of the age define my behavior?
  • What higher bar am I willing to set for myself, gently and consistently?
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 3