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TEXT 18

 

TEXT

 

dharmah padaikena caran

vicchayam upalabhya gam

prcchati smasru-vadanam

vivatsam iva mataram

 

SYNONYMS

 

dharmah -- the personality of religious principles; pada -- leg; ekena --

on one only; caran -- wandering; vicchayam -- overtaken by the shadow of

grief; upalabhya -- having met; gam -- the cow; prcchati -- asking; sma --

with; asru-vadanam -- with tears on the face; vivatsam -- one who has lost

her offspring; iva -- like; mataram -- the mother.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The personality of religious principles, Dharma, was wandering about in the

form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow

who appeared to grieve like a mother who had lost her child. She had tears

in her eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned

the earth as follows.

 

PURPORT

 

The bull is the emblem of the moral principle, and the cow is the

representative of the earth. When the bull and the cow are in a joyful

mood, it is to be understood that the people of the world are also in a

joyful mood. The reason is that the bull helps production of grains in the

agricultural field, and the cow delivers milk, the miracle of aggregate

food values. The human society, therefore, maintains these two important

animals very carefully so that they can wander everywhere in cheerfulness.

But at the present moment in this age of Kali both the bull and the cow

are now being slaughtered and eaten up as foodstuff by a class of men who

do not know the brahminical culture. The bull and the cow can be protected

for the good of all human society simply by the spreading of brahminical

culture as the topmost perfection of all cultural affairs. By advancement

of such culture, the morale of society is properly maintained, and so

peace and prosperity are also attained without extraneous effort. When

brahminical culture deteriorates, the cow and bull are mistreated, and the

resultant actions are prominent by the following symptoms.

 

SB 1.16.19

 

TEXT 19

 

TEXT

 

dharma uvaca

kaccid bhadre 'namayam atmanas te

vicchayasi mlayatesan mukhena

alaksaye bhavatim antar-adhim

dure bandhum socasi kancanamba

 

SYNONYMS

 

dharmah uvaca -- Dharma inquired; kaccit -- whether; bhadre -- madam;

anamayam -- quite hale and hearty; atmanah -- self; te -- unto you;

vicchaya asi -- appear to be covered with the shadow of grief; mlayata --

which darkens; isat -- slightly; mukhena -- by the face; alaksaye -- you

look; bhavatim -- unto yourself; antaradhim -- some disease within; dure

-- long distant; bandhum -- friend; socasi -- thinking of; kancana --

someone; amba -- O mother.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Dharma [in the form of a bull] asked: Madam, are you not hale and hearty?

Why are you covered with the shadow of grief? It appears by your face that

you have become black. Are you suffering from some internal disease, or

are you thinking of some relative who is away in a distant place?

 

PURPORT

 

The people of the world in this age of Kali are always full of anxieties.

Everyone is diseased with some kind of ailment. From the very faces of the

people of this age, one can find out the index of the mind. Everyone feels

the absence of his relative who is away from home. The particular symptom

of the age of Kali is that no family is now blessed to live together. To

earn a livelihood, the father lives at a place far away from the son, or

the wife lives far away from the husband and so on. There are sufferings

from internal diseases, separation from those near and dear, and anxieties

for maintaining the status quo. These are but some important factors which

make the people of this age always unhappy.