SB 12.2.12-16 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

क्षीयमाणेषु देहेषु देहिनां कलिदोषत: । वर्णाश्रमवतां धर्मे नष्टे वेदपथे नृणाम् ॥ १२ ॥ पाषण्डप्रचुरे धर्मे दस्युप्रायेषु राजसु । चौर्यानृतवृथाहिंसानानावृत्तिषु वै नृषु ॥ १३ ॥ शूद्रप्रायेषु वर्णेषुच्छागप्रायासु धेनुषु । गृहप्रायेष्वाश्रमेषु यौनप्रायेषु बन्धुषु ॥ १४ ॥ अणुप्रायास्वोषधीषु शमीप्रायेषु स्थास्नुषु । विद्युत्प्रायेषु मेघेषु शून्यप्रायेषु सद्मसु ॥ १५ ॥ इत्थं कलौ गतप्राये जनेषु खरधर्मिषु । धर्मत्राणाय सत्त्वेन भगवानवतरिष्यति ॥ १६ ॥

Verse text

kṣīyamāṇeṣu deheṣu dehināṁ kali-doṣataḥ varṇāśramavatāṁ dharme naṣṭe veda-pathe nṛṇām pāṣaṇḍa-pracure dharme dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu cauryānṛta-vṛthā-hiṁsā- nānā-vṛttiṣu vai nṛṣu śūdra-prāyeṣu varṇeṣu cchāga-prāyāsu dhenuṣu gṛha-prāyeṣv āśrameṣu yauna-prāyeṣu bandhuṣu aṇu-prāyāsv oṣadhīṣu śamī-prāyeṣu sthāsnuṣu vidyut-prāyeṣu megheṣu śūnya-prāyeṣu sadmasu itthaṁ kalau gata-prāye janeṣu khara-dharmiṣu dharma-trāṇāya sattvena bhagavān avatariṣyati

Synonyms

kṣīyamāṇeṣu — having become smaller ; deheṣu — the bodies ; dehinām — of all living entities ; kali-doṣataḥ — by the contamination of the Age of Kali ; varṇa-āśrama-vatām — of the members of varṇāśrama society ; dharme — when their religious principles ; naṣṭe — have been destroyed ; veda-pathe — the path of the Vedas ; nṛṇām — for all men ; pāṣaṇḍa-pracure — mostly atheism ; dharme — religion ; dasyu-prāyeṣu — mostly thieves ; rājasu — the kings ; caurya — banditry ; anṛta — lying ; vṛthā-hiṁsā — useless slaughter ; nānā — various ; vṛttiṣu — their occupations ; vai — indeed ; nṛṣu — when men ; śūdra-prāyeṣu — mostly low-class śūdras ; varṇeṣu — the so-called social orders ; chāga-prāyāsu — no better than goats ; dhenuṣu — the cows ; gṛha-prāyeṣu — just like materialistic homes ; āśrameṣu — the spiritual hermitages ; yauna-prāyeṣu — extending no further than marriage ; bandhuṣu — family ties ; aṇu-prāyāsu — mostly very small ; oṣadhīṣu — plants and herbs ; śamī-prāyeṣu — just like śamī trees ; sthāsnuṣu — all the trees ; vidyut-prāyeṣu — always manifesting lightning ; megheṣu — the clouds ; śūnya-prāyeṣu — devoid of religious life ; sadmasu — the homes ; ittham — thus ; kalau — when the Age of Kali ; gata-prāye — is almost finished ; janeṣu — the people ; khara-dharmiṣu — when they have assumed the characteristics of asses ; dharma-trāṇāya — for the deliverance of religion ; sattvena — in the pure mode of goodness ; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; avatariṣyati — will descend.

Translation

By the time the Age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size, and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society, and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than the immediate bonds of marriage. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning, homes will be devoid of piety, and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth. Acting with the power of pure spiritual goodness, He will rescue eternal religion.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

By the time the age of Kali ends, the bodies of all creatures will be greatly reduced in size and the religious principles of followers of varṇāśrama will be ruined. The path of the Vedas will be completely forgotten in human society and so-called religion will be mostly atheistic. The kings will mostly be thieves, the occupations of men will be stealing, lying and needless violence, and all the social classes will be reduced to the lowest level of śūdras. Cows will be like goats, spiritual hermitages will be no different from mundane houses, and family ties will extend no further than youthfulness. Most plants and herbs will be tiny, and all trees will appear like dwarf śamī trees. Clouds will be full of lightning and devoid of rain. Homes will be empty and all human beings will have become like asses. At that time, the Supreme Lord will appear on the earth for rescuing dharma with body of śuddha-sattva. Sthāsnuṣu means trees.

Purport

Significantly, these verses point out that most so-called religions in this age will be atheistic ( pāsaṇḍa-pracure dharme ). In confirmation of the Bhāgavatam’s prediction, the United States Supreme Court has recently ruled that to be considered a religion a system of belief need not recognize a supreme being. Also, many atheistic, voidistic belief systems, often imported from the Orient, have attracted the attention of modern atheistic scientists, who expound on the similarities between Eastern and Western voidism in fashionable, esoteric books. These verses vividly describe many unsavory symptoms of the Age of Kali. Ultimately, at the end of this age, Lord Kṛṣṇa will descend as Kalki and remove the thoroughly demonic persons from the face of the earth.