When one realizes that "I have no connection with this body, this country, this wife, these children, this soc . . . these are all illusory," that is called liberation. That is called brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). People are suffering, identifying himself with these false things, which is not. Ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam. Tri-guṇa, these, all these materials, they are manufactured by the three modes of material nature, and he's . . . he has no connection with the material nature. But somehow or other, he is now fallen in the ocean of the . . . just like you have no connection with the ocean. Your place of living is land. But somehow or other, if you are thrown in the Pacific Ocean, that is a very troublesome business. You have to swim always. You have to protect . . . but still, you are unsafe. It doesn't matter you are a very great swimmer. Doesn't matter. When you are in the Pacific Ocean, you are in danger. So similarly, when that very man is taken away from the Pacific Ocean and put into the land, then he becomes prasannātmā, "Oh, I am saved." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. "Now I am on the saved . . ." Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54), that when one is in full knowledge that, "I have nothing to do with this material world, the everything made by the material nature, that is illusion. I have nothing to do with anything of them. I am spirit, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. I am spirit soul. Now I have my business with the spiritual world," that is liberation. That is liberation. And the means which help you to come to that position, that is called spiritual life, sanātana-dharma.
So here it is said, the enquiry, that kiṁ kṣatra-bandhūn kalinā upasṛṣṭān rāṣṭrāṇi vā tair avaropitāni, "Are you very much anxious that, on account of this Kali-yuga, that kṣatra-bandhūn, the rulers, they have occupied the rāṣṭra position, the government position?" So what is the symptom of such a rascal government? That is also stated: itas tato vāśana-pāna-vāsaḥ-snāna-vyavāyonmukha-jīva-lokam. There will be no fixed position of these things. Just see. What are these? Aśana, eating. Aśana, pāna, drinking; vāsaḥ, residence; snāna, taking bath; and vyavāya, sexual intercourse. There is no rules and regulation. Irresponsible government means, the Kali's government means, that these things will be irregular, not regularized. Just see. This is Vedic civilization. Aśana, eating—there must be regulative principle, not that like hogs and pigs you can eat everything. No. There must be control. Control is there already. Just like in government, when you open a restaurant, immediately there is control. You have to take license that, "You have to supply food like this or like that. You cannot supply anything rubbish." Is it not? Control is there, but because it is controlled by another rascal, group of rascal, so they allow everything to eat. Everything eat.
Control is there, but they do not know what kind of control should be there. The control should be, as we are prescribing, Kṛṣṇa consciousness move . . . "You cannot take anything without Kṛṣṇa's prasāda." That is real control. Then you'll be happy. Control is already there, but they do not know because they are being governed by kṣatra-bandhūn. Kṣatra-bandhūn means kṣatriya. Kṣatriya means the ruling class. Kṣat. Kṣat means injure, and trāyate, one who gives you protection from being injured. He's kṣatriya. It is the duty of the government that every citizen, never mind whether human being or animal, he may not be injured by anyone. That is responsible government. It is not responsible government that one poor animal, because he does not know how to give him protection, although there is government, he is taken away to the slaughterhouse. This is not government.
Here we see Mahārāja Parīkṣit, as soon as he saw that a cow was being attempted to be killed, immediately he took his sword . . . "Who are you, nonsense? You are killing my citizen." This is good government. This is good government. Why the cow is not national? He's also . . . she's also born in the land, so she's as important a national as you are. Kṛṣṇa has given her the grass to eat. She's not interfere . . . interfering with your food. Why? What right you have got to kill? You have got your own food. The cow has got the grass for her food. You have got food grains. You have got . . . cow is giving you milk, just to give her protection that, "You take my blood, turn into milk. Please do not kill me." So why these things are happening? Because there is rascal government. Kalinā upasṛṣṭān. Rascal government. So one should lament that this, "We are under this rascal government, under the rascal guru, rascal father. But who are meant for giving protection, they are all rascals. This is our position." This is called Kali-yuga. This is Kali-yuga.