Prabhupāda: Hm. Te sādhu-kṛta-sarvārthā. Artha means interest. Everyone has some interest. The animal has got also interest. The man has got also interest. The big politician, he has also interest. Everyone has got interest. But nobody knows what is real interest. That is missing. Everyone has created his interest, and he is working in that way. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). Real interest is, for the human being, to know what is God, what is my relationship with Him, and how I shall achieve the highest perfection of life. That is real interest.
Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum. Svārtha. Svārtha or artha. Svārtha means own interest, and artha means general interest. The general interest is, for the human being, dharma artha kāma mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, CC Ādi 1.90). Because human life is not dog's life, cat's life, so there must be dharma, religion. And religion means no God (dog?). That is first interest. This is first interest. Otherwise how shall I distinguish my life with cats' and dogs' life? They are also eating, sleeping, mating and dying. And if I also, like the cats and dogs, eat, sleep and have sex life and die, then where is the difference? The difference is religion. The dog society, cat society, there cannot be any religion, but in the human society, there is necessity of religion. Otherwise it is cats' and dogs' . . . (indistinct) . . . society. So they do not understand it. They are avoiding religion. Nowadays the so-called advanced civilization, they are avoiding religion. That means they are coming to the platform of cats and dogs. And actually, they have come. Especially in this age, Kali-yuga . . .
Yesterday we were discussing about the Kali-yuga: the most fallen age. People are most degraded. So there is, by calculation, that seventy-five percent irreligion and twenty-five percent religion in comparison to other ages. But this twenty-five percent religious life also will reduce. Before explaining this verse, I shall give you reference to some of the symptoms of this age. This is also explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Canto, Third Chapter.
(aside) Where is that? Give me that book. We have not yet published, so I am reading reference.
Anyonyato rājabhiś ca kṣayaṁ yāsyanti pīḍitāḥ (SB 12.1.41). It is described in the Second Chapter, Twelfth Canto, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So:
- tataś cānu-dinaṁ dharmaḥ
- satyaṁ śaucaṁ kṣamā dayā
- kālena balinā rājan
- naṅkṣyaty āyur balaṁ smṛtiḥ
- (SB 12.2.1)
This description of the Kali-yuga is given in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is called śāstra. This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was written five thousand years ago, when the Kali-yuga was to begin. Now, what will happen in future, everything is given there. Śāstra means . . . that is . . . therefore we accept śāstra. Tri-kāla-jña. The śāstrakāra, or the compiler of the śāstra, must be liberated person, so that he can describe past, present and future. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you will find so many things which was told to be happening in future. Just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is mention of Lord Buddha's appearance. Similarly, there is mention of Lord Kalki's appearance. There is mention of Lord Caitanya's appearance, although it was written five thousand years ago. Tri-kāla-jña. Know; they know what is past, present and future.
So about the Kali-yuga, discussing, Śukadeva Gosvāmī is describing the chief symptoms of this age. The first symptom he says, tataś ca anu-dinam. With the progress of this age, Kali-yuga, dharma, religious principle; satyam, truthfulness; śaucam, cleanliness; kṣamā, forgiveness; dayā, mercifulness; āyuḥ, duration of life; balam, bodily strength; smṛtiḥ, memory . . . just count how many. dharmaḥ, satyam, śaucam, kṣamā, dayā, āyuḥ, balam, smṛti—eight. These things will gradually reduce to nil, almost nil.
Now as I told you, the Kali-yuga . . . in other yugas . . . just like Satya-yuga, the duration of Satya-yuga was eighteen hundred thousands of years. And the human being was living in that age for one hundred thousands of years. One hundred thousands of years. The next age, the duration of that age, twelve hundred thousands of years, and the people used to live for one thousand years, not over . . . ten thousand years. Ten times reduced. The next age, Dvāpara-yuga, again ten times reduced. Still, they used to live for one thousand years, and the duration of the age was eight hundred thousands of years. Now the next age, this Kali-yuga, the limit is one hundred years. We can live utmost up to one hundred years. We are not living one hundred years, but still, the limit is one hundred years. So just see. Now, from one hundred years . . . now at India the average age is about thirty-five years. In your country they say seventy years? So it is reducing. And it will so reduce that if a man lives for twenty to thirty years, he will be considered grand old man in this age, Kali-yuga. So āyuḥ, duration of life, will reduce.