SB 01.16.22 kim ksatra-bandhun kalinopasrstan... cited

Expressions researched:
"itas tato vasana-pana-vasah" |"kim ksatra-bandhun kalinopasrstan" |"rastrani va tair avaropitani" |"snana-vyavayonmukha-jiva-lokam"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.16.22, Translation and Purport:

The so-called administrators are now bewildered by the influence of this age of Kali, and thus they have put all state affairs into disorder. Are you now lamenting this disorder? Now the general populace does not follow the rules and regulations for eating, sleeping, drinking, mating, etc., and they are inclined to perform such anywhere and everywhere. Are you unhappy because of this?

There are some necessities of life on a par with those of the lower animals, and they are eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. These bodily demands are for both the human beings and the animals. But the human being has to fulfill such desires not like animals, but like a human being. A dog can mate with a bitch before the public eyes without hesitation, but if a human being does so the act will be considered a public nuisance, and the person will be criminally prosecuted. Therefore for the human being there are some rules and regulations, even for fulfilling common demands. The human society avoids such rules and regulations when it is bewildered by the influence of the age of Kali. In this age, people are indulging in such necessities of life without following the rules and regulations, and this deterioration of social and moral rules is certainly lamentable because of the harmful effects of such beastly behavior. In this age, the fathers and the guardians are not happy with the behavior of their wards. They should know that so many innocent children are victims of bad association awarded by the influence of this age of Kali. We know from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that Ajāmila, an innocent son of a brāhmaṇa, was walking down a road and saw a śūdra pair sexually embracing. This attracted the boy, and later on the boy became a victim of all debaucheries. From a pure brāhmaṇa, he fell down to the position of a wretched urchin, and it was all due to bad association. There was but one victim like Ajāmila in those days, but in this age of Kali the poor innocent students are daily victims of cinemas which attract men only for sex indulgence. The so-called administrators are all untrained in the affairs of a kṣatriya. The kṣatriyas are meant for administration, as the brāhmaṇas are meant for knowledge and guidance. The word kṣatra-bandhu refers to the so-called administrators or persons promoted to the post of the administrator without proper training by culture and tradition. Nowadays they are promoted to such exalted posts by the votes of the people who are themselves fallen in the rules and regulations of life. How can such people select a proper man when they are themselves fallen in the standard of life? Therefore, by the influence of the age of Kali, everywhere, politically, socially or religiously, everything is topsy-turvy, and therefore for the sane man it is all regrettable.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

kiṁ kṣatra-bandhūn kalinopasṛṣṭān

rāṣṭrāṇi vā tair avaropitāni

itas tato vāśana-pāna-vāsaḥ-

snāna-vyavāyonmukha-jīva-lokam

(SB 1.16.22)

Translation: "The so-called administrators are now bewildered by the influence of this age of Kali, and thus they have put all state affairs into disorder. Are you now lamenting this disorder? Now the general populace does not follow the rules and regulations for eating, sleeping, drinking, mating, etc., and they are inclined to perform such anywhere and everywhere. Are you unhappy because of this?"

Prabhupāda: So śrīmad-bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇam. The study of Bhāgavatam means complete knowledge. This is the mature contribution of Vyāsadeva to the human society. Lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām (SB 1.7.6). Before writing, by the instruction of his spiritual master, Vyāsadeva meditated in bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite amale. Samyak praṇihite 'male, apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam (SB 1.7.4).

yayā sammohito jīva

ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam

paro 'pi manute 'narthaṁ

tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate

(SB 1.7.5)

It is said... Vyāsadeva, before writing... Writing book is not a whimsical, whatever I like. No. You must be empowered by superior authority; then you can deliver the right things. So Vyāsadeva was empowered by his guru, Nārada.

Vyāsadeva, after writing so many books, he could not find any peace of mind. So he was sitting, morose, and his spiritual master Nārada came there, asked him, "My dear Vyāsa, you have done so much in writing for the welfare of the society. Why you are not happy?" Vyāsadeva replied, "Yes, my lord, I think I have done so much things, but I am not happy." So he was instructed that "You have written so many books, but not about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I admit that you have written so many books. So because you have not described about the superiority or glories of the Lord, therefore you are unhappy." So after that instruction... That means after his writing of the Vedānta philosophy, he was also not happy. But when he wrote Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam under the instruction of Nārada, he became happy.

So the purpose of writing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām (SB 1.7.6). All the people of the world, they're fools and rascals, lokasyājānataḥ. Why they are fools and rascals? There are two things. Vyāsadeva, by his bhakti-yoga meditation, he found out that there is God and there is māyā. Two things are there. Bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite 'male, apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇam (SB 1.7.4). There is the Supreme Person, the supreme controller-apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam—and there is also māyā, which is on the back side. Just like if you stand before the sun or light, your shadow will be on the back side. You have got, all, experience. You stand up; you'll see a long shadow on your back side. So that is māyā. The māyā is the back side. That means if you stand before the sun, in the front, you can see in the sunlight very nicely. But if somebody stands on your back side, he cannot see you. This is the position. Apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam.

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974:

So this is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And it is the duty of the guardians like guru, like father, like the state, they should look to the interest of the wards, subordinate, that he is developing his Kṛṣṇa consciousness nicely. That is the duty. So when that duty is not done... Just like... We have no business to come so far. In Vṛndāvana I could live very peacefully, there is two room still, in Rādhā-Dāmodara Temple. But because there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness... Kṛṣṇa consciousness means serving the Lord. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa dictated that "You are sitting here very peacefully without any botheration. No, you go to the Western countries. Teach them." So that is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness, developed Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to render service to the ignorant of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is better, because Vyāsadeva saw that māyā, illusory energy, or the shadow, darkness... Yayā sammohito jīva. The whole world, living entity, conditioned soul, they're bewildered by this māyā. Yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam (SB 1.7.5). Thinking this body as self, foolish, rascal. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke (SB 10.84.13). One who thinks that "I am this body," he's no better than dog and cat. However nicely dressed he may be, he's a dog, he's a cat. That's all. No more than animal. Because he has no knowledge of his self. (aside:) Don't do that. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke... (aside:) You cannot sit like this? Yes. Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. This is going on. People are bewildered, thinking "I am this body," just like cats and dogs. "And the issues from the body or connection with the body, that is mine." Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu. "I have got some connection, bodily connection, with woman. Therefore she's my wife or my protected," something like that. Children, also—the same thing, bodily. They have no idea of the spirit soul, simply body. "So the body is born in a particular land. Therefore I am national." Bhauma ijya-dhīḥ. They're sacrificing so much their energy for the particular land because by accident, he's born in this life in that land. Everything is described in the Bhāgavata. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13). Bhauma means land.

So this is going on. This is called illusion. He has no connection with all these things. When one realizes that "I have no connection with this body, this country, this wife, these children, this soc... They're 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 ocean. Your place of living is land. But some way 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, that 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 rascals, 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.

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974:

So if you study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you'll be able to understand the whole material position and how you are situated in that material position, how to get out of it. Everything you'll understand, provided you have got the brain. If you have got a dull brain, filled up with cow dung, that is another thing. If there is brain substance, then you'll be able. Tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām. Alpa-medhasām and su-medhasām, they are two words in the Vedic language. Medhā means brain substance. So one who has got su-medhā, nice brain substance, they will understand something. And one who has got no brain substance but cow dung, they will understand something else. So we are selecting, or even if he is filled up with cow dung, by this Kṛṣṇa consciousness education, we can make him su-medhā, fine brain. That is the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Even one is filled up with cow dung, su-medhā.

Therefore, Bhāgavata says,

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ

sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam

yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair

yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

(SB 11.5.32)

Su-medhasaḥ. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam. Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He's Kṛṣṇa. Tviṣākṛṣṇam: by complexion golden. Therefore, by complexion, is not kṛṣṇa or blackish. But He's Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has four colors. That is in the śāstra, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ. So when the colors of Kṛṣṇa is yellow, golden, that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam (SB 11.5.32). That Lord Kṛṣṇa now, in the form of Lord Caitanya, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, and sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, associated with His personal expansions, Śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda... This is described. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam, with these... In the former incarnation, He was killing the demons directly with sword or the sudarśana-cakra, some way or other. Now, in this age, they're already dead. So if Kṛṣṇa comes to kill them with sudarśana-cakra and sword, they will not be profited. Therefore, these are the astras, these are the swords: the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa who are preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are the Lord's weapon. And they're getting victory. Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. So those who are intelligent, su-medhasaḥ, they will worship this form of God in this Kali-yuga. And what is the process of worshiping? Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyaiḥ.

So these rascals, position, the rascal guardians, you have to fight with them, but not with sword or any other weapon; the saṅkīrtana movement, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyaiḥ. If you stick to this principle of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, yajñaiḥ, if you have got good brain, su-medhasaḥ, then you will take this means, and by the help of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, you'll conquer all over the world. All over the world. You cannot take up any other means. That will not be successful because the śāstra says, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ (SB 11.5.32). So at the present moment, our position is very precarious. We are in the darkness, ignorance, and so many other things, corollaries to these things. Rāṣṭrāṇi vā tair avaropitāni itas tataḥ. Just see. Five thousand years ago this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was written, the symptoms of Kali-yuga. Now you see that, itas tato vāśana-pāna-vāsaḥ-snāna. Now everywhere, all over the world, the young boys and girls, they have no fixture where they'll live, where they'll take their bath, where they'll eat or how, or how they'll have sex. No. These are preliminary necessities of life. One must have a good place to live. One must have sufficient nice foodstuff to eat. Sleep. Eating, sleeping, mating—this is physical necessities. So in the Vedic civilization, these necessities are prescribed in a regulated way so that he can satisfy his physical necessities, at the same time, become Kṛṣṇa conscious and go back to home, back to Godhead.

So at the present moment there is no fixture even for the physical necessities. Physical necessities. No home. When I first came to America, when I saw in the Bowery Street, they're lying on the street, "And how is that?" I understood, "The Americans are very rich. Why they are lying on the street?" I was surprised. But see, even in such rich country like America, they're lying on the street, no fixture of sleeping, no fixture of sex life. Nobody knows with whom one has to satisfy his sex life. Nobody knows. In New York City I was, I saw, that one friend asking another friend, "Can I take my showers in your room?" Then I understand, "Oh, there is no fixity of even taking bath." There is no fixity of where to sleep. There is no fixity of where to satisfy sex. Everything, although such a rich country. Why? Because the leaders are rascals. The leaders are rascals. These are the first duty of the government to see that everyone is nicely situated, so far his physical necessities are concerned. But a sane man, when he sees this disturbance, or everything mismanaged, he becomes very unhappy and tries to set up by Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Los Angeles, July 12, 1974:

Nitāi: (leads chanting, etc.) "The so-called administrators are now bewildered by the influence of this age of Kali, and thus they have put all state affairs into disorder. Are you now lamenting this disorder? Now the general populace does not follow the rules and regulations for eating, sleeping, drinking, mating, etc., and they are inclined to perform such anywhere and everywhere. Are you unhappy because of this?" (SB 1.16.22)

Prabhupāda:

kiṁ kṣatra-bandhūn kalinopasṛṣṭān

rāṣṭrāṇi vā tair avaropitāni

itas tato vāśana-pāna-vāsaḥ-

snāna-vyavāyonmukha-jīva-lokam

In this Kali-yuga everything is topsy-turvied. The Vedic way of life... For living condition, we require to eat, we require to take bath, we require to sleep, we require to have sex also. Everything must be in regulative principle. Because human life means regulative principles. Unfortunately, the human life has become irregulated than the animals. This aśana, pāna, vāsaḥ, and snāna, and sexual intercourse, there is, at the present moment, there is no regulative principle. The Vedic principle is early in the morning one must take bathing, then worship the Deity, read Vedic literature, mantra, then offer foodstuff to the Deity, then take prasādam. Everything is regulative principle. And it is the duty of the government to see that these regulative principles are being observed by the citizens. This is government. The Vedic system, these brāhmaṇa, the topmost class of the human society, their business is to study the Vedas, paṭhana pāṭhana, yajana yājana, dāna pratigraha. Ideal character, very learned. Still in India... Now it is formality. A brāhmaṇa is called paṇḍitajī. Paṇḍita means very learned. Without being very learned scholar, one cannot become brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava. Vaiṣṇava is farther above the brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa is the preliminary qualification for becoming a Vaiṣṇava later on.

So how this principle should be observed? Just like government, still they regulate. In your country there are so many regulative principles. Just in the shop, foodstuff or fruits, they should not be too old, or rotten. The inspector is there. If there is not to the standard, they are thrown away. Similarly, not only, only these stores and shopkeepers, but even in household affairs, there should be government inspection. That is stated in the śāstra. Whether a man who is professing to become a brāhmaṇa, whether he is following strictly the brahminical rules and regulations. Satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Similarly, kṣatriyas, whether he is powerful, he is brave, he has got forwardness to fight. When there is fight he does not go back, and whether he is making charity. The kṣatriya qualifications also there. And similarly, the vaiśya qualification. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam (BG 18.44). Whether one who is professing to become vaiśya, whether he is making agricultural attempt, giving protection to the cows and making trade. And śūdra-karma, paricaryātmakam. Śūdra's business is to serve these higher class, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. Śūdra cannot live independently. That is śūdra. Nowadays the education is that nobody can live independently. Higher education means if he does not get a suitable service, then it is useless. Nobody. The education means nobody can live independently. So one takes titles in education degrees, "agriculturist." But he does not go to the field actually to act as agriculturist, kṛṣāṇa, no. He is finding some job in some school, college, how to teach agriculture. Nobody goes to the land practical, how to plow the land, how to produce foodgrains. Simply theoretical knowledge. "I am teaching you; you are teaching," that's all. This is going on. No independence.

So why this has happened? Because here it is said, kiṁ kṣatra-bandhūn. Kṣatriya, the administrator class, the government. So in Kali-yuga they will take charge of the administration or government, but they are not real kṣatriya. They are less than śūdra. So how the government will be nice? Therefore it is lamentable, that those who are not kṣatriyas, they are taking the position of government officers. And further it is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Canto: kriyā hīnā... They are not following the rules and regulation of kṣatriya or brāhmaṇa. Still they are claiming to become brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya. And there is a mercantile class nowadays, interested in business, but business is one of the items of the vaiśya. The first business is to become agriculturist. Vaiśya. Vaiśya class, they are meant for making arrangement for our eating. That is also required. Kṣatriya is meant for give us protection. And the brāhmaṇa means to give us the ideal life, what is the goal of life, and śūdras, they cannot do anything of these... Therefore they are śūdra.

So in the Kali-yuga the śūdras... Śūdra means the last. Less than śūdra, the caṇḍāla, they are taking the part of kṣatriya or brāhmaṇa or vaiśya. That is the effect of this Kali-yuga. Therefore it is very lamentable. One must be trained up. This very word kṣatra-bandhu means even though one is in the royal family, but he cannot administer. Just like in England, now the royal monarchy is finished all over the world... Even there is monarchy in some countries... Just like in England there is monarchy. The queen is there. But the queen is also uneducated. She does not know how to rule. It is an official post only. The parliamentary sanction, simply she signs, that's all. She has no power to rule over. So power or no power, in Kali-yuga, the administration will be done by less qualified, no qualification. Kim kṣatra-bandhūn kalinā upasṛṣṭān. The system will be disturbed on account of this Kali-yuga. Kalinā upasṛṣṭān rāṣṭrāṇi. Rāṣṭrāṇi means states. Tair avaropitāni, put into disorder.