Text 18]
How Parīkṣit Received the Age of Kali
855
TRANSLATION
Now you may have heard from me of what happened while Mahārāja Parīkṣit was passing his days hearing of the good occupations of his forefathers and being absorbed in thought of them.
TEXT 18
धर्मः पदैकेन चरन् विच्छायामुपत्तम्य गाम् । पृच्छति साश्वदनां विवत्सामिव मातरम् ॥१८॥
dharmaḥ padaikena caran vicchāyām upalabhya gām pṛcchati smāśru-vadanām vivatsām iva mātaram
dharmaḥ —the personality of religious principles;  pada —leg;  ekena —on one only;  caran —wandering;  vicchāyām —overtaken by the shadow of grief;  upalabhya —having met;  gām —the cow;  pṛcchati —asking;  sma —with;  aśru-vadanām —with tears on the face;  vivatsām —one who has lost her off-spring;  iva —like;  mātaram —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