904
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 17]
TEXT 24
तपः शौचंदया सत्यमिति पादाः कृते कृताः । अधर्माशैव्रयो भग्नाः स्मयसङ्गमदस्तव ॥२४॥
tapaḥ śaucam dayā satyam iti pādāḥ kṛte kṛtāḥ adharmāmśais trayo bhagnāḥ smaya-saṅga-madais tava
tapaḥ—austerity; śaucam—cleanliness; dayā—mercy; satyam—truthfulness; iti—thus; pādāḥ—legs; kṛte—in the age of Satya; kṛtāḥ—established; adharma—irreligiosity; amśaiḥ—by the parts; trayaḥ—three combined; bhagnāḥ—broken; smaya—pride; saṅga—too much association with women; madaiḥ—intoxication; tava—your.
TRANSLATION
In the age of Satya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. But it appears that three of your legs are broken due to rampant irreligion in the form of pride, lust for women, and intoxication.
PURPORT
The deluding energy, or material nature, can act upon the living beings proportionately in terms of the living beings' falling prey to the deluding attraction of  māyā . Moths are captivated by the glaring brightness of light, and thus they become a prey to the fire. Similarly, the deluding energy is always captivating the conditioned souls to become a prey to the fire of delusion, and the Vedic scriptures warn the conditioned souls not to become a prey to delusion but to get rid of it. The  Vedas  warn us not to go to the darkness of ignorance but to the progressive path of light. The Lord Himself also warns that the deluding power of material energy is too powerful to overcome, but one who completely surrenders unto the Lord can easily do so. But to surrender unto the lotus feet of the Lord is also not very easy. Such surrender is possible by persons of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness. These four principles of advanced civilization were remarkable features in the age of Satya. In that age, every human being was practically a qualified  brāhmaṇa  of the