Text 21] Questions by the Sages ‘

TEXT 21

SCARTAAITA FIST TTY TTY |
areata ZaAAT HITT AAMT ET ULI

kalim agatam ajiiaya

ksetre ’smin vaisnave vayam
asina dirgha-satrena

kathayam saksand hareh

kalim—the age of Kali (iron age of quarrel); dgatam—having arrived;
ajiadya—knowing this; ksetre—in this tract of land; asmin—in this: vaisnave
—specially meant for the devotee of the Lord; vayam—we; dsind—seated;
dirgha—prolonged; satrena—for performance of sacrifices; kathayam—in
the words of; saksanad—with time at our disposal; hareh—of the Personality

of Godhead.
TRANSLATION

Knowing well that the Age of Kali has already begun, we are assembled
here in this holy place to hear at great length the transcendental message of
God and in this way perform sacrifice.

PURPORT

This age of Kali is not at all suitable for self-realization as was Satya-
yuga, the golden age, or Treta or Dvapara yugas, the silver and copper ages.
For self-realization, the people in Sat ya-yuga, living a lifetime of a hundred
thousand years, were able to perform prolonged meditation. And in Treta-
yuga, when the duration of life was ten thousand years, self-realization
was attained by performance of great sacrifice. And in the Dudpara-yuga
when the duration of life was for one thousand years, self-realization was
attained by worshipping the Lord. But in the Kali-yuga, the maximum
duration of life being one hundred years only and that combined with
various difficulties, the process of self-realization is recommended by
hearing and chanting of the holy name, fame, and pastimes of the Lord.
The sages of Naimisaranya began this process for the devotees of the Lord.
So they prepared themselves to hear the pastimes of the Lord over a period
