Text 25] How Parikgit Received the Age of Kali 865

tenance of the inhabitants, but also when the Lord descends on the earth,
the whole earth becomes so enriched with all kinds of opulences that even
the denizens of heaven worship it with all affection. But by the will of the
Lord, the whole earth can at once be changed. He can do and undo a thing
at His sweet will. Therefore no one should consider himself to be self-
sufficient or independent of the Lord.

TEXT 25

waqara
wary f& 8g aead Gat VAtarofe |
wahiada oF wealegare 1241!

dharany uvaca
bhavan hi veda tat sarvam
yan mam dharmanuprcchasi
caturbhir vartase yena
padair loka-sukhavahaih

$n dharani uvaca—mother earth replied; bhavan—your good self; hi—
certainly ; veda— know; tat sarvam—all that you have inquired from me; yat—
that; mam—from me; dharma—O personality of religious principles;
anuprechasi—you have inquired one after another; caturbhih—by four;
vartase—you exist; yena—by which; padaih—by the legs; loka—in each
and every planet; sukha-avahaih—increasing the happiness.

TRANSLATION

The earthly. deity [in the form of a cow] thus replied to the person-
ality of religious principles [in the form of a bull]: O Dharma, whatever
you have inquired from me shall be known to you. I shall try to reply to
all those questions. Once you too were maintained by your four legs and
increased happiness all over the universe by the mercy of the Lord.

PURPORT

The principles of religion are laid down by the Lord Himself, and the
executor of such laws is Dharmaraja or Yamaraja. Such principles work
fully in the age of Satya-yuga; in the Treta-yuga they are reduced by a
fraction of one fourth; in the Dvapara they are reduced to one half, and in
