CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Punishment and Reward of Kali

TEXT 1

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suta uvaca
tatra go-mithunam raja
hanyamanam anathavat
danda-hastam ca ursalam
dadrse nrpa-laichanam

sri sutah uvaca—Sri Sita Gosvami said; tatra—thereupon; go-mithunam—
a cow and a bull; raja—the King; hanyamanam—being beaten; anathavat—
appearing to be bereft of their owner; danda-hastam—with a club in
hand; ca—also; vrsalam—lower caste sudra; dadrse—observed; nrpa—a king;
larichanam— dressed like.

TRANSLATION

Siita Gosvami said: After reaching that place, Maharaja Pariksit ob-
served that a lower caste siidra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and
a bull with a club, as if they had no owner.

PURPORT

The principal sign of the age of Kali is that lower caste sidras, i.e. men
without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation, will be dressed like
administrators or kings, and the principal business of such non-ksatriya
rulers will be to kill the innocent animals, especially the cows and the bulls

879
