40 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 10, Ch. 1
Gkranta bhiri-bharena
brahmanam saranam yayau
bhimih—mother earth; drpta—puffed up; nrpa-vydja—posing as
kings, or the supreme power personified in the state; daitya—of
demons; anika—of military phalanxes of soldiers; sata-ayutaih—un-
limitedly, by many hundreds of thousands; akranta—being overbur-
dened; bhiri-bhdrena—by a burden of unnecessary fighting power;
brahménam—unto Lord Brahma; saranam—to take shelter; yayau—
went.
TRANSLATION
Once when mother earth was overburdened by hundreds of
thousands of military phalanxes of various conceited demons
dressed like kings, she approached Lord Brahma for relief.
PURPORT
When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrange-
ments and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state,
this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of God-
head. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
taddétmanam srjamy aham
“‘Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O de-
scendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time |
appear Myself.” When the residents of this earth become atheistic and
godless, they descend to the status of animals like dogs and hogs, and
thus their only business is to bark among themselves. This is dharmasya
glani, deviation from the goal of life. Human life is meant for attaining
the highest perfection of Krsna consciousness, but when people are god-
less and the presidents or kings are unnecessarily puffed up with mili-
tary power, their business is to fight and increase the military strength of
