26 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 14
wants to be happy in the material world, but the miserable conditions of
material life simply increase. Sometimes a person caught in the blazing
fire of material existence condemns himself, but due to his bodily con-
ception he cannot get out of the entanglement, and thus he suffers more
and more.

TEXT 16
PAMOATANGFRAAIANATAITNS «=o TTT
Prarasitreeoy STEAL 2 UI
kvacit kala-visa-mita-raja-kula-raksasdpahrta-priyatama-dhanasuh
pramrtaka iva vigata-jiva-laksana aste.

kvacit—sometimes: kdla-visa-mita—made crooked by time: rdaja-
kula—the government men; raksasd—by those who are like carnivorous
human beings: apahrta—being plundered: priya-tama—most dear:
dhana—in the form of wealth; aswh—whose life air: pramrtakah—
dead: iva—like: vigata-jiva-laksanah—bereft of all signs of life: aste—
he remains.

TRANSLATION

Government men are always like carnivorous demons called
Raksasas [man-eaters]. Sometimes these government men turn
against the conditioned soul and take away all his accumulated
wealth. Being bereft of his life’s reserved wealth, the conditioned
soul loses all enthusiasm. Indeed, it is as though he loses his life.

PURPORT

The word réja-kula-raksasa is very significant. Srimad-Bhagavatam
was compiled about five thousand years ago, yet government men are
referred to as Raksasas. or carnivorous demons. If government men are
opposed to a person, that person will be bereft of all his riches, which he
has accumulated with great care over a long period of time. Actually no
one wants to pay income taxes—even government men themselves try to
avoid these taxes—but at unfavorable times income taxes are exacted
forcibly, and the taxpayers become very morose.
