Beyond Birth and Death 111

Another symptom of Kali-yuga is ddadksyam kutumba-bharanam
(Bhag. 12.2.7): one will be famous for his pious activities simply if he can
maintain his family. The word daksyam, meaning ‘‘famous for pious ac-
tivities,’’ comes from daksa, which means ‘‘expert.”’ In Kali-yuga one
will be considered expert if he can maintain a family consisting of him-
self, his wife, and one or two children. In India, of course, the traditional
family is the joint family, consisting of a man and his wife, their parents
and children, their in-laws, and so on. But in Kali-yuga it will be difficult
to maintain a simple family of oneself, one’s wife, and a few children.
When I was living in New York, among the people coming to our classes
was an old lady who had a grown son. I asked her, ‘‘Why doesn’t your son
get married?”’ She replied, ‘‘Yes, he can marry when he can maintain a
family.’ I did not know that maintaining a family was such a difficult job
here. But this is described in the Bhdgavatam: if one can maintain a
family, he will be considered a very glorious man, and if a girl has a hus-
band she will be considered very fortunate.

It is not our business to criticize, but the symptoms of Kali-yuga are
very severe, and they will grow more severe. The duration of Kali-yuga is
432,000 years, and although only 5,000 years of it have passed, already
we find so many difficulties, and the more we grow into this Kali-yuga,
the more the times will be difficult. The best course, therefore, is to com-
plete our Krsna consciousness and return home, back to Godhead. That
will save us. Otherwise, if we come back again for another life in Kali-
yuga, we shall find difficult days ahead, and we shall have to suffer more
and more.
