Shloka 26
The Earth Laughs at World-Conquering Kings; Yuga-Dharma and the Remedy for Kali
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति दृश्यन्ते पुरुषे गुणा: । कालसञ्चोदितास्ते वै परिवर्तन्त आत्मनि ॥ २६ ॥
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti dṛśyante puruṣe guṇāḥ kāla-sañcoditās te vai parivartanta ātmani
Die materiellen Erscheinungsweisen – Tugend, Leidenschaft und Unwissenheit –, deren Wechselwirkungen im Geist eines Menschen beobachtet werden, werden durch die Kraft der Zeit in Bewegung gesetzt.
The four ages described in these verses are manifestations of various modes of material nature. The age of truth, Satya-yuga, manifests the predominance of material goodness, and Kali-yuga manifests the predominance of ignorance. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, within each age the other three ages occasionally manifest as sub-ages. Thus even within Satya-yuga a demon in the mode of ignorance may appear, and within the Age of Kali the highest religious principles may flourish for some time. As described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the three modes of nature are present everywhere and in everything, but the predominant mode, or combination of modes, determines the general character of any material phenomenon. In each age, therefore, the three modes are present in varying proportions. The particular age represented by goodness (Satya), passion (Tretā), passion and ignorance (Dvāpara) or ignorance (Kali) exists within each of the other ages as a subfactor.
FAQs
This verse states that the three modes are observable within a person and that they continually shift and rotate, driven by kāla (time).
In Canto 12, Śukadeva explains Kali-yuga conditions and human behavior; describing the gunas and their time-driven changes helps Parīkṣit understand why people’s qualities fluctuate and degrade in the age.
Recognize that shifts in clarity, restlessness, and dullness are movements of the gunas influenced by time; respond by cultivating sattva and devotion through sādhana rather than identifying with the fluctuations.