Shloka 33
कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना
वनवासिनो भविष्यन्ति ग्राम्याहारपरिग्रहाः भिक्षवश् चापि मित्रादिस्नेहसंबन्धयन्त्रणाः
vanavāsino bhaviṣyanti grāmyāhāraparigrahāḥ bhikṣavaś cāpi mitrādisnehasaṃbandhayantraṇāḥ
In the time to come, even forest-dwellers will take up village ways—clinging to cooked food and to possessions; and even mendicants will be bound by attachments, ensnared by affection and social ties with friends and the like.
Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Signs of Kali-yuga and the decline of dharma
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: External renunciation without inner dispassion becomes bondage through attachment to food, possessions, and social ties.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Cultivate simplicity, mindful consumption, and non-possessiveness; test spiritual practice by reduction of craving and dependency.
Vishishtadvaita: Detachment is meaningful when offered to the Lord as śeṣatva (dependence), not as mere outward lifestyle.
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse marks Kali Yuga’s inversion of dharma: even renunciants meant to live simply become possessive and indulgent, showing the era’s pervasive moral and spiritual decline.
He depicts affection and social ties (sneha-saṃbandha) as a “constraint” that ensnares even mendicants, implying that inner detachment—not mere outward dress—is the true measure of renunciation.
By outlining the predictable decay across yuga cycles, the text frames Vishnu as the supreme governor of cosmic order, under whose sovereignty dharma rises and falls—and to whom refuge is ultimately directed when human discipline weakens.