Shloka 21
Parīkṣit Confronts Kali; Dharma and Bhūmi Lament Kṛṣṇa’s Departure
अरक्ष्यमाणा: स्त्रिय उर्वि बालान् शोचस्यथो पुरुषादैरिवार्तान् । वाचं देवीं ब्रह्मकुले कुकर्म- ण्यब्रह्मण्ये राजकुले कुलाग्रयान् ॥ २१ ॥
arakṣyamāṇāḥ striya urvi bālān śocasy atho puruṣādair ivārtān vācaṁ devīṁ brahma-kule kukarmaṇy abrahmaṇye rāja-kule kulāgryān
โอแผ่นดินมารดา ท่านโศกเพราะสตรีและเด็กที่ไร้การคุ้มครอง ถูกคนฉ้อฉลรังแกหรือ? หรือท่านทุกข์เพราะเทวีแห่งวาจาและวิทยา ถูกพราหมณ์ผู้ติดการกระทำอันขัดธรรมะนำไปใช้ผิดทาง? หรือท่านเศร้าเมื่อเห็นพราหมณ์ผู้เป็นหัวหน้าไปพึ่งพาตระกูลผู้ปกครองที่ไม่เคารพวัฒนธรรมพราหมณ์?
In the Age of Kali, the women and the children, along with brāhmaṇas and cows, will be grossly neglected and left unprotected. In this age illicit connection with women will render many women and children uncared for. Circumstantially, the women will try to become independent of the protection of men, and marriage will be performed as a matter of formal agreement between man and woman. In most cases, the children will not be taken care of properly. The brāhmaṇas are traditionally intelligent men, and thus they will be able to pick up modern education to the topmost rank, but as far as moral and religious principles are concerned, they shall be the most fallen. Education and bad character go ill together, but such things will run parallel. The administrative heads as a class will condemn the tenets of Vedic wisdom and will prefer to conduct a so-called secular state, and the so-called educated brāhmaṇas will be purchased by such unscrupulous administrators. Even a philosopher and writer of many books on religious principles may also accept an exalted post in a government which denies all the moral codes of the śāstras. The brāhmaṇas are specifically restricted from accepting such service. But in this age they will not only accept service, but they will do so even if it is of the meanest quality. These are some of the symptoms of the Kali age which are harmful to the general welfare of human society.
FAQs
This verse lists them as signs of societal adharma: women becoming unprotected, children suffering, and widespread distress—indicating Kali’s influence and the breakdown of righteous governance.
In Canto 1 Chapter 16, Parīkṣit meets Earth (and Dharma) in a distressed state and questions her to identify the causes of decline—especially the rise of irreligion and anti-brāhmaṇical leadership.
It urges responsible leadership and personal ethics: protect the vulnerable, safeguard truthfulness and sacred learning, and support genuine spiritual culture rather than systems that degrade dharma.