Yesterday we were discussing about the Kali-yuga: the most fallen age. People are most degraded. So there is, by calculation, that seventy-five percent irreligion and twenty-five percent religion in comparison to other ages

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"Yesterday we were discussing about the Kali-yuga: the most fallen age. People are most degraded. So there is, by calculation, that seventy-five percent irreligion and twenty-five percent religion in comparison to other ages"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Yesterday we were discussing about the Kali-yuga: the most fallen age. People are most degraded. So there is, by calculation, that seventy-five percent irreligion and twenty-five percent religion in comparison to other ages. But this twenty-five percent religious life also will reduce. Before explaining this verse, I shall give you reference to some of the symptoms of this age. This is also explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Canto, Third Chapter.

731224 - Lecture SB 01.15.46 - Los Angeles

Te sādhu-kṛta-sarvārthā. Artha means interest. Everyone has some interest. The animal has got also interest. The man has got also interest. The big politician, he has also interest. Everyone has got interest. But nobody knows what is real interest. That is missing. Everyone has created his interest, and he is working in that way. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). Real interest is, for the human being, to know what is God, what is my relationship with Him, and how I shall achieve the highest perfection of life. That is real interest.

Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum. Svārtha. Svārtha or artha. Svārtha means own interest, and artha means general interest. The general interest is, for the human being, dharma artha kāma mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, CC Ādi 1.90). Because human life is not dog's life, cat's life, so there must be dharma, religion. And religion means no God (dog?). That is first interest. This is first interest. Otherwise how shall I distinguish my life with cats' and dogs' life? They are also eating, sleeping, mating and dying. And if I also, like the cats and dogs, eat, sleep and have sex life and die, then where is the difference? The difference is religion. The dog society, cat society, there cannot be any religion, but in the human society, there is necessity of religion. Otherwise it is cats' and dogs' . . . (indistinct) . . . society. So they do not understand it. They are avoiding religion. Nowadays the so-called advanced civilization, they are avoiding religion. That means they are coming to the platform of cats and dogs. And actually, they have come. Especially in this age, Kali-yuga . . .

Yesterday we were discussing about the Kali-yuga: the most fallen age. People are most degraded. So there is, by calculation, that seventy-five percent irreligion and twenty-five percent religion in comparison to other ages. But this twenty-five percent religious life also will reduce. Before explaining this verse, I shall give you reference to some of the symptoms of this age. This is also explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Twelfth Canto, Third Chapter.