Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.32

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.32

tvāḿ vartamānaḿ nara-deva-deheṣv

anupravṛtto 'yam adharma-pūgaḥ

lobho 'nṛtaḿ cauryam anāryam aḿho

jyeṣṭhā ca māyā kalahaś ca dambhaḥ

SYNONYMS

tvām — you; vartamānam — while present; nara-deva — a man-god, or a king; deheṣu — in the body; anupravṛttaḥ — taking place everywhere; ayam — all these; adharma — irreligious principles; pūgaḥ — in the masses; lobhaḥ — greed; anṛtam — falsity; cauryam — robbery; anāryam — incivility; aḿhaḥ — treachery; jyeṣṭhā — misfortune; ca — and; māyā — cheating; kalahaḥ — quarrel; ca — and; dambhaḥ — vanity.

TRANSLATION

If the personality of Kali, irreligion, is allowed to act as a man-god or an executive head, certainly irreligious principles like greed, falsehood, robbery, incivility, treachery, misfortune, cheating, quarrel and vanity will abound.

PURPORT

The principles of religion, namely austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness, as we have already discussed, may be followed by the follower of any faith. There is no need to turn from Hindu to Mohammedan to Christian or some other faith and thus become a renegade and not follow the principles of religion. The Bhāgavatam religion urges following the principles of religion. The principles of religion are not the dogmas or regulative principles of a certain faith. Such regulative principles may be different in terms of the time and place concerned. One has to see whether the aims of religion have been achieved. Sticking to the dogmas and formulas without attaining the real principles is not good. A secular state may be impartial to any particular type of faith, but the state cannot be indifferent to the principles of religion as above-mentioned. But in the age of Kali, the executive heads of state will be indifferent to such religious principles, and therefore under their patronage the opponents of religious principles, such as greed, falsehood, cheating and pilfery, will naturally follow, and so there will be no meaning to propaganda crying to stop corruption in the state.