Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī - Canto 12, chapter 03

This article presents a thematic survey of the four ages and the glories of the holy name spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 12, chapter 03. It organizes the quotes found in the Vaniquotes category Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī is the liberated sage and son of Vyāsadeva. In these specific verses, he instructs Mahārāja Parīkṣit on the transience of material conquest, the horrific degradation awaiting society, and the incomparable, saving grace of saṅkīrtana in the age of Kali.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī is the top speaker of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with 4,872 verses at Vanisource. He speaks in all cantos except the 1st canto. He speaks in the 2nd (176 verses), 3rd (36 verses), 4th (5 verses), 5th (437 verses), 6th (371 verses), 7th (16 verses), 8th (538 verses), 9th (733 verses), 10th (2,278 verses), 11th (103 verses), and 12th canto (179 verses).

The Laughter of the Earth

Śukadeva Gosvāmī begins by shattering the illusion of material sovereignty and conquest.

The Ultimate Purpose of History

Śukadeva Gosvāmī reveals that the earth herself laughs at the foolishness of kings who desperately try to conquer her, completely forgetting their impending death. The true purpose of reciting these royal histories is not mundane fascination, but to instil deep renunciation and direct the soul toward unalloyed devotional service. Hearing the glorious qualities of Lord Uttamaḥśloka is the only true knowledge that destroys all inauspiciousness.

"Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Seeing the kings of this earth busy trying to conquer her, the earth herself laughed. She said: "Just see how these kings, who are actually playthings in the hands of death, are desiring to conquer me."
"Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O mighty Parīkṣit, I have related to you the narrations of all these great kings, who spread their fame throughout the world and then departed. My real purpose was to teach transcendental knowledge and renunciation. Stories of kings lend power and opulence to these narrations but do not in themselves constitute the ultimate aspect of knowledge."
"The person who desires pure devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa should hear the narrations of Lord Uttamaḥśloka's glorious qualities, the constant chanting of which destroys everything inauspicious. The devotee should engage in such listening in regular daily assemblies and should also continue his hearing throughout the day."

The Four Yugas

Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains the cyclical deterioration of cosmic time and human consciousness.

Satya and Tretā Yugas

Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the gradual decline of the four legs of religion—truthfulness, mercy, austerity, and charity—beginning from the pristine age of Satya-yuga. As time progresses into Tretā-yuga, the pure, self-satisfied nature of the populace is slightly diminished by the introduction of lying, violence, and quarrel. This historical regression demonstrates that without strict adherence to spiritual principles, material nature inevitably degrades human consciousness.

"Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, in the beginning, during Satya-yuga, the age of truth, religion is present with all four of its legs intact and is carefully maintained by the people of that age. These four legs of powerful religion are truthfulness, mercy, austerity and charity."
"The people of Satya-yuga are for the most part self-satisfied, merciful, friendly to all, peaceful, sober and tolerant. They take their pleasure from within, see all things equally and always endeavor diligently for spiritual perfection."
"In Tretā-yuga each leg of religion is gradually reduced by one quarter by the influence of the four pillars of irreligion—lying, violence, dissatisfaction and quarrel."
"In the Tretā age people are devoted to ritual performances and severe austerities. They are not excessively violent or very lusty after sensual pleasure. Their interest lies primarily in religiosity, economic development and regulated sense gratification, and they achieve prosperity by following the prescriptions of the three Vedas. Although in this age society evolves into four separate classes, O King, most people are brāhmaṇas."

Dvāpara and Kali Yugas

Śukadeva Gosvāmī details the further reduction of piety in Dvāpara-yuga, where people become driven by glory and opulent sacrifices, culminating in the horrific age of Kali. In Kali-yuga, only one-fourth of religious principles miraculously survives, while the population devolves into greedy, merciless barbarians. The stark contrast between the ages proves that true peace is impossible when society abandons the shelter of the Supreme Lord.

"In Dvāpara-yuga the religious qualities of austerity, truth, mercy and charity are reduced to one half by their irreligious counterparts—dissatisfaction, untruth, violence and enmity."
"In the Dvāpara age people are interested in glory and are very noble. They devote themselves to the study of the Vedas, possess great opulence, support large families and enjoy life with vigor. Of the four classes, the kṣatriyas and brāhmaṇas are most numerous."
"In the age of Kali only one fourth of the religious principles remains. That last remnant will continuously be decreased by the ever-increasing principles of irreligion and will finally be destroyed."
"In the Kali age people tend to be greedy, ill-behaved and merciless, and they fight one another without good reason. Unfortunate and obsessed with material desires, the people of Kali-yuga are almost all śūdras and barbarians."

The Influence of the Modes

Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that the shifting characteristics of the four ages are directly driven by the permutations of the three modes of material nature—goodness, passion, and ignorance. Time acts as the supreme catalyst, rotating these modes and dictating the prevailing consciousness of the conditioned souls. By understanding this cosmic mechanism, a pure devotee remains aloof from all temporal changes, fixing his mind exclusively on the transcendental Lord.

"The material modes—goodness, passion and ignorance—whose permutations are observed within a person's mind, are set into motion by the power of time."
"When the mind, intelligence and senses are solidly fixed in the mode of goodness, that time should be understood as Satya-yuga, the age of truth. People then take pleasure in knowledge and austerity."
"O most intelligent one, when the conditioned souls are devoted to their duties but have ulterior motives and seek personal prestige, you should understand such a situation to be the age of Tretā, in which the functions of passion are prominent."
"When greed, dissatisfaction, false pride, hypocrisy and envy become prominent, along with attraction for selfish activities, such a time is the age of Dvāpara, dominated by the mixed modes of passion and ignorance."
"When there is a predominance of cheating, lying, sloth, sleepiness, violence, depression, lamentation, bewilderment, fear and poverty, that age is Kali, the age of the mode of ignorance."

The Horrors of Kali-yuga

Śukadeva Gosvāmī paints a terrifying picture of the depths of degradation in the current age.

Social and Moral Degradation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī warns of the moral collapse in Kali-yuga, where leaders act as thieves and the sacred Vedas are polluted by atheistic interpretations. Every social and spiritual order, from brahmacārīs to sannyāsīs, abandons its vows, consumed entirely by the demands of the belly and genitals. This devastating prophecy underscores the absolute necessity of seeking shelter in Kṛṣṇa consciousness to survive the onslaught of the dark age.

"Because of the bad qualities of the age of Kali, human beings will become shortsighted, unfortunate, gluttonous, lustful and poverty-stricken. The women, becoming unchaste, will freely wander from one man to the next."
"Cities will be dominated by thieves, the Vedas will be contaminated by speculative interpretations of atheists, political leaders will virtually consume the citizens, and the so-called priests and intellectuals will be devotees of their bellies and genitals."
"The brahmacārīs will fail to execute their vows and become generally unclean, the householders will become beggars, the vānaprasthas will live in the villages, and the sannyāsīs will become greedy for wealth."
"Women will become much smaller in size, and they will eat too much, have more children than they can properly take care of, and lose all shyness. They will always speak harshly and will exhibit qualities of thievery, deceit and unrestrained audacity."
"Businessmen will engage in petty commerce and earn their money by cheating. Even when there is no emergency, people will consider any degraded occupation quite acceptable."

The Collapse of Relationships

Śukadeva Gosvāmī recounts the total disintegration of familial and social bonds, where men are controlled by lust, and relationships are based exclusively on sexual ties. Driven by famine, taxation, and greed, people will eagerly murder their own relatives over a few mere coins. This horrifying reality reveals that when Kṛṣṇa is removed from the center of society, all natural human affection degenerates into vicious, animalistic exploitation.

"Servants will abandon a master who has lost his wealth, even if that master is a saintly person of exemplary character. Masters will abandon an incapacitated servant, even if that servant has been in the family for generations. Cows will be abandoned or killed when they stop giving milk."
"In Kali-yuga men will be wretched and controlled by women. They will reject their fathers, brothers, other relatives and friends and will instead associate with the sisters and brothers of their wives. Thus their conception of friendship will be based exclusively on sexual ties."
"Uncultured men will accept charity on behalf of the Lord and will earn their livelihood by making a show of austerity and wearing a mendicant's dress. Those who know nothing about religion will mount a high seat and presume to speak on religious principles."
"In the age of Kali, people's minds will always be agitated. They will become emaciated by famine and taxation, my dear King, and will always be disturbed by fear of drought. They will lack adequate clothing, food and drink, will be unable to properly rest, have sex or bathe themselves, and will have no ornaments to decorate their bodies. In fact, the people of Kali-yuga will gradually come to appear like ghostly, haunted creatures."
"In Kali-yuga men will develop hatred for each other even over a few coins. Giving up all friendly relations, they will be ready to lose their own lives and kill even their own relatives."
"Men will no longer protect their elderly parents, their children or their respectable wives. Thoroughly degraded, they will care only to satisfy their own bellies and genitals."

The Ultimate Purification

Śukadeva Gosvāmī reveals the invincible power of the Supreme Lord to cleanse the polluted mind.

Atheism and the Cure

Śukadeva Gosvāmī warns that the intelligence of Kali-yuga is entirely diverted by atheism, causing miserable humans to refuse to bow down to the Supreme Controller. Yet, despite the complete pollution of objects, places, and personalities, uttering the Lord's holy name even once at the time of death guarantees absolute liberation. This proves that the causeless mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is infinitely more powerful than the darkest contamination of the material world.

"O King, in the age of Kali people's intelligence will be diverted by atheism, and they will almost never offer sacrifice to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the supreme spiritual master of the universe. Although the great personalities who control the three worlds all bow down to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, the petty and miserable human beings of this age will not do so."
"Terrified, about to die, a man collapses on his bed. Although his voice is faltering and he is hardly conscious of what he is saying, if he utters the holy name of the Supreme Lord he can be freed from the reaction of his fruitive work and achieve the supreme destination. But still people in the age of Kali will not worship the Supreme Lord."
"In the Kali-yuga, objects, places and even individual personalities are all polluted. The almighty Personality of Godhead, however, can remove all such contamination from the life of one who fixes the Lord within his mind."
"If a person hears about, glorifies, meditates upon, worships or simply offers great respect to the Supreme Lord, who is situated within the heart, the Lord will remove from his mind the contamination accumulated during many thousands of lifetimes."

Fixing the Lord in the Heart

Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that holding the Supreme Lord Keśava within the heart burns away thousands of lifetimes of accumulated sins, just as fire purifies gold. No mechanical yoga, austerity, or demigod worship can ever match the absolute, cleansing power of the Lord's personal presence in the mind. By fiercely endeavoring to maintain this internal connection, the sincere devotee is guaranteed to attain the supreme spiritual destination.

"Just as fire applied to gold removes any discoloration caused by traces of other metals, Lord Viṣṇu within the heart purifies the minds of the yogīs."
"By one's engaging in the processes of demigod worship, austerities, breath control, compassion, bathing in holy places, strict vows, charity and chanting of various mantras, one's mind cannot attain the same absolute purification as that achieved when the unlimited Personality of Godhead appears within one's heart."
"Therefore, O King, endeavor with all your might to fix the Supreme Lord Keśava within your heart. Maintain this concentration upon the Lord, and at the time of death you will certainly attain the supreme destination."
"My dear King, the Personality of Godhead is the ultimate controller. He is the Supreme Soul and the supreme shelter of all beings. When meditated upon by those about to die, He reveals to them their own eternal spiritual identity."

The Glories of the Holy Name

Śukadeva Gosvāmī delivers the final, glorious benediction for the suffering souls of the dark age.

The Supreme Concession of Kali-yuga

Śukadeva Gosvāmī concludes with the ultimate ray of hope: although Kali-yuga is an unfathomable ocean of faults, it possesses one supreme, redeeming quality. Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, a conditioned soul effortlessly achieves the exact same perfection that took millennia of meditation or sacrifice in previous ages. This glorious benediction confirms that the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is the only true shelter and means of deliverance for the fallen souls of this age.

"My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom."
"Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra."

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the teachings presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses presented in alphabetical order.