| Canto 11: General History | Chapter 17: Lord Krishna's Description of the Varnāśrama System |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.17.11
SYNONYMS
vedah — the Veda; pranavah — the sacred syllable om; eva — indeed; agre — in Satya-yuga; dharmah — the object of mental activities; aham — I; vrisha-rūpa-dhrik — bearing the form of the bull of religion; upāsate — they worship; tapah-nishthāh — fixed in austerity; hamsam — Lord Hamsa; mām — Me; mukta — freed from; kilbishāh — all sins.
TRANSLATION
In Satya-yuga the undivided Veda is expressed by the syllable om, and I am the only object of mental activities. I become manifest as the four-legged bull of religion, and thus the inhabitants of Satya-yuga, fixed in austerity and free from all sins, worship Me as Lord Hamsa.
PURPORT
The bull of religion is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.17.24): tapah śaucam dayā satyam iti pādāh krite kritāh. "In the age of Satya [truthfulness], your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness." Śrī Vyāsadeva divided the one Veda into four — the Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva Vedas — at the end of Dvāpara-yuga, but in Satya-yuga the whole of Vedic knowledge is easily understood by everyone simply by vibrating the syllable om. In this age there are no ritualistic or pious activities such as sacrifice, since everyone is sinless, austere and fully engaged in worshiping the Personality of Godhead, Lord Hamsa, through the process of meditation.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari