Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.2.6

dūre vāry-ayanaḿ tīrthaḿ

lāvaṇyaḿ keśa-dhāraṇam

udaraḿ-bharatā svārthaḥ

satyatve dhārṣṭyam eva hi

dākṣyaḿ kuṭumba-bharaṇaḿ

yaśo 'rthe dharma-sevanam

SYNONYMS

dūre — situated far away; vāri — of water; ayanam — a reservoir; tīrtham — holy place; lāvaṇyam — beauty; keśa — hair; dhāraṇam — carrying; udaram-bharatā — filling the belly; sva-arthaḥ — the goal of life; satyatve — in so-called truth; dhārṣṭyam — audacity; eva — simply; hi — indeed; dākṣyam — expertise; kuṭumba-bharaṇam — maintaining a family; yaśaḥ — fame; arthe — for the sake of; dharma-sevanam — observance of religious principles.

TRANSLATION

A sacred place will be taken to consist of no more than a reservoir of water located at a distance, and beauty will be thought to depend on one's hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the goal of life, and one who is audacious will be accepted as truthful. He who can maintain a family will be regarded as an expert man, and the principles of religion will be observed only for the sake of reputation.

PURPORT

In India there are many sacred places through which holy rivers flow. Foolish persons eagerly seek redemption from their sins by bathing in these rivers but do not take instruction from learned devotees of the Lord who reside in such places. One should go to a holy place seeking spiritual enlightenment and not just for ritualistic bathing.

In this age, people tirelessly arrange their hair in different styles, trying to enhance their facial beauty and sexuality. They do not know that actual beauty comes from within the heart, from the soul, and that only a person who is pure is truly attractive. As the difficulties of this age increase, filling one's belly will be the mark of success, and one who can maintain his own family will be considered brilliant in economic affairs. Religion will be practiced, if at all, only for the sake of reputation and without any essential understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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