SB 1.17.3 (1965)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 3
Gam cha dharmadugham deenam bhrisam sudra padahatam Vivatsam asruvadaham kshamam yava samichhatim
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Gam—the cow, Cha—also, Dharmadugham—as beneficial as one can draw religiosity from her, Deenam—now rendered poor, Bhrisam—distressed, Sudra—the lower caste, Padahatam—beaten by the leg of, Vivatsam—without any calf, Asruvadanam—with tears in the eyes, Kshamam—very weak, Yava—grass, Samichatim—as if desiring to have some grasses to eat.
TRANSLATION
The cow is also as beneficial as one could draw out religious principles from her, but she is now rendered poor, without any calf and being beaten by the leg of a Sudra, she is too much distressed with tears in her eyes and being too weak she is hankering after some grass on the field.
PURPORT
The next symptom of the age of Kali is the distressed condition of the cow. Milking the cow means drawing the principles of religiosity in liquid form. The milk means cow's milk because it is liquid form of religious principles. The great Rishis and Munis would live only on the subsistence of milk. Srila Sukadeva Goswami would go to a householder while milking the cow and he would simply take a little quantity of it for subsistence. Even fifty years before nobody would deprive a Sadhu for a pound or two of milk and every householder would spare milk like water. For a Sanatanist (the follower of Vedic principles) it is the duty of every householder to have cows and bulls as household paraphernalia not only for drinking milk but also for deriving religious principles from her. The Sanatanist worships the cow on religious principles as much as a Brahmin is so respected. The cows milk is required for the purpose of sacrificial fire and by performing sacrifices the householder can only be happy. The cow with her calf is not only beautiful to look at but also it gives satisfaction to the cow and happily she delivers milk as much as possible. But in the Kali Yuga the calves are separated from the cow as early as possible for purposes which may not be mentioned in these pages of Srimad Bhagwatam. The cow stands with tears in the eyes and the Sudra milkman draws artificially milk from the cow and when there is no milk the cow is sent for being slaughtered. These great sinful acts, of the human being, are responsible for all the troubles in the present society. They do not know what they are doing in the name of advancement of economic development. The influence of Kali will keep them in darkness of ignorance and inspite of all endeavours for peace and prosperity of the human society at large, they must try to see the cows and the bulls happy in all respects. Foolish people do not know how happiness is earned by making the cows and bulls happy but it is a fact by the law of nature. Let us take it from the authority of 'Srimad Bhagwatam' and adopt the principles for all round happiness of the human-kind.