and uncut. And, O tiger among men, many of the
twice-born classes become, from avarice of wealth,
religious mendicants of the Brahmacharin order.
And, O monarch, men at such periods behave contrary
to the modes of life to which they betake themselves,
and addicted to intoxicating drinks and capable of
violating the beds of their preceptors, their desires
are all of this world, pursuing matters ministering
to the flesh and the blood. And O tiger among
men, at such period the asylums of ascetics become
full of sinful and audacious wretches ever applauding
lives of dependence. And the illustrious chastiser
of Paka never showers rain according to the seasons
and the seeds also that are scattered on earth, do
not, O Bharata, all sprout forth. And men, unholy
in deed and thought, take pleasure in envy and malice.
And, O sinless one, the earth then becometh full of
sin and immorality. And, O lord of the earth,
he that becometh virtuous at such periods doth not
live long. Indeed, the earth becometh reft of
virtue in every shape. And, O tiger among men,
the merchants and traders then full of guile, sell
large quantities of articles with false weights and
measures. And they that are virtuous do not prosper;
while they that are sinful proper exceedingly.
And virtue loseth her strength while sin becometh
all powerful. And men that are devoted to virtue
become poor and short-lived; while they that are sinful
become long-lived and win prosperity. And in
such times, people behave sinfully even in places of
public amusements in cities and towns. And men
always seek the accomplishment of their ends by means
that are sinful. And having earned fortunes that
are really small they become intoxicated with the pride
of wealth. And O monarch, many men at such periods
strive to rob the wealth that hath from trust been
deposited with them in secrecy. And wedded to
sinful practices, they shamelessly declare—there
is nothing in deposit. And beasts of prey and
other animals and fowl may be seen to lie down in
places of public amusement in cities and towns, as
well as in sacred edifices. And, O king girls
of seven or eight years of age do then conceive, while
boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring. An
in their sixteenth year, men are overtaken with decrepitude
and decay and the period of life itself is soon outrun.
And O king, when men become so short-lived, more youths
act like the aged; while all that is observable in
youth may be noticed in the old. And women given
to impropriety of conduct and marked by evil manners,
deceive even the best of husbands and forget themselves
with menials and slaves and even with animals.
And O king, even women that are wives of heroes seek
the companionship of other men and forget themselves
with these during the life-time of their husbands.