tan-nÄthÄs te janapadÄs
tac-chÄ«lÄcÄra-vÄdinaḥ
anyonyato rÄjabhiÅ› ca
ká¹£ayaá¹ yÄsyanti pÄ«á¸itÄḥ

 tat-nÄthÄḥ - the subjects having these kings as rulers; te - they; jana-padÄḥ - the residents of the cities; tat - of these kings; Å›Ä«la - (imitating) the character; ÄcÄra - behavior; vÄdinaḥ - and speech; anyonyataḥ - one another; rÄjabhiḥ - by the kings; ca - and; ká¹£ayam yÄsyanti - they will become ruined; pÄ«á¸itÄḥ - tormented.


Text

The citizens governed by these low-class kings will imitate the character, behavior and speech of their rulers. Harassed by their leaders and by each other, they will all suffer ruination.

Purport

At the end of the Ninth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, it is stated that Ripuñjaya, or Purañjaya, the first king mentioned in this chapter, ended his rule about one thousand years after the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Since Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared approximately five thousand years ago, Purañjaya must have appeared about four thousand years ago. That would mean that ViÅ›vasphÅ«rji, the last king mentioned, would have appeared approximately in the twelfth century of the Christian era.

Modern Western scholars have made the false accusation that Indian religious literature has no sense of chronological history. But the elaborate historical chronology described in this chapter certainly refutes that naive assessment.

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupÄda to the Twelfth Canto, First Chapter, of the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, entitled “The Degraded Dynasties of Kali-yuga.â€