taá¹ tadÄ puruá¹£aá¹ martyÄ
mahÄ-rÄjopalaká¹£aṇam
yajanti veda-tantrÄbhyÄá¹
paraá¹ jijñÄsavo ná¹›pa
tam - Him; tadÄ - in that age; puruá¹£am - the supreme enjoyer; martyÄḥ - mortal men; mahÄ-rÄja - a great king; upalaká¹£aṇam - playing the role of; yajanti - they worship; veda-tantrÄbhyÄm - according to both the original Vedas and ritual tantras; param - of the Supreme; jijñÄsavaḥ - those who want to gain knowledge; ná¹›pa - O King.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa was leaving the city of HastinÄpura, Arjuna personally held an umbrella over the Lord, and Uddhava and SÄtyaki fanned the Lord with decorated fans (BhÄg. 1.10.17, 18). In this way, Emperor Yudhiá¹£á¹hira and his followers worshiped Kṛṣṇa as the greatest of noble kings and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, at the RÄjasÅ«ya sacrifice all of the great souls of the universe elected Kṛṣṇa as the King of all kings, the greatest personality, deserving of first worship. Such reverential worship of the Lord is characteristic of DvÄpara-yuga, as described in this verse (mahÄ-rÄjopalaká¹£aṇam). With each successive yuga, namely Satya, TretÄ, DvÄpara and Kali, the condition of human society deteriorates more and more. As mentioned in this verse, the only favorable qualification of the residents of DvÄpara-yuga is that they are jijñÄsavaḥ, strongly desirous of knowing the Absolute Truth. Otherwise there is no good qualification mentioned. The inhabitants of Satya-yuga were described as Å›ÄntÄḥ, nirvairÄḥ, suhá¹›daḥ and samÄḥ, or peaceful, free from envy, the well-wishers of every living entity, and fixed on the spiritual platform beyond the modes of material nature. Similarly the inhabitants of TretÄ-yuga were described as dharmiá¹£á¹hÄḥ and brahma-vÄdinaḥ, or thoroughly religious, and expert followers of the Vedic injunctions. In the present verse, the inhabitants of DvÄpara-yuga are said to be simply jijñÄsavaḥ, desiring to know the Absolute Truth. Otherwise they are described as martyÄḥ, or subject to the weakness of mortal beings. If the human society of even DvÄpara-yuga was clearly inferior to that of Satya and TretÄ-yugas, we can hardly imagine the truly disastrous condition of human society in Kali-yuga. Therefore, as will be mentioned in the following verses, human beings who have taken their birth in the present Age of Kali should attach themselves rigidly to the movement of Caitanya MahÄprabhu to free themselves from foolishness.