राजानो राजभटा वा तांश्चापि हि परेत्य यमदूता वज्रदंष्ट्राः श्वानः
सप्तशतानि विंशतिश्च सरभसं खादन्ति ॥२७॥
ye tv iha vai dasyavo 'gnidÄ garadÄ grÄmÄn sÄrthÄn vÄ vilumpanti rÄjÄno rÄja-bhaá¹Ä vÄ tÄmÅ› cÄpi hi paretya yamadÅ«tÄ vajra-daá¹á¹£á¹rÄḥ Å›vÄnaḥ sapta-Å›atÄni vimÅ›atiÅ› ca sarabhasaá¹ khÄdanti
ye - persons who; tu - but; iha - in this life; vai - indeed; dasyavaḥ - thieves and plunderers; agni-dÄḥ - who set fire; garadÄḥ - who administer poison; grÄmÄn - villages; sÄrthÄn - the mercantile class of men; vÄ - or; vilumpanti - plunder; rÄjÄnaḥ - kings; rÄja-bhaá¹Äḥ - government officials; vÄ - or; tÄn - them; ca - also; api - indeed; hi - certainly; paretya - having died; yamadÅ«tÄḥ - the assistants of YamarÄja; vajra-daá¹á¹£á¹rÄḥ - having mighty teeth; Å›vÄnaḥ - dogs; sapta-Å›atÄni - seven hundred; vimÅ›atiḥ - twenty; ca - and; sarabhasam - voraciously; khÄdanti - devour.
In this world, some persons are professional plunderers who set fire to others’ houses or administer poison to them. Also, members of the royalty or government officials sometimes plunder mercantile men by forcing them to pay income tax and by other methods. After death such demons are put into the hell known as SÄrameyÄdana. On that planet there are 720 dogs with teeth as strong as thunderbolts. Under the orders of the agents of YamarÄja, these dogs voraciously devour such sinful people.
In the Twelfth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, it is said that in this Age of Kali everyone will be extremely disturbed by three kinds of tribulations: scarcity of rain, famine, and heavy taxation by the government. Because human beings are becoming more and more sinful, there will be a scarcity of rain, and naturally no food grains will be produced. On the plea of relieving the suffering caused by the ensuing famine, the government will impose heavy taxes, especially on the wealthy mercantile community. In this verse, the members of such a government are described as dasyu, thieves. Their main activity will be to plunder the wealth of the people. Whether a highway robber or a government thief, such a man will be punished in his next life by being thrown into the hell known as SÄrameyÄdana, where he will suffer greatly from the bites of ferocious dogs.
