Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 12 Chapter 3 Verse 18

Canto 12: The Age of Deterioration | Chapter 3: The Bhūmi-gītā

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.3.18

śrī-śuka uvāca

kṛte pravartate dharmaś

catuṣ-pāt taj-janair dhṛtaḥ

satyaḿ dayā tapo dānam

iti pādā vibhor nṛpa

SYNONYMS

śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; kṛte — in the Satya-yuga, the age of truth; pravartate — exists; dharmaḥ — religion; catuḥ-pāt — with four legs; tat — of that age; janaiḥ — by the people; dhṛtaḥ — maintained; satyam — truth; dayā — mercy; tapaḥ — austerity; dānam — charity; iti — thus; pādāḥ — the legs; vibhoḥ — of mighty religion; nṛpa — O King.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear King, in the beginning, during Satya-yuga, the age of truth, religion is present with all four of its legs intact and is carefully maintained by the people of that age. These four legs of powerful religion are truthfulness, mercy, austerity and charity.

PURPORT

Just as there are four seasons, there are four ages of the earth, each lasting hundreds of thousands of years. The first of these is Satya-yuga, when such good qualities as charity are prominent.

Actual charity, here referred to as dānam, is to award fearlessness and freedom to others, not to give them some material means of temporary pleasure or relief. Any material "charitable" arrangement will inevitably be crushed by the onward march of time. Thus only realization of one's eternal existence beyond the reach of time can make one fearless, and only freedom from material desire constitutes real freedom, for it enables one to escape the bondage of the laws of nature. Therefore real charity is to help people revive their eternal, spiritual consciousness.

Religion is here referred to as vibhu, "the mighty," because universal religious principles are not different from the Supreme Lord Himself and ultimately lead one to His kingdom. The qualities mentioned here — truthfulness, mercy, austerity and charity — are universal, nonsectarian aspects of pious life.

In the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the fourth leg of religion is listed as cleanliness. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, this is an alternative definition of the word dānam in the present context.

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