SB 4.14.6

SB 4.14.6

Devanagari

न यष्टव्यं न दातव्यं न होतव्यं द्विजा: क्‍वचित् । इति न्यवारयद्धर्मं भेरीघोषेण सर्वश: ॥ ६ ॥

Verse text

na yaṣṭavyaṁ na dātavyaṁ na hotavyaṁ dvijāḥ kvacit iti nyavārayad dharmaṁ bherī-ghoṣeṇa sarvaśaḥ

Synonyms

na not ; yaṣṭavyam any sacrifices can be performed ; na not ; dātavyam any charity can be given ; na not ; hotavyam any clarified butter can be offered ; dvijāḥ O twice-born ; kvacit at any time ; iti thus ; nyavārayat he stopped ; dharmam the procedures of religious principles ; bherī of kettledrums ; ghoṣeṇa with the sound ; sarvaśaḥ everywhere .

Translation

All the twice-born [brāhmaṇas] were forbidden henceforward to perform any sacrifice, and they were also forbidden to give charity or offer clarified butter. Thus King Vena sounded kettledrums throughout the countryside. In other words, he stopped all kinds of religious rituals.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

“O brāhmaṇas! No more sacrifice, no more charity, nor more oblations!” He stopped performance of dharma with the sound of drums everywhere.

Purport

What was committed by King Vena many years ago is at present being carried out by atheistic governments all over the world. The world situation is so tense that at any moment governments may issue declarations to stop religious rituals. Eventually the world situation will become so degraded that it will be impossible for pious men to live on the planet. Therefore sane people should execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness very seriously, so that they can go back home, back to Godhead, without having to further suffer the miserable conditions predominant in this universe.