deceivers, while Brahmanas,
falsely assuming the garb of ascetics, earn wealth by trade, with nails
and hair unpared and uncut. And, O tiger among men, many of the
twice-born classes become, from avarice of wealth, religious mendicants
of the _Brahmacharin_ order. And, O monarch, men at such periods behave
contrary to the _modes_ of life to which they betake themselves, and
addicted to intoxicating drinks and capable of violating the beds of
their preceptors, their desires are all of this world, pursuing matters
ministering to the flesh and the blood. And O tiger among men, at such
period the asylums of ascetics become full of sinful and audacious
wretches ever applauding lives of dependence. And the illustrious
chastiser of Paka never showers rain according to the seasons and the
seeds also that are scattered on earth, do not, O Bharata, all sprout
forth. And men, unholy in deed and thought, take pleasure in envy and
malice. And, O sinless one, the earth then becometh full of sin and
immorality. And, O lord of the earth, he that becometh virtuous at such
periods doth not live long. Indeed, the earth becometh reft of virtue in
every shape. And, O tiger among men, the merchants and traders then full
of guile, sell large quantities of articles with false weights and
measures. And they that are virtuous do not prosper; while they that are
sinful proper exceedingly. And virtue loseth her strength while sin
becometh all powerful. And men that are devoted to virtue become poor
and short-lived; while they that are sinful become long-lived and win
prosperity. And in such times, people behave sinfully even in places of
public amusements in cities and towns. And men always seek the
accomplishment of their ends by means that are sinful. And having earned
fortunes that are really small they become intoxicated with the pride of
wealth. And O monarch, many men at such periods strive to rob the wealth
that hath from trust been deposited with them in secrecy. And wedded to
sinful practices, they shamelessly declare--_there is nothing in
deposit_. And beasts of prey and other animals and fowl may be seen to
lie down in places of public amusement in cities and towns, as well as
in sacred edifices. And, O king girls of seven or eight years of age do
then conceive, while boys of ten or twelve years beget offspring. And in
their sixteenth year, men are overtaken with decrepitude and decay and
the period of life itself is soon outrun. And O k