tatra go-mithunaṁ rājā
hanyamānam anāthavat
daṇḍa-hastaṁ ca vṛṣalaṁ
dadṛśe nṛpa-lāṣchanam
sūtaḥ uvāca-Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said; tatra-thereupon; go-mithunam-a cow and a bull; rājā-the King; hanyamānam-being beaten; anātha-vat-appearing to be bereft of their owner; daṇḍa-hastam-with a club in hand; ca-also; vṛṣalam-lower-caste śūdra; dadṛśe-observed; nṛpa-a king; lāñchanam-dressed like.
Sūta Gosvāmī said: After reaching that place, Mahārāja Parīkṣit observed that a lower-caste śūdra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and a bull with a club, as if they had no owner.
The principal sign of the age of Kali is that lower-caste śūdras, i.e., men without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation, will be dressed like administrators or kings, and the principal business of such non-kṣatriya rulers will be to kill the innocent animals, especially the cows and the bulls, who shall be unprotected by their masters, the bona fide vaiśyas, the mercantile community. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.44), it is said that the vaiśyas are meant to deal in agriculture, cow protection and trade. In the age of Kali, the degraded