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Library » Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) » Canto 3: The Status Quo » CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ŚB 3.17.11

Devanagari

खराश्च कर्कशै: क्षत्त: खुरैर्घ्नन्तो धरातलम् ।
खार्काररभसा मत्ता: पर्यधावन् वरूथश: ॥ ११ ॥

Text

kharāś ca karkaśaiḥ kṣattaḥ
khurair ghnanto dharā-talam
khārkāra-rabhasā mattāḥ
paryadhāvan varūthaśaḥ

Synonyms

kharāḥ — asses; ca — and; karkaśaiḥ — hard; kṣattaḥ — O Vidura; khuraiḥ — with their hooves; ghnantaḥ — striking; dharā-talam — the surface of the earth; khāḥ-kāra — braying; rabhasāḥ — wildly engaged in; mattāḥ — mad; paryadhāvan — ran hither and thither; varūthaśaḥ — in herds.

Translation

O Vidura, the asses ran hither and thither in herds, striking the earth with their hard hooves and wildly braying.

Purport

Asses also feel very respectable as a race, and when they run in flocks hither and thither in so-called jollity, it is understood to be a bad sign for human society.