Text 13
evaṁ sva-bharaṇākalpaṁ
tat-kalatrādayas tathā
nādriyante yathā pūrvaṁ
kīnāśā iva go-jaram
evam — thus; sva-bharaṇa — to maintain them; akalpam — unable; tat — his; kalatra — wife; ādayaḥ — and so on; tathā — so; na — not; ādriyante — do respect; yathā — as; pūrvam — before; kīnāśāḥ — farmers; iva — like; go-jaram — an old ox.
Seeing him unable to support them, his wife and others do not treat him with the same respect as before, even as miserly farmers do not accord the same treatment to their old and worn-out oxen.
Not only in the present age but from time immemorial, no one has liked an old man who is unable to earn in the family. Even in the modern age, in some communities or states, the old men are given poison so that they will die as soon as possible. In some cannibalistic communities, the old grandfather is sportingly killed, and a feast is held in which his body is eaten. The example is given that a farmer does not like an old bull who has ceased to work. Similarly, when an attached person in family life becomes old and is unable to earn, he is no longer liked by his wife, sons, daughters and other kinsmen, and he is consequently neglected, what to speak of not being given respect. It is judicious, therefore, to give up family attachment before one attains old age and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should employ himself in the Lord’s service so that the Supreme Lord can take charge of him and he will not be neglected by his so-called kinsmen.