Devanagari
शूद्रा: प्रतिग्रहीष्यन्ति तपोवेषोपजीविन: ।
धर्मं वक्ष्यन्त्यधर्मज्ञा अधिरुह्योत्तमासनम् ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
śūdrāḥ pratigrahīṣyanti
tapo-veṣopajīvinaḥ
dharmaṁ vakṣyanty adharma-jñā
adhiruhyottamāsanam
Synonyms
śūdrāḥ
—
lowly, common workers
;
pratigrahīṣyanti
—
will accept religious charity
;
tapaḥ
—
by shows of austerity
;
veṣa
—
and by dressing as mendicants
;
upajīvinaḥ
—
earning their living
;
dharmam
—
the principles of religion
;
vakṣyanti
—
will speak about
;
adharma-jṣāḥ
—
those who know nothing about religion
;
adhiruhya
—
mounting
;
uttama-āsanam
—
a high seat.
Translation
Uncultured men will accept charity on behalf of the Lord and will earn their livelihood by making a show of austerity and wearing a mendicant’s dress. Those who know nothing about religion will mount a high seat and presume to speak on religious principles.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śūdras will accept charity and will earn their livelihood by making a show of austerity and wearing a mendicant's dress. Those who know nothing about religion will mount a high seat and presume to speak on religious principles.
Purport
The epidemic of bogus gurus, swamis, priests and so forth is explicitly described here.