So these rājarṣis, they were great personalities. They were, although on the royal throne, they were not for luxury and tax collecting. No. They were just exactly like real father, always thinking of the happiness of the prajās. It was actual democracy. There was committee of the brahmins who guided the king, and the king was, I mean to say, control over the citizens by the guidance of the brahmins. This was the system. So here it is said, evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). This system for understanding Bhagavad-gītā was current. Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna.
Now He says also, sa kālena iha mahatā yogaḥ . . .
(break) . . . spoke the secret of this Bhagavad-gītā to his son Manu. Manu spoke the secret of the Bhagavad-gītā to his son Ikṣvāku. So now that system is now lost. Kālena mahatā: by the great power. Kāla means time. Time has got his influence, very great influence. Time's business is, whatever you make, time will try to kill it. That's all.
You make a nice house, very nice house, but as soon as it becomes older it is being killed. You have a very good body, nice body, but the influence of time is trying to kill you. That is the influence of time. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll also find that when Arjuna saw the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, he asked that, "Who are You?" And Kṛṣṇa said in that universal form that, "I am Kāla. I have come to kill." That's it. This was the answer.
So kāla's business is—kāla, time—to kill. So here also it is said, sa kālena iha, kālena mahatā. Mahatā is also kāraṇa, and kālena, by the influence of . . . that is now lost. Because it is a struggle. Our struggle for existence means we are trying to exist, but kāla is fighting to kill. That is going on. So kāla's business, time's business is to kill, but that system is now lost, is now killed by the influence of time. Sa kāleneha . . . yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa.
Then, what is to be done? Sa eva ayaṁ mayā te adya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ (BG 4.3). "So I have already begun to teach you about this Bhagavad-gītā. So it is not a new doctrine that I'm presenting before you." That, called . . . sa eva ayaṁ mayā te 'dya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ. Purātanaḥ means the same old system, purātana. Purātana means purāṇa. Purāṇa means the old, historical events. Purāṇa. And this Mahābhārata, Mahābhārata is also . . . Mahābhārata, great history. And the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata is also called Mahā-Purāṇa, the great history of olden days.