General Hinduism

Devāpi and Maru return

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: Canto 12, Chapter 2 · Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.2.37–39

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Anand Aadhar Prabhu, The Story of the Fortunate One, English online translation, verses 12.2.12–24 and 12.2.37–39. Official translator website accessed 10 September 2026. The 12.2.37–39 addition was checked against the third revised edition loaded 22 September 2022. Original page decoded as Windows-1252; paragraph breaks supplied at verse numbers; formatting links removed while their visible wording and translator brackets remain.

© Anand Aadhar. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). Credit Anand Aadhar and https://bhagavata.org; noncommercial reuse and adaptation allowed under the same or a similar license. This excerpt retains source wording; typography and paragraph breaks normalized. Translator license statement: https://bhagavata.org/introduction.html and https://bhagavata.org/treasury/downloads.html.

(37) Devâpi, the brother of S'ântanu [9.22: 12-17] and Maru [9.12: 5-6] who took birth in the Ikshvâku dynasty, are endowed with great mystical power and both live [even now] in Kalâpa. (38) At the end of the age of Kali they will return to human society and promulgate the varnâs'rama-dharma as it was before, deriving from the instructions they received from Vâsudeva [Krishna]. (39) The four ages of Krita [Satya], Tretâ, Dvâpara and Kali that the living beings undergo in this world, will repeat themselves continuously following this sequential order [see also mahâyuga].

In the margin

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The kings are already waiting

interpretation

On: At the end of the age of Kali they will return to human society

Editorial paraphrase of the source · Servants of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, BBT purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.2.38; collective attribution in 12.2.44 colophon

The BBT commentators read this verse together with the preceding one. They identify the future restorers of human culture as two kings who are already on earth. In their words, the kings “have already descended to the earth, where they are patiently waiting to render their devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu.”

BBT purports to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.2 · VedaBase, purport to 12.2.38; collective authorship identified by the closing colophon at 12.2.44. Commentary by the servants of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, not attributed directly to Prabhupāda. The displayed note is an attributed paraphrase with one expressly marked 19-word quotation.

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Published revision history

2026-09-11T03:53:51+00:00