Adhyaya 53 — Rudrasarga and the Measure of the Manvantaras: Svayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata’s Line, and the Seven Dvipas
विपर्ययो न तेष्वस्ति जरा मृत्युभयं न च ।
धर्माधर्मौ न तेष्वास्तां नोत्तमाधममध्यमाः ॥
viparyayo na teṣv asti jarā-mṛtyu-bhayaṃ na ca /
dharmādharmau na teṣv āstāṃ nottamādhamamadhyamāḥ
لا يوجد بينهم تراجعٌ أو انحطاط؛ فلا شيخوخة ولا خوف من الموت. وليس لهم دَرْمَا ولا أَدَرْمَا، ولا مراتبَ من أعلى أو أدنى أو أوسط.
The verse distinguishes between karma-governed realms (where dharma/adharma operate) and perfected/pleasure realms where such dualities are not salient; it does not cancel ethics for humans but situates ethics within mortality and consequence.
‘Sthāna’—describing the conditions of beings in different cosmic regions.
Absence of ‘dharma/adharma’ and social ranking can symbolize a non-dual state beyond comparative identity; old age and death represent time-bound egoic limitation, here portrayed as transcended.