Shloka 7
Droṇa’s Ācārya-Dakṣiṇā: Capture of Drupada and Division of Pāñcāla (द्रोण-आचार्यदक्षिणा)
बहुमायासमाकीर्णो नानादोषसमाकुल: । लुप्तधर्मक्रियाचारो घोर: कालो भविष्यति
bahumāyāsamākīrṇo nānādoṣasamākulaḥ | luptadharmakriyācāro ghoraḥ kālo bhaviṣyati ||
“এমন এক ভয়ংকর যুগ আসবে, যেখানে সর্বত্র ছল-কপট ও মায়া ছেয়ে যাবে। নানা দোষে জগৎ আকুল হবে; ধর্মকর্ম ও সদাচারের আচরণ লুপ্ত হয়ে যাবে।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when deception (māyā) and moral faults (doṣa) dominate, dharma is not merely debated but practically lost: ritual responsibility (kriyā) and ethical conduct (ācāra) collapse together. It frames ethical vigilance as necessary because social order depends on lived practice, not slogans.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a prophetic description of a coming age characterized by widespread trickery and the erosion of dharmic life. The statement functions as a moral forecast within the epic’s larger reflection on how Time (kāla) brings degeneration in human conduct.