Shloka 12
Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)
नायं यज्ञो न वा धर्मो यत्र रुद्रो न इज्यते । वधबन्धं प्रपन्ना वै कि नु कालस्य पर्यय:
nāyaṁ yajño na vā dharmo yatra rudro na ijyate | vadhabandhaṁ prapannā vai ki nu kālasya paryayaḥ ||
বৈশম্পায়ন বললেন— যেখানে রুদ্রের পূজা হয় না, তা সত্য যজ্ঞও নয়, ধর্মও নয়। বধ ও বন্ধনের অবস্থায় পতিত হয়ে এ যে কালের (ভাগ্যের) কী ভয়ংকর উলট-পালট!
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that ritual and dharma are incomplete without honoring Rudra, and it frames human suffering (slaughter, bondage) as a troubling ‘reversal of Time,’ prompting reflection on how neglect of rightful worship and moral order can coincide with catastrophic turns of fate.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, comments on a situation marked by violence and captivity, interpreting it through a dharmic lens: true yajña/dharma requires proper divine reverence (here, Rudra), and the present calamity is described as an astonishing turn in the course of Kāla (fate/time).