Shloka 12
विन्ध्यवृद्धिनिवारणम् — The Restraint of the Vindhya
Agastya’s Injunction
निःस्वाध्यायवषट्कारं नष्टयज्ञोत्सवक्रियम् । जगदासीकत्निरुत्साहं कालेयभयपीडितम्
niḥsvādhyāyavaṣaṭkāraṁ naṣṭayajñotsavakriyam | jagad āsīkatnirutsāhaṁ kāleyabhayapīḍitam ||
Logaśa said: “The world had become bereft of Vedic study and the sacred vaṣaṭ-calls; the rites of sacrifices and festive observances had fallen into ruin. All beings seemed sunk in inertia and without zeal, oppressed by fear of the Kāleyas.”
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
When fear and violent oppression prevail, society’s sustaining disciplines—svādhyāya (sacred learning) and yajña (ordered ritual duty)—collapse. The verse frames dharma as a lived cultural practice: when it is abandoned or made impossible, collective morale and ethical energy (utsāha) wither.
The speaker describes a time of widespread distress: Vedic recitation and sacrificial rites have ceased, festivals and religious observances are disrupted, and the world is dispirited—specifically because it is terrorized by the Kāleyas.