Shloka 88
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 67 — गान्धर्वविवाह-समयः
Duḥṣanta–Śakuntalā: Gandharva Marriage and Succession Condition
जगतो यस्तु सर्वस्य विद्विष्ट: कलिपूरुष: । य: सर्वा घातयामास पृथिवीं पृथिवीपते,राजन्! वह कलिस्वरूप पुरुष सबका द्वेषपात्र था। उसने सारी पृथ्वीके वीरोंको लड़ाकर मरवा दिया था
jagato yastu sarvasya vidviṣṭaḥ kalipūruṣaḥ | yaḥ sarvā ghātayāmāsa pṛthivīṃ pṛthivīpate, rājan |
Vaiśampāyana said: “That Kali-person, hated by the whole world, became a universal object of aversion. O king, lord of the earth, he caused all the heroes of the earth to strike one another down, bringing widespread destruction.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Kali (discord and moral decline) as a force that turns society against itself: when hatred and strife dominate, even the strongest protectors of the earth are driven to mutual destruction. Ethically, it warns that adharma spreads through provocation and division, not only through direct violence.
Vaiśampāyana describes to the king a destructive figure—Kalipūruṣa—who becomes universally detested and who engineers the downfall of the earth’s warriors by making them fight and kill one another, implying a collapse of order and harmony in the realm.