Shloka 143
युधिष्ठिरकृष्णसंवादः — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Appeal and Kṛṣṇa’s Assurance
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 59
दीर्घायुष: प्रजा: सर्वा युवा न म्रियते तदा । (यज्ञों अथवा अग्निहोत्र-गृहोंमें) सब ओर अग्निदेव प्रज्वलित होते रहते थे। उन दिनों किसी प्रकारका अनर्थ नहीं होता था। सारी प्रजा दीर्घायु होती थी। किसी युवककी मृत्यु नहीं हुआ करती थी
dīrghāyuṣaḥ prajāḥ sarvā yuvā na mriyate tadā |
Nārada said: “In those days all the people were long-lived; no young person died. Sacred fires—whether in great sacrifices or in household agnihotra rites—blazed everywhere. No calamity or disorder arose; the realm was marked by prosperity, ritual order, and the protection of life.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links social well-being—longevity, safety of the young, and absence of calamity—with dharmic order, symbolized by the widespread maintenance of sacred fires and regular rites. It implies that when dharma and disciplined ritual life prevail, society experiences stability and protection.
Nārada is describing an earlier ideal condition of society: sacred fires were continually maintained in sacrifices and households, misfortunes did not occur, the populace enjoyed long life, and premature death among the young was unknown.