Shloka 19
तस्मिन्नन्तर्हिते चापि प्रजानां संकरो5भवत् | नैव कार्य न वाकार्य भोज्याभोज्यं न विद्यते,दण्ड लुप्त होते ही प्रजामें वर्णसंकरता फैलने लगी। कर्तव्याकर्तव्य तथा भक्ष्याभक्ष्यका विचार सर्वथा उठ गया
tasminn antarhite cāpi prajānāṁ saṅkaro 'bhavat | naiva kāryaṁ na vākāryaṁ bhojyābhojyaṁ na vidyate ||
When that (power of punishment/royal discipline) disappeared, confusion and intermixture spread among the people. No clear distinction remained between what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, nor between what is fit to be eaten and what is unfit—ethical order collapsed along with the loss of danda (lawful restraint).
वसुहरोम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that daṇḍa—lawful restraint and punishment administered by rightful authority—is essential for sustaining dharma. When it disappears, people lose the ability (or willingness) to distinguish duty from non-duty and permissible from impermissible, leading to social and moral disorder (saṅkara).
Vasuharoma describes the consequences of the disappearance of daṇḍa (the governing principle of punishment/discipline). With that restraint gone, the populace falls into confusion: norms of conduct and dietary/prohibitive rules are no longer observed, and disorder spreads through society.