Shloka 24
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
तस्मिन् प्रतिभये काले क्षते धर्मे युधिष्ठिर । बभूवु: क्षुधिता मर्त्या: खादमाना: परस्परम्,युधिष्ठिर! ऐसे भयंकर समयमें धर्मका नाश हो जानेके कारण भूखसे पीड़ित हुए मनुष्य एक-दूसरेको खाने लगे
tasmin pratibhaye kāle kṣate dharme yudhiṣṭhira | babhūvuḥ kṣudhitā martyāḥ khādamānāḥ parasparam ||
Bhishma said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, when that dreadful time arrived and dharma had been shattered, mortals, tormented by hunger, came to the point of eating one another.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When dharma (the sustaining moral and social order) collapses, human life degenerates into survival without restraint; hunger and fear can drive people to acts that violate the most basic ethical boundaries.
Bhīṣma describes to Yudhiṣṭhira a terrifying period of disorder: with dharma ruined, people become so starved that they begin to devour one another, illustrating extreme societal breakdown.