Shloka 66
Sarasvatī–Tārkṣya Saṃvāda: Agnihotra-vidhi, Dāna-phala, and Mokṣa-prasaṅga (सरस्वती–तार्क्ष्यसंवादः)
स्वच्छन्दमरणा श्चासन् नरा: स्वच्छन्दचारिण: । अल्पबाधा निरातज्ठा: सिद्धार्था निरुपद्रवा:,सभी स्वच्छन्दतापूर्वक आकाशमार्गसे उड़कर देवताओंसे मिलने जाते और स्वच्छन्दचारी होनेके कारण इच्छा होते ही पुनः वहाँसे लौट आते थे। वे अपनी इच्छा होनेपर ही मरते और इच्छाके अनुसार ही जीवित रहते थे। स्वतन्त्रतापूर्वक सर्वत्र विचरण करते थे। उनके मार्ममें बाधाएँ बहुत कम आती थीं। उन्हें कोई भय नहीं होता था। वे उपद्रवशून्य तथा पूर्णकाम थे
svacchandamaraṇāś cāsan narāḥ svacchandacāriṇaḥ | alpabādhā nirātaṅkāḥ siddhārthā nirupadravāḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: In that age, people lived as free wanderers, moving according to their own will. They met death only when they chose, and lived on as long as they desired. With little affliction and no fear, they were fulfilled in their aims and untouched by disturbance—an image of a world where life was governed by inner freedom rather than compulsion or suffering.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts an idealized human condition—freedom from fear, affliction, and disturbance—with later ages marked by constraint and suffering. Ethically, it implies that harmony with dharma yields security and fulfillment, while decline in dharma leads to anxiety and adversity.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a past age in which humans were exceptionally free and untroubled: they could roam as they wished, were largely unhindered by obstacles, and even met death only by choice, indicating a world of stability and spiritual-ethical order.