Shloka 36
काम्बोजा बाह्लिका: शूरास्तथा5<5भीरा नरोत्तम | न तदा ब्राह्मण: कश्रनित् स्वधर्ममुपजीवति,छलसे शासन करनेवाले, पापी और असत्यवादी आन्ध्र, शक, पुलिन्द, यवन, काम्बोज, बाह्लीक तथा शौर्यसम्पन्न आभीर इस देशके राजा होंगे। नरश्रेष्ठी उस समय कोई ब्राह्मण अपने धर्मके अनुसार जीविका चलानेवाला न होगा
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | Kāmbojā bāhlikāḥ śūrās tathābhīrā narottama | na tadā brāhmaṇaḥ kaścid svadharmam upajīvati ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of men, in that time the Kāmbojas and Bāhlīkas, and likewise the valiant Ābhīras, will hold power. Then no Brāhmaṇa at all will be able to sustain himself by his own dharma.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a symptom of dharmic decline: when social and political conditions become disordered, even those meant to live by svadharma (here, Brāhmaṇas) cannot sustain themselves through rightful means. It highlights the ethical idea that stable kingship and social support are necessary for dharma to be practicable, not merely ideal.
Within a prophetic or diagnostic description of troubled times, the speaker (Vaiśampāyana) lists certain peoples as future holders of power and concludes that, in such an age, Brāhmaṇas will no longer be able to maintain their livelihood according to their prescribed dharma.