Shloka 49

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

नरश्रेष्ठल धनके लोभसे ब्रह्मचारी भी आश्रमोंमें दम्भपूर्ण आचारको अपनायेंगे और मद्यपान करके गुरुपत्नीगमन करेंगे। लोग अपने शरीरके मांस और रक्त बढ़ानेवाले इहलौकिक कर्मांमें ही लगे रहेंगे ।। बहुपाषण्डसंकीर्णा: परान्नगुणवादिन: । आश्रमा मनुजव्यात्र भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये,नरश्रेष्ठ) युगान्तकालमें सभी आश्रम अनेक प्रकारके पाखण्डोंसे व्याप्त और दूसरोंसे मिले हुए भोजनका ही गुणगान करनेवाले होंगे

Transliteration

bahupāṣaṇḍasaṅkīrṇāḥ parānna-guṇavādinaḥ | āśramā manuja-vyāghra bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O tiger among men, at the end of the age the religious orders of life will be overrun by many kinds of heretical show and confusion. People will praise and chase after food obtained from others, and the disciplines of the āśramas will be hollowed out—so that outward marks replace inner restraint and dharma declines into appetite and hypocrisy.”

Word by Word

• बहु: many
• बहु: n/a
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु
• Form: n/a, n/a, n/a

• पाषण्ड: heresy, hypocrisy, heterodox practice
• पाषण्ड: n/a
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाषण्ड
• Form: masculine, n/a, n/a

• संकीर्णाः: mixed, filled, crowded
• संकीर्णाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संकीर्ण
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• पर: other’s, belonging to another
• पर: n/a
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: n/a, n/a, n/a

• अन्न: food
• अन्न: n/a
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्न
• Form: neuter, n/a, n/a

• गुण: quality, merit
• गुण: n/a
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: masculine, n/a, n/a

• वादिनः: praisers, those who speak of
• वादिनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वादिन्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• आश्रमाḥ: āśramas (stages/orders of life)
• आश्रमाḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रम
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• मनुज: human
• मनुज: n/a
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुज
• Form: masculine, n/a, n/a

• व्याघ्र: tiger (best of men) [vocative epithet]
• व्याघ्र: n/a
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याघ्र
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• भविष्यन्ति: will be, will become
• भविष्यन्ति: n/a
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: simple future (luṭ), 3rd, plural

• युग: age, epoch
• युग: n/a
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग
• Form: neuter, n/a, n/a

• क्षये: at the end, in the decline
• क्षये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षय
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• manuja-vyāghra (addressed hero/king)
• āśramas (orders of life)
• yugakṣaya (end of the age)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse warns that when dharma declines, religious life can become dominated by outward display, sectarian fraud, and dependence on sensual comforts—especially food—rather than inner discipline, truthfulness, and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing signs of yuga-kṣaya (the end/waning of an age): the āśrama system and its disciplines will be corrupted by pāṣaṇḍa (deviant, hypocritical practices), and people will value material sustenance and social approval over genuine spiritual conduct.