Shloka 16
इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्
Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration
विद्याहीनानविज्ञानालल्लोभो<प्यभिभविष्यति । लोभक्रो धपरा मूढा: कामासक्ताश्न मानवा:
vidyāhīnān avijñānāl lobho 'py abhibhaviṣyati | lobha-krodha-parā mūḍhāḥ kāmāsaktāś ca mānavāḥ ||
Markandeya said: When people are bereft of learning and true discernment, greed inevitably overpowers them. Deluded human beings, driven by greed and anger and clinging to sensual desire, lose their moral clarity and become easy prey to wrongdoing.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ignorance and lack of discernment make a person vulnerable to greed; once greed takes hold, it is joined by anger and attachment to desire, leading to delusion and ethical collapse. The implied remedy is cultivation of vidyā (learning) and vijñāna (clear understanding) to restrain the inner enemies.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners in the Vana Parva by describing a moral pattern: when people lack education and insight, greed naturally dominates them, and they become driven by greed, anger, and sensual attachment—conditions that lead to harmful conduct.