Shloka 39
इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्
Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration
सत्य॑ संक्षिप्यते लोके नरै: पण्डितमानिभि: । स्थविरा बालमतयो बाला: स्थविरबुद्धयः,अपनेको पण्डित माननेवाले मुनष्य संसारमें सत्यको मिटा देंगे। बूढ़ोंकी बुद्धि बालकों- जैसी होगी और बालकोंकी बूढ़ों-जैसी
satyaṃ saṃkṣipyate loke naraiḥ paṇḍitamānibhiḥ | sthavirā bālamatayo bālāḥ sthavirabuddhayaḥ ||
Markandeya said: “In the world, men who pride themselves on being learned will compress and efface the truth. The old will think like children, and children will possess the judgment of the old.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when people become proud of learning without integrity, truth (satya) is reduced and distorted. It critiques intellectual vanity and points to a moral inversion where genuine discernment is lost.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a degeneration of social and moral order—an age in which truth is suppressed by pretenders to wisdom, and normal markers of maturity and judgment become confused.