Shloka 52

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

अट्टशूला जनपदा: शिवशूलाश्षतुष्पथा: । केशशूला: स्त्रियश्वापि भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये,युगक्षयकालमें सभी देशोंके लोग अन्न बेचेंगे। ब्राह्मण वेदविक्रय करेंगे और स्त्रियाँ वेश्या वृत्ति अपना लेंगी

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca |

aṭṭaśūlā janapadāḥ śivaśūlāś catuṣpathāḥ |

keśaśūlāḥ striyaś cāpi bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “At the dissolution of the age (yuga-kṣaya), the very life of society will turn into torment: the provinces will be as though pierced by spears; the crossroads will become places of dread and violence; and even women will be afflicted with ‘hair as a spear’—a sign of distress, disorder, and the collapse of modesty and household virtue. Such are the marks of moral decline when dharma wanes and livelihood, safety, and social restraint break down.”

Word by Word

अट्टशूला:having raised/upraised spears (or: with spears held aloft)

जनपदा:countries/kingdoms; peoples of the realms

शिवशूला:having auspicious spears / (or) having Śiva’s trident-like spears

अष्टपथा:having eight roads/paths; of eightfold ways

केशशूला:having hair as a weapon/spear; with hair like spears (dishevelled, bristling)

स्त्रियःwomen

चand

अपिalso/even

भविष्यन्तिwill become / will be

युगक्षयेat the end of the age (yuga)

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Śiva

janapada (provinces/realms)

catuṣpatha (crossroads)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents omens of yuga-kṣaya: when dharma declines, social spaces (realms and crossroads) become unsafe and people’s lives are marked by pain and disorder. It warns that ethical collapse manifests outwardly as insecurity, exploitation, and the breakdown of social restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing future degenerative conditions at the end of an age. Using compressed metaphors (‘spear-like’ affliction), he depicts widespread suffering in the land, fear at public junctions, and distressing changes in women’s condition—signals of a society entering moral and civic breakdown.