Shloka 61
इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्
Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration
जब दूसरोंके जीवनका विनाश करनेवाले क्रूर, भयंकर तथा जीवहिंसक मनुष्य पैदा होने लगें, तब समझ लेना चाहिये कि युगान्तकाल उपस्थित हो गया ।। आश्रयिष्यन्ति च नदी: पर्वतान् विषमाणि च | प्रधावमाना वित्रस्ता द्विजा: कुरुकुलोद्ह,कुरुकुलतिलक युधिष्ठिर! अत्याचारियोंसे डरे हुए ब्राह्मण इधर-उधर भागकर नदियों, पर्वतों तथा दुर्गम स्थानोंका आश्रय लेंगे
markaṇḍeya uvāca | yadā pareṣāṃ jīvanāśakārakāḥ krūrā bhīṣaṇā jīvahiṃsakā manuṣyā utpadyante, tadā vijānīyāt yuga-anta-kāla upasthita iti || āśrayiṣyanti ca nadīḥ parvatān viṣamāṇi ca | pradhāvamānā vitrastā dvijāḥ kurukulodvaha, kurukulatilaka yudhiṣṭhira! atyācāribhyo bhītā brāhmaṇāḥ itastataḥ palāyitvā nadī-parvata-durgama-sthānāni āśrayiṣyanti ||
Markandeya said: “When cruel and terrifying men arise—people who delight in violence and bring about the destruction of others’ lives—know that the end-time of the age has drawn near. Then, O Yudhiṣṭhira, bearer of the Kuru line, jewel of the Kurus, frightened Brahmins, terrified by oppressors, will run in all directions and take refuge in rivers, mountains, and hard-to-reach places.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames rampant cruelty and harm to living beings as a clear marker of yuga-ending moral collapse. It warns that when rulers and society fail to restrain oppression, even the custodians of learning and ritual (dvijas) are driven into flight, showing that adharma destabilizes the entire social and ethical order.
Markaṇḍeya is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira by describing ominous conditions of an end-time: violent, life-destroying people become prevalent, and Brahmins—fearful of tyrants—abandon settled life and seek refuge in riversides, mountains, and inaccessible terrain.