Shloka 8

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

भविष्यं सर्वलोकस्य वृत्तान्तं भरतर्षभ | कलुषं कालमासाद्य कथ्यमानं निबोध मे,मार्कण्डेय बोले--भरतश्रेष्ठ राजन! मैंने देवाधिदेव भगवान्‌ बालमुकुन्दकी कृपासे पूर्वकालमें, निकृष्ट कलिकालके प्राप्त होनेपर सम्पूर्ण लोकोंके भावी वृत्तान्तके विषयमें जो कुछ देखा-सुना या अनुभव किया है, वह बताता हूँ, सुनो और समझो

Transliteration

bhaviṣyaṃ sarvalokasya vṛttāntaṃ bharatarṣabha | kaluṣaṃ kālam āsādya kathyamānaṃ nibodha me ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O bull among the Bharatas, I shall relate to you the future course of events for all the worlds. As the age becomes tainted and dark, listen carefully and understand what I am about to recount.”

Word by Word

• {'bhaviṣyam': 'the future

• what is to come', 'sarva-lokasya': 'of all worlds/peoples

• of the entire realm of beings', 'vṛttāntam': 'account, narrative, course of events', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O best of the Bharatas (honorific address to a Bharata king)', 'kaluṣam': 'impure, defiled, morally tainted', 'kālam': 'time

• age/epoch', 'āsādya': 'having reached

• upon the arrival of', 'kathyamānam': 'that which is being told/related', 'nibodha': 'understand

• grasp attentively', 'me': 'from me

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Bharatarṣabha (addressed Bharata king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a moral warning: when time becomes ‘kaluṣa’ (tainted), one should listen with attention and discernment to teachings about the future consequences of ethical decline, especially as they affect society at large.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya begins a prophetic discourse addressed to a Bharata king, announcing that he will narrate the future course of events for the whole world as a corrupted age arrives, and urges the listener to attend and understand.