Shloka 88
विक्रोशमानक्षान्योन्यं जनो गां पर्यटिष्यति । ततस्तुमुलसड्घाते वर्तमाने युगक्षये,प्रायः लोग स्वदेश छोड़कर दूसरे देशों, दिशाओं, नगरों और गाँवोंका आश्रय लेंगे और हा तात! हा पुत्र! इत्यादि रूपसे अत्यन्त दुःखद वाणीमें एक-दूसरेको पुकारते हुए इस पृथ्वीपर विचरेंगे। युगान्तकालमें संसारकी यही दशा होगी। उस समय एक ही साथ समस्त लोकोंका भयंकर संहार होगा
vikrośamānāḥ kṣāṇy anyonyaṃ jano gāṃ paryaṭiṣyati | tatas tumula-saṅghāte vartamāne yuga-kṣaye, prāyo lokāḥ sva-deśaṃ tyaktvā dvitīya-deśān diśo nagarāṇi grāmāṃś ca āśrayiṣyanti, “hā tāta! hā putra!” ity-ādi-rūpeṇa atyanta-duḥkha-vāṇyā parasparaṃ āhvayantaḥ pṛthivyāṃ vicariṣyanti | yugānta-kāle saṃsārasya eṣā daśā bhaviṣyati | tadā ekakālaṃ samasta-lokānāṃ bhayaṅkaraḥ saṃhāraḥ bhaviṣyati ||
Markandeya said: “People will wander over the earth, crying out to one another in distress. When the age draws to its end and a tumultuous, crushing calamity spreads everywhere, most will abandon their own homelands and seek refuge in other regions—other directions, cities, and villages. Calling out in voices broken by grief—‘Alas, father! Alas, son!’—they will roam this world. Such will be the condition of the world at the end of the yuga; then, in a single sweep, a dreadful destruction of all peoples will occur.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of social order and the impermanence of worldly security: when dharma and stability decline toward a yuga’s end, fear, displacement, and grief spread, culminating in a sweeping dissolution (saṃhāra). It implicitly urges steadiness in dharma and detachment from overreliance on worldly arrangements.
Markandeya describes an apocalyptic yuga-end scenario: people, crying out for lost relatives, abandon their homelands and wander seeking refuge in other places as a violent, collective calamity unfolds, leading to a simultaneous, terrible destruction of all peoples.