Shloka 25

कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना

Devanagari script

कन्दपर्णफलाहारास् तापसा इव मानवाः आत्मानं घातयिष्यन्ति तदावृष्ट्यादिदुःखिताः

Transliteration

kandaparṇaphalāhārās tāpasā iva mānavāḥ ātmānaṃ ghātayiṣyanti tadāvṛṣṭyādiduḥkhitāḥ

Translation

Stricken by miseries such as drought and the failure of rains, people will live like ascetics—subsisting on roots, leaves, and fruits—and, tormented by suffering, will even turn to self-destruction.

Word by Word

• kanda-parṇa-phala-āhārāḥ: having roots, leaves, and fruits as food
• kanda-parṇa-phala-āhārāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) — मानवाः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kanda (प्रातिपदिक) + parṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + phala (प्रातिपदिक) + āhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचनम् — विशेषणम्; समासः: कन्द-पर्ण-फल (द्वन्द्व/समाहार) + तदाहारः (तत्पुरुष)

• tāpasāḥ: ascetics
• tāpasāḥ: Upamāna (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāpasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचनम्

• iva: like, as if
• iva: Sambandha (Comparison marker/उपमा-संबन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमावाचक-अव्ययम् (comparative particle)

• mānavāḥ: humans
• mānavāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचनम्

• ātmānam: themselves (self)
• ātmānam: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचनम्

• ghātayiṣyanti: will cause to be killed / will kill
• ghātayiṣyanti: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √han (धातु) — णिच् (causative) ghātayati
• Form: लृट्-लकारः (Simple Future), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd person), बहुवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्; णिजन्त-धातु (causative)

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (Time/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्ययम् (temporal adverb)

• āvṛṣṭi-ādi-duḥkhitāḥ: afflicted by lack of rain and other hardships
• āvṛṣṭi-ādi-duḥkhitāḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) — मानवाः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-āvṛṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक) + duḥkhita (कृदन्त; √khaṇḍ/√duḥkh?—दुःखित as adjectival PPP from √duḥkh/denom)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचनम् — विशेषणम्; समासः: अनावृष्ट्यादि (द्वन्द्व/तत्पुरुष ‘etc.’) + तेन दुःखितः (तत्पुरुष)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Extremes of suffering and moral-psychological collapse in Kali-yuga

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: compassionate

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Suffering without spiritual anchoring can mimic austerity externally yet culminate in despair rather than purification.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Distinguish tapas (chosen discipline) from forced deprivation; seek community support, dharmic counsel, and devotion to sustain hope in hardship.

Vishishtadvaita: True tapas is offered to the Lord and supports life as His trust; despairing self-harm contradicts the body’s status as Bhagavān’s instrument (śarīra-bhāva).

FAQs

What is the significance of drought (avṛṣṭi) in the Vishnu Purana’s Kali Yuga narrative?

In this verse, drought symbolizes the breakdown of cosmic and social order in Kali Yuga, where natural balance fails and human life collapses into scarcity and despair.

How does Sage Parāśara explain human behavior under Kali Yuga conditions here?

Parāśara depicts people reduced to an ascetic-like existence—eating roots, leaves, and fruits—not by spiritual choice but by famine, leading some to self-destruction from unbearable suffering.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Though Vishnu is not named in this line, the wider teaching frames such decline within Vishnu’s sovereign governance of Yuga cycles, implying that restoration of dharma ultimately depends on the Supreme Lord’s sustaining and renewing power.