Shloka 14

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

व्याजैर्धर्म चरिष्यन्ति धर्मवैतंसिका नरा: । सत्य॑ संक्षेप्स्यते लोके नरै: पण्डितमानिभि:

Transliteration

vyājair dharmaṁ cariṣyanti dharmavaitāṁsikā narāḥ | satyaṁ saṁkṣepsyate loke naraiḥ paṇḍitamānibhiḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Mārkaṇḍeya: «Los hombres, meros remendadores y manipuladores del dharma, practicarán la rectitud sólo con pretextos y excusas urdidas. En el mundo, la verdad misma será recortada y comprimida por quienes se envanecen de ser “sabios”.»

Word by Word

व्याजैःby pretexts, by pretences

धर्मम्dharma, righteousness

चरिष्यन्तिwill practice, will conduct (themselves)

धर्मवैतंसिकाःthose who make a show/ornament of dharma (hypocritical moralists)

नराःmen, people

सत्यम्truth

संक्षेप्स्यतेwill be curtailed, will be reduced

लोकेin the world

नरैःby men

पण्डितमानिभिःby those who think themselves learned

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse warns that when people treat dharma as a tool for appearances, they justify actions through pretexts rather than integrity; such self-proclaimed ‘wise’ persons end up diminishing truth in society.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a degeneration of conduct: people will outwardly ‘practice dharma’ but only through excuses and legalistic maneuvering, while truthfulness declines under the influence of pretended scholarship.