Shloka 72
Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness
लोभाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात् स्मृतिविभ्रमः ।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात् प्रणश्यति ॥
lobhādbhavati saṃmohaḥ saṃmohāt smṛtivibhramaḥ / smṛtibhraṃśād buddhināśo buddhināśāt praṇaśyati
De la codicia surge la ilusión; de la ilusión viene la confusión de la memoria. De la pérdida de la memoria viene la ruina del discernimiento, y de la ruina del discernimiento uno es destruido.
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FAQs
The verse maps a causal chain of inner collapse: greed (lobha) clouds perception (saṃmoha), which destabilizes moral-spiritual memory (smṛti)—the capacity to recall teachings, vows, and consequences. When smṛti fails, discernment (buddhi) cannot judge properly; action becomes reckless, leading to ruin (praṇaśyati). The practical counsel is to curb greed early, because later stages are progressively harder to reverse.
This verse is primarily didactic/ācāra-dharma material rather than a direct instance of the five Purāṇic markers. It aligns most closely with the Purāṇic function of teaching dharma and right conduct (often treated under ācāra/śīla instruction), rather than sarga (creation), pratisarga, vaṃśa (genealogies), manvantara, or vaṃśānucarita.
Esoterically, the sequence describes the inward dimming of the ‘lamp’ of consciousness: lobha pulls awareness outward into acquisition; saṃmoha is the obscuration (āvaraṇa) that follows; smṛti-bhraṃśa indicates loss of inner continuity (forgetting one’s higher aim); buddhi-nāśa is the collapse of viveka (discriminative wisdom). ‘Destruction’ (praṇaśyati) can be read as spiritual fall—loss of dharmic trajectory—rather than only physical harm.