Shloka 17

Adhyaya 40: Kali-yuga Lakshana, Yuga-sandhyamsha, and the Re-emergence of Dharma

Devanagari script

सेवावसरम् आलोक्य द्वारे तिष्ठन्ति वै द्विजाः वाहनस्थान् समावृत्य शूद्राञ्शूद्रोपजीविनः

Transliteration

sevāvasaram ālokya dvāre tiṣṭhanti vai dvijāḥ vāhanasthān samāvṛtya śūdrāñśūdropajīvinaḥ

Translation

Guettant l’occasion de servir, les dvijas se tiennent au seuil ; tandis que les emplacements des véhicules sont occupés par les Śūdras et par ceux qui vivent au service des Śūdras, demeurant là.

Word by Word

• sevā-avasaram: an occasion/opportunity for service

• ālokya: having observed, seeing

• dvāre: at the door/gate

• tiṣṭhanti: stand, remain

• vai: indeed

• dvijāḥ: the twice-born (Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya)

• vāhana-sthān: places for vehicles/mounts

• samāvṛtya: having covered/occupied/surrounded

• śūdrān: Śūdras

• śūdra-upajīvinaḥ: those who subsist by/through Śūdras (dependents or service-linked persons)

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages of Naimisharanya)