Shloka 26
Cāturāśramya-dharma—Marks of the Four Āśramas (चातुराश्रम्यधर्मः)
अशृण्वाना: पुराणानां धर्माणां परमा गती: । उत्पथं प्रतिपत्स्यन्ते काममन्युसमीरिता:
aśṛṇvānāḥ purāṇānāṃ dharmāṇāṃ paramā gatīḥ | utpathaṃ pratipatsyante kāma-manyu-samīritāḥ ||
Indra dit : «Poussés par le désir et la colère, les hommes se détourneront des enseignements anciens et n’écouteront plus le but suprême du dharma enseigné par les Purāṇa. Soulevés par ces passions, ils emprunteront la mauvaise voie et s’écarteront du plus haut fruit de la conduite droite.»
इन्द्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
When desire (kāma) and anger (manyu) dominate, people stop listening to time-tested dharmic instruction and drift into unethical conduct; attentiveness to sacred tradition is presented as a safeguard against moral deviation.
Indra is warning about a condition of societal decline: people, provoked by passion and wrath, will disregard Purāṇic/ancient dharma and choose the ‘utpatha’ (wrong road), thereby losing the highest benefit that comes from righteous living.