Shloka 41
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
रसाश्च मनुजव्यात्र न तथा स्वादुयोगिन: । बहुप्रजा हस्वदेहा: शीलाचारविवर्जिता: । मुखे भगा: स्त्रियो राजन् भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये
rasāś ca manujavyāghra na tathā svāduyoginaḥ | bahuprājā hrasvadehāḥ śīlācāravivarjitāḥ | mukhe bhagāḥ striyo rājan bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ô tigre parmi les hommes, même les mets et leurs sucs n’auront plus la douceur ni la saveur salutaire qu’ils devraient avoir. À la fin de l’âge, ô roi, les femmes seront de petite taille et enfanteront beaucoup, mais seront dépourvues de pudeur et de bonne conduite. En ce temps de dissolution, elles parleront ouvertement et sans cesse de choses sexuelles.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a moral diagnosis of yuga-decline: when dharma weakens, even basic life—food, family life, and public speech—loses refinement and restraint. It frames ethical deterioration as visible in taste, conduct (śīla–ācāra), and social discourse.
Vaiśampāyana is describing ominous characteristics of the end of an age (yugakṣaya) to a kingly listener, listing social and behavioral changes as prophetic signs of degeneration.