Shloka 62
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
क्षीणायुषो महाराज तरुणा वृद्धशीलिन: । तरुणानां च यच्छीलं तद् वृद्धेषु प्रजायते
kṣīṇāyuṣo mahārāja taruṇā vṛddhaśīlinaḥ | taruṇānāṃ ca yacchīlaṃ tad vṛddheṣu prajāyate ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ô grand roi, en ce temps-là, les jeunes seront de courte vie et porteront la conduite et le tempérament des vieillards ; et la conduite qui devrait appartenir aux jeunes se manifestera au contraire chez les anciens.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic warning about social and ethical inversion: when natural roles and virtues are reversed—youth losing vigor and elders taking on youthful traits—society’s moral order becomes unstable, signaling decline in dharma.
Vaiśampāyana is describing a future degenerate condition (a set of ominous societal symptoms), telling the king that people’s lifespans and customary virtues will be distorted, with youths behaving like the aged and elders displaying what should belong to youth.