Shloka 23

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

सरित्तीरेषु कुद्दालैर्वापयिष्यन्ति चौषधी: । ताश्चाप्पल्पफलास्तेषां भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये,नदियोंके किनारेकी भूमिको कुदालोंसे खोदकर लोग वहाँ अनाज बोयेंगे। उन अनाजोंमें भी युगान्तकालके प्रभावसे बहुत कम फल लगेंगे

Transliteration

sarittīreṣu kuddālair vāpayiṣyanti cauṣadhīḥ | tāś cāppalpaphalās teṣāṃ bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye ||

Translation

युगक्षय के समय लोग नदियों के तटों पर कुदालों से भूमि खोदकर अन्न बोएँगे; पर उस काल के प्रभाव से वे फसलें भी बहुत अल्प फल देंगी।

Word by Word

सरित्-तीरेषुon the river-banks

कुद्दालैःwith spades

वापयिष्यन्तिthey will cause to be sown / will sow

चand

औषधीःplants/crops (herbs)

ताःthose (crops)

चand

अल्प-फलाःhaving little fruit/yield

तेषाम्of them (of those people)

भविष्यन्तिwill be/become

युग-क्षयेat the end of the age (yuga)

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

riverbanks

spades/hoes (kuddāla)

crops/grains (oṣadhi)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that in an age of dharmic decline, outcomes no longer match effort: even diligent labor (digging and sowing) yields meager results, reflecting a broader moral and cosmic imbalance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing signs of the yuga’s end: people cultivate land along rivers by digging with tools and planting crops, but the harvest becomes poor and scant due to the degenerative conditions of the time.