Shloka 24
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 209: Śaraṇāgati of the Cursed Apsarases; Nārītīrtha-prasiddhi; Arjuna’s Vimocana
निवृत्तकृषिगोरक्षा विध्वस्तनगराश्रमा | अस्थिकड्कालसंकीर्णा भूर्बभूवोग्रदर्शना,कृषि और गोरक्षाका नाम नहीं था, नगर और आश्रम उजड़कर खण्डहर हो गये थे। चारों ओर हड्डियाँ और कंकाल भरे पड़े थे। इस प्रकार पृथ्वीकी ओर देखना भी भयानक प्रतीत होता था
nivr̥ttakr̥ṣigorakṣā vidhvastanagarāśramā | asthikaṅkālasaṅkīrṇā bhūrbabhūvogradharśanā ||
Nārada said: Agriculture and the protection of cattle had ceased; towns and hermitages lay ruined. The earth was strewn everywhere with bones and skeletons, so that even to look upon the land had become a dreadful sight—an image of social collapse when dharma is abandoned and violence prevails.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that when dharma collapses, the foundations of a humane society—cultivation (kr̥ṣi), care for cattle (gorakṣā), and sanctuaries of learning and renunciation (āśramas)—also collapse, leaving a landscape marked by death and fear. It implicitly teaches the ethical necessity of protecting life-sustaining livelihoods and sacred institutions.
Nārada is describing a devastated world: farming and cattle-rearing have stopped, cities and hermitages are destroyed, and the ground is littered with bones and skeletons. The scene functions as a stark portrayal of widespread ruin and moral disorder.