Shloka 56
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
कुलस्यास्य विनाशाय तथैव च महीक्षिताम् | अनर्थों राज्यरूपेण तव जातो विशाम्पते,“राजन! तुम्हारे कुलका तथा अन्य बहुत-से राजाओंका विनाश करनेके लिये यह तुम्हारे राज्यके रूपमें अनर्थ ही प्राप्त हुआ है
kulasyāsya vināśāya tathaiva ca mahīkṣitām | anartho rājyarūpeṇa tava jāto viśāmpate ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lord of the people, this sovereignty has come to you as a calamity—destined to bring about the ruin of your own lineage and, likewise, of many kings. Power, when seized or held without restraint, turns into the very instrument of destruction for family and realm alike.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kingship and political power are not inherently beneficial; when pursued or exercised without dharmic restraint, they become an anartha—an instrument of ruin—destroying one’s own lineage and harming many rulers and peoples.
The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana delivers a grave assessment to a king addressed as viśāmpati: the very attainment of sovereignty has become a fateful misfortune, foretelling widespread destruction—both within the king’s own family line and among other kings.