Shloka 68
Sarasvatī–Tārkṣya Saṃvāda: Agnihotra-vidhi, Dāna-phala, and Mokṣa-prasaṅga (सरस्वती–तार्क्ष्यसंवादः)
आसन् वर्षसहस्त्रीयास्तथा पुत्रसहस्रिण: | उनकी आयु हजारों वर्षोकी होती थी और वे हजार-हजार पुत्र उत्पन्न करते थे ।। ६७ $ई || ततः कालान्तरे<न्यस्मिन् पथिवीतलचारिण:,तदनन्तर कुछ कालके पश्चात् भूतलपर विचरनेवाले मनुष्य काम और क्रोधके वशीभूत हो गये। वे छल-कपट और दम्भसे जीविका चलाने लगे। उनके मनको लोभ और मोहने दबा लिया। इन दोषोंके कारण उन्हें इच्छा न होते हुए भी अपना शरीर त्यागनेके लिये विवश होना पड़ा
āsan varṣasahastryās tathā putrasahasriṇaḥ | tataḥ kālāntare'nyasmin pṛthivītala-cāriṇaḥ kāma-krodha-vaśībhūtā babhūvuḥ | chala-kapaṭa-dambhaiś ca vṛttiṃ cakruḥ, lobha-mohābhibhūtamanaso doṣair ebhir anicchanto'pi śarīra-tyāge vivāśā babhūvuḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “In those days people lived for thousands of years, and they begot thousands of sons. But after a long passage of time, those who roamed upon the earth fell under the sway of desire and anger. They began to sustain themselves through deceit, fraud, and pretension; greed and delusion pressed down their minds. Because of these faults, they were compelled—though unwilling—to abandon their bodies.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral decline begins when desire and anger govern the mind; deceit, hypocrisy, greed, and delusion corrupt livelihood and conduct, and these inner faults lead to suffering and an unwilling fall into death—implying that self-control and truthful living sustain dharma and well-being.
Mārkaṇḍeya contrasts an earlier age of extraordinary longevity and prolific offspring with a later period when humans become dominated by kāma and krodha, adopt deceitful means of living, and—due to these vices—are forced to relinquish their bodies.