Shloka 22

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यं परिमुष्णन्तो हिंसयन्तश्न॒ मानवा: । अजपा नास्तिका: स्तेना भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये,लोग एक-दूसरेको लूटेंगे और मारेंगे। युगान्तकालके मनुष्य जपरहित, नास्तिक और चोरी करनेवाले होंगे

Transliteration

anyonyam parimuṣṇanto hiṃsayantaś ca mānavāḥ | ajapā nāstikā stenā bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “At the end of the age, people will rob one another and inflict violence. In that time humans will be without japa (disciplined sacred recitation), will deny faith and moral order, and will live as thieves.” The verse frames social collapse as a spiritual and ethical decline: when inner restraint and reverence disappear, exploitation and harm become normal.

Word by Word

अन्योन्यम्mutually, one another

परिमुष्णन्तःrobbing (around), plundering

हिंसयन्तःcausing harm, injuring, killing

मानवाःmen, humans

अजपाःwithout recitation (of japa), non-chanting

नास्तिकाःatheists, unbelievers

स्तेनाःthieves

भविष्यन्तिwill be, will become

युगक्षयेat the end of the age

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

mānavāḥ (people/humans)

yugakṣaya (end of the age)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that societal violence and mutual exploitation arise from inner spiritual decline: when people abandon disciplined practice (japa), lose faith in moral order (nāstikya), and normalize theft, dharma collapses and harm becomes widespread.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing characteristics of the yuga’s end—an apocalyptic moral portrait in which humans turn against each other through robbery and violence, marking a degeneration of both conduct and belief.