Shloka 26
इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्
Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration
न व्रतानि चरिष्यन्ति ब्राह्मणा वेदनिन्दका: । न यक्ष्यन्ति न होष्यन्ति हेतुवादविमोहिता: । निम्नेष्वीहां करिष्यन्ति हेतुवादविमोहिता:,ब्राह्मगलोग व्रत और नियमोंका पालन तो करेंगे नहीं, उलटे वेदोंकी निन्दा करने लग जायँगे। कोरे तर्कवादसे मोहित होकर वे यज्ञ और होम छोड़ बैठेंगे। वे केवल तर्कवादसे मोहित होकर नीच-से-नीच कर्म करनेके लिये प्रयत्नशील रहेंगे
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca | na vratāni cariṣyanti brāhmaṇā vedanindakāḥ | na yakṣyanti na hoṣyanti hetuvādavimohitāḥ | nimneṣv īhāṃ kariṣyanti hetuvādavimohitāḥ |
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Brahmins, having turned into revilers of the Veda, will no longer observe vows and disciplines. Deluded by barren disputation, they will abandon sacrifice and the sacred fire-offerings. Bewildered by such sophistry alone, they will strive after ever-lower pursuits and actions.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when intellectual pride turns into contempt for revealed tradition, people abandon disciplined living (vrata) and sacred duties (yajña, homa), and their energies sink into inferior aims. It critiques ‘hetuvāda’ not as genuine inquiry, but as sophistry that severs ethics and practice from dharma.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a future degeneration of religious and moral order: those expected to uphold Vedic learning and ritual will instead criticize the Veda, stop performing sacrifices and fire-offerings, and pursue low actions—an omen-like depiction of societal decline.