Shloka 32

Devanagari script

परिग्रहं करिष्यन्ति मायाचारपरिग्रहा: । समाह्दयन्त: कौन्तेय राजान: पापबुद्धयः,उनके शारीरिक बल और पराक्रम क्षीण हो जायँगे। वे उद्ण्ड होकर लोभ और मोहमें डूबे रहेंगे। वैसे ही लोगोंकी चर्चा करने और उनसे दान लेनेमें प्रसन्नताका अनुभव करेंगे। कपटपूर्ण आचारको अपनाकर वे दुष्टोंके दिये हुए दानको भी ग्रहण कर लेंगे। कुन्तीनन्दन! पापबुद्धि राजा एक-दूसरेको युद्धके लिये ललकारते हुए परस्पर एक-दूसरेके प्राण लेनेको उतारू रहेंगे और मूर्ख होते हुए अपनेको पण्डित मानेंगे। इस प्रकार युगान्तकालके सभी क्षत्रिय जगतके लिये काँटे बन जायँगे

Transliteration

parigrahaṃ kariṣyanti māyācāra-parigrahāḥ | samāhvayantaḥ kaunteya rājānaḥ pāpa-buddhayaḥ ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O son of Kuntī, kings of sinful understanding—given to acquisitiveness and to the grasping of wealth through deceitful conduct—will become eager to seize possessions. They will challenge one another to conflict, driven by corrupt motives. In such a time, rulers abandon righteous restraint, and their leadership turns into a source of harm for the world rather than protection.”

Word by Word

परिग्रहम्acquisition/acceptance (of gifts, possessions)

करिष्यन्तिthey will do/make

मायाचारपरिग्रहाःthose whose acquisitions are by deceitful conduct

समाह्वयन्तःchallenging/calling (one another)

कौन्तेयO son of Kuntī

राजानःkings

पापबुद्धयःevil-minded

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Kaunteya (Yudhiṣṭhira)

rājānaḥ (kings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When rulers become driven by parigraha (grasping) and māyā-ācāra (deceitful conduct), they lose the ethical purpose of kingship—protection and justice—and instead provoke conflict. The verse warns that moral corruption in leadership turns political power into social harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a degenerating age to Yudhiṣṭhira (Kaunteya), portraying future kings as greedy and deceptive, inclined to challenge one another. It forms part of a broader prophetic depiction of societal decline and the inversion of dharma.