Shloka 44
ये यवान्ञा जनपदा गोधूमान्नास्तथैव च । तान् देशान् संश्रयिष्यन्ति युगान्ते पर्युपस्थिते,युगान्तकाल आनेपर (लोग) उन प्रदेशोंमें चले जायँगे जहाँ जौ और गेहूँ आदि अनाज अधिक पैदा होते हैं (चाहे वह देश निषिद्ध ही क्यों न हो)
ye yavāñ jānā janapadā godhūmānnās tathaiva ca | tān deśān saṁśrayiṣyanti yugānte paryupasthite ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “When the end of the age draws near, people will seek refuge in those regions where barley and wheat and other grains are plentiful—even if those lands are otherwise forbidden. In times of collapse, the pressure of survival drives communities to abandon customary restraints and migrate toward sustenance.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, at yugānta (a time of societal and moral breakdown), basic survival needs can override customary prohibitions and social boundaries; people gravitate toward places of food security, revealing the fragility of norms when scarcity intensifies.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing signs of the approaching end of an age: widespread distress and scarcity lead people to migrate and take refuge in grain-rich regions, even if those regions are considered restricted or improper to enter under normal circumstances.