Shloka 62

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

क्षीणायुषो महाराज तरुणा वृद्धशीलिन: । तरुणानां च यच्छीलं तद्‌ वृद्धेषु प्रजायते

Transliteration

kṣīṇāyuṣo mahārāja taruṇā vṛddhaśīlinaḥ | taruṇānāṃ ca yacchīlaṃ tad vṛddheṣu prajāyate ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「大王よ、その時代には若者は短命となり、老いた者のような振る舞いと気質を帯びる。しかも本来若者に備わるべき振る舞いが、かえって老人のうちに現れるであろう。」

Word by Word

• क्षीणायुषः: having diminished lifespan
• क्षीणायुषः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षीणायु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• तरुणाः: young men
• तरुणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तरुण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वृद्धशीलिनः: having the conduct/nature of the old
• वृद्धशीलिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृद्धशीलिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तरुणानाम्: of the young
• Type: Noun
• Root: तरुण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• यत्: which/that (what)
• यत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• शीलम्: conduct, disposition
• शीलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शील
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• वृद्धेषु: among/in the old (people)
• वृद्धेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• प्रजायते: arises, comes to be manifested
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-जन
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Mahārāja (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic warning about social and ethical inversion: when natural roles and virtues are reversed—youth losing vigor and elders taking on youthful traits—society’s moral order becomes unstable, signaling decline in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing a future degenerate condition (a set of ominous societal symptoms), telling the king that people’s lifespans and customary virtues will be distorted, with youths behaving like the aged and elders displaying what should belong to youth.