Shloka 26

Cāturāśramya-dharma—Marks of the Four Āśramas (चातुराश्रम्यधर्मः)

Devanagari script

अशृण्वाना: पुराणानां धर्माणां परमा गती: । उत्पथं प्रतिपत्स्यन्ते काममन्युसमीरिता:,लोग काम और क्रोधसे प्रेरित होकर कुमार्गपर चलने लगेंगे। वे पुराणप्रोक्त प्राचीन धर्मोके पालनका जो उत्तम फल है, उस विषयकी बात नहीं सुनेंगे

Transliteration

aśṛṇvānāḥ purāṇānāṃ dharmāṇāṃ paramā gatīḥ | utpathaṃ pratipatsyante kāma-manyu-samīritāḥ ||

Translation

ഇന്ദ്രൻ പറഞ്ഞു—“കാമവും ക്രോധവും പ്രേരിപ്പിച്ച് ജനങ്ങൾ കുപഥത്തിലേക്ക് തിരിയും. പുരാണങ്ങൾ ഉപദേശിക്കുന്ന ധർമ്മത്തിന്റെ പരമഗതിയും അതിന്റെ ശ്രേഷ്ഠഫലവും അവർ കേൾക്കുകയില്ല.”

Word by Word

अशृण्वानाःnot listening

पुराणानाम्of the ancient (teachings)

धर्माणाम्of dharmas / duties

परमाsupreme

गतिःgoal / course / destiny

उत्पथम्wrong path

प्रतिपत्स्यन्तेthey will proceed / take to

कामम्desire

मन्युसमीरिताःimpelled by anger

Speaker

इन्द्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Indra

Purāṇas

Dharma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When desire (kāma) and anger (manyu) dominate, people stop listening to time-tested dharmic instruction and drift into unethical conduct; attentiveness to sacred tradition is presented as a safeguard against moral deviation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra is warning about a condition of societal decline: people, provoked by passion and wrath, will disregard Purāṇic/ancient dharma and choose the ‘utpatha’ (wrong road), thereby losing the highest benefit that comes from righteous living.