Shloka 60

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

सप्तवर्षष्टवर्षाश्च स्त्रियों गर्भधरा नूप । दशद्वादशवर्षाणां पुंसां पुत्र: प्रजायते,राजन! युगान्तकालमें सात-आठ वर्षकी स्त्रियाँ गर्भ धारण करेंगी और दस-बारह वर्षकी अवस्थावाले पुरुषोंके भी पुत्र होंगे

Transliteration

saptavarṣāṣṭavarṣāś ca striyo garbhadharā nūpa | daśadvādaśavarṣāṇāṃ puṃsāṃ putraḥ prajāyate, rājan ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Ó rei, nessa era de declínio, até meninas de sete ou oito anos conceberão, e até rapazes de dez ou doze anos gerarão filhos.”

Word by Word

सप्तवर्षाःseven-year-old (women)

अष्टवर्षाःeight-year-old (women)

चand

स्त्रियःwomen

गर्भधराःpregnant; bearing a fetus

नृपO king

दशद्वादशवर्षाणाम्of (those) of ten and twelve years (i.e., aged 10–12)

पुंसाम्of men

पुत्रःa son

प्रजायतेis born; comes into being

राजन्O king

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

rājan (the king addressed)

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?

The verse presents a symptom of yuga-decline: the disruption of normal life-stages and social order, framed as a warning to rulers about moral and societal deterioration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing ominous end-of-age conditions to the king he is addressing, listing abnormal social and biological phenomena as markers of a deteriorating era.