Shloka 39
इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्
Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration
सत्य॑ संक्षिप्यते लोके नरै: पण्डितमानिभि: । स्थविरा बालमतयो बाला: स्थविरबुद्धयः,अपनेको पण्डित माननेवाले मुनष्य संसारमें सत्यको मिटा देंगे। बूढ़ोंकी बुद्धि बालकों- जैसी होगी और बालकोंकी बूढ़ों-जैसी
satyaṃ saṃkṣipyate loke naraiḥ paṇḍitamānibhiḥ | sthavirā bālamatayo bālāḥ sthavirabuddhayaḥ ||
Disse Mārkaṇḍeya: “No mundo, homens que se vangloriam de erudição reduzirão e apagarão a verdade. Os velhos pensarão como crianças, e as crianças possuirão o juízo dos velhos.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when people become proud of learning without integrity, truth (satya) is reduced and distorted. It critiques intellectual vanity and points to a moral inversion where genuine discernment is lost.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a degeneration of social and moral order—an age in which truth is suppressed by pretenders to wisdom, and normal markers of maturity and judgment become confused.