Shloka 39
The Meeting with Agastya
Rāma Praised by the Gods; Phalaśruti; Ideal Reign; Prelude to Agastya’s Arrival
कठोरहृदया यत्र सीमंतिन्यो न मानवाः । औषधेष्वेव यत्रास्ति कुष्ठयोगो न मानवे
kaṭhorahṛdayā yatra sīmaṃtinyo na mānavāḥ | auṣadheṣveva yatrāsti kuṣṭhayogo na mānave
Onde as mulheres têm o coração endurecido e os homens estão ausentes; e onde a lepra se encontra apenas nos remédios, não nos seres humanos.
Unspecified (verse excerpt; speaker not identifiable from single shloka without surrounding context)
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Type: netherworld
Sandhi Resolution Notes: औषधेष्वेव = औषधेषु + एव; यत्रास्ति = यत्र + अस्ति.
FAQs
It paints a morally inverted or uncanny condition: people’s hearts are hardened, normal social presence is disrupted, and even disease is described as appearing only in remedies rather than in persons—an image suggesting disorder or unnaturalness.
It can be read as a rhetorical or hyperbolic image: “kuṣṭha” is said to be associated with medicines rather than humans, implying an abnormal world-state or a pointed critique rather than a clinical statement.
The verse highlights inner disposition—hard-heartedness—as a key marker of decline, implying that ethical and emotional virtues (compassion, softness of heart) sustain social and human order.