Shloka 7
Droṇa’s Ācārya-Dakṣiṇā: Capture of Drupada and Division of Pāñcāla (द्रोण-आचार्यदक्षिणा)
बहुमायासमाकीर्णो नानादोषसमाकुल: । लुप्तधर्मक्रियाचारो घोर: कालो भविष्यति
bahumāyāsamākīrṇo nānādoṣasamākulaḥ | luptadharmakriyācāro ghoraḥ kālo bhaviṣyati ||
“இனி ஒரு கொடிய யுகம் வரும்; எங்கும் வஞ்சகம், கபடம், மாயை நிறைந்து கிடக்கும். பலவகைத் தோஷங்கள் பெருகும்; தர்மக் கிரியைகளும் நல்லொழுக்கமும் ஒழிந்துபோகும்.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when deception (māyā) and moral faults (doṣa) dominate, dharma is not merely debated but practically lost: ritual responsibility (kriyā) and ethical conduct (ācāra) collapse together. It frames ethical vigilance as necessary because social order depends on lived practice, not slogans.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a prophetic description of a coming age characterized by widespread trickery and the erosion of dharmic life. The statement functions as a moral forecast within the epic’s larger reflection on how Time (kāla) brings degeneration in human conduct.