Shloka 29

Adhyaya 40: Kali-yuga Lakshana, Yuga-sandhyamsha, and the Re-emergence of Dharma

Devanagari script

न कृते प्रतिकर्ता च युगक्षीणे भविष्यति निन्दकाश्चैव पतिता युगान्तस्य च लक्षणम्

Transliteration

na kṛte pratikartā ca yugakṣīṇe bhaviṣyati nindakāścaiva patitā yugāntasya ca lakṣaṇam

Translation

جب یُگ کمزور پڑنے لگے تو کِرت کے نظام میں بھی درست کرنے والا کوئی نہ رہے گا۔ نِندک لوگ پست و گرے ہوئے ہو جائیں گے—یہی یُگ کے اختتام کی نشانیاں ہیں۔

Word by Word

• na: not

• kṛte: in Kṛta (the ideal age / righteous order)

• pratikartā: a corrector, one who counteracts wrong and restores dharma

• ca: and

• yugakṣīṇe: when the yuga is exhausted/declining

• bhaviṣyati: will be

• nindakāḥ: slanderers, revilers (of dharma and the good)

• ca eva: and indeed

• patitāḥ: fallen, degraded (from dharmic conduct)

• yugāntasya: of the end of the yuga

• ca: and

• lakṣaṇam: sign, characteristic mark

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages of Naimisharanya)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It frames yuga-decline as a fall in dharmic correction and an increase in nindā (slander); Linga worship is thereby implied as a dharmic anchor—turning the pashu from impure speech and conduct back toward Śiva (Pati) through śuddhi, restraint, and devotion.

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

By implication, Śiva-tattva stands as the stable Pati beyond yuga-change: when worldly correctors vanish and people fall through nindā, refuge in the unwavering Lord—accessed through the Linga as His manifest sign—becomes the corrective principle for the bound soul (pashu).

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The verse highlights ethical discipline—especially purification of speech (avoiding nindā)—a core prerequisite for Shaiva sādhana; in Pāśupata-oriented practice this supports japa, vrata, and Linga-pūjā as means to cut pasha (bondage) and re-establish dharma.