Shloka 30

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

सहस्रान्ते नरा: सर्वे प्रायशो5नृतवादिन: । यज्ञप्रतिनिधि: पार्थ दानप्रतिनिधिस्तथा

Transliteration

sahasrānte narāḥ sarve prāyaśo 'nṛtavādinaḥ | yajñapratinidhiḥ pārtha dānapratinidhis tathā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Khi một ngàn năm khép lại, gần như mọi người đều có khuynh hướng trở thành kẻ nói dối. Trong thời ấy, hỡi Pārtha, tế lễ chỉ còn là sự làm thay cho có, và bố thí cũng chỉ còn là sự thay thế mà thôi.”

Word by Word

सहस्रान्तेat the end of a thousand (years/units)

नराःmen

सर्वेall

प्रायशःfor the most part; generally

अनृतवादिनःspeakers of untruth; liars

यज्ञप्रतिनिधिःa substitute for sacrifice

पार्थO Partha (Arjuna)

दानप्रतिनिधिःa substitute for giving (charity)

तथाlikewise; also

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pārtha (Arjuna)

yajña (sacrifice)

dāna (charity)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse warns that as moral order declines over long cycles of time, truthfulness erodes and even sacred practices like sacrifice and charity risk becoming mere outward substitutes—performed in form but lacking the genuine inner integrity that gives them ethical value.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, addresses Pārtha (Arjuna) and comments on a degenerative phase of time: people largely speak untruth, and religious-ethical acts such as yajña and dāna are reduced to proxy or token versions rather than authentic, dharma-rooted conduct.