Shloka 87

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

निर्मनुष्ये महीपाल निःश्वापदमहीरुहे । अनन्तरिक्षे लोके5स्मिन्‌ भ्रमाम्पेकोडहमाहत:,इस प्रकार चराचर प्राणियों, देवताओं तथा असुर आदिके नष्ट हो जानेपर यक्ष, राक्षस, मनुष्य, हिंसक जीव, वृक्ष तथा अन्तरिक्षसे शून्य उस घोर एकार्णवमय जगतमें मैं अकेला ही इधर-उधर मारा-मारा फिरता हूँ

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | nirmanuṣye mahīpāla niḥśvāpadamahīruhe | anantarikṣe loke 'smin bhramāmy eko 'ham āhataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Tâu đại vương, trong thế gian này—không còn loài người, vắng bóng muôn thú và cây cối, và ngay cả các hữu tình ở cõi trung giới cũng trống không—ta, kẻ bị giáng họa và cô độc, lang thang vô định.”

Word by Word

निर्मनुष्येin (a place/world) devoid of men

महीपालO king (protector of the earth)

निःश्वापदdevoid of beasts/creatures

महीरुहेin trees (lit. earth-growers)

अनन्तरिक्षेin (a world) without the mid-air/sky-region

लोकेin the world

अस्मिन्in this

भ्रामामिI wander

एकःalone, single

अहम्I

आहतःstruck/afflicted, battered

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

mahīpāla (the king addressed)

loka (the world)

antarikṣa (mid-region/sky)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights impermanence and existential vulnerability: when all supports of life vanish, one confronts solitude and suffering. Implicitly it urges adherence to dharma and right conduct while the world still sustains relationships, duties, and moral choice.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker describes a terrifying, emptied world—without humans, creatures, trees, or even beings of the mid-region—and portrays himself as the lone afflicted wanderer. It functions as a vivid report of desolation, intensifying the narrative’s sense of crisis and loss.