Shloka 16

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

विद्याहीनानविज्ञानालल्‍लोभो<प्यभिभविष्यति । लोभक्रो धपरा मूढा: कामासक्ताश्न मानवा:

Transliteration

vidyāhīnān avijñānāl lobho 'py abhibhaviṣyati | lobha-krodha-parā mūḍhāḥ kāmāsaktāś ca mānavāḥ ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya nói: “Khi con người bị tước mất học vấn và sự phân biệt chân thật, lòng tham tất yếu sẽ lấn át họ. Những kẻ mê muội, bị tham và sân thúc đẩy, lại bám chặt dục lạc, sẽ đánh mất sự sáng tỏ về đạo đức và trở thành mồi ngon cho điều phi nghĩa.”

Word by Word

विद्याहीनान्those devoid of learning

अविज्ञानात्from ignorance / due to lack of understanding

लोभःgreed

अपिalso / even

अभिभविष्यतिwill overpower / will overcome

लोभक्रोधपराःdevoted to greed and anger / intent on greed and anger

मूढाःdeluded

कामासक्ताःattached to desires

मानवाःmen / human beings

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

म

मार्कण्डेय (Mārkaṇḍeya)

म

मानवाः (human beings)

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?

Ignorance and lack of discernment make a person vulnerable to greed; once greed takes hold, it is joined by anger and attachment to desire, leading to delusion and ethical collapse. The implied remedy is cultivation of vidyā (learning) and vijñāna (clear understanding) to restrain the inner enemies.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners in the Vana Parva by describing a moral pattern: when people lack education and insight, greed naturally dominates them, and they become driven by greed, anger, and sensual attachment—conditions that lead to harmful conduct.