Shloka 17

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मणा: क्षत्रिया वैश्या: संकीर्यन्त: परस्परम्‌,ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय और वैश्य--से आपसमें संतानोत्पादन करके वर्णसंकर हो जायाँगे। वे सभी तपस्या और सत्यसे रहित हो शूद्रोंके समान हो जायँगे। अन्त्यज (चाण्डाल आदि) क्षत्रिय-वैश्य आदिके कर्म करेंगे और क्षत्रिय-वैश्य आदि चाण्डालोंके कर्म अपना लेंगे, इसमें संशय नहीं है

Transliteration

brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyāḥ saṅkīryantaḥ parasparam | brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyāḥ parasparaṃ santānotpādanena varṇasaṅkaraṃ gamiṣyanti | te sarve tapasā satyena ca rahitāḥ śūdravat bhaviṣyanti | antyajāḥ (cāṇḍālādayaḥ) kṣatriya-vaiśyādikarma kariṣyanti, kṣatriya-vaiśyādayaś ca cāṇḍālakarmāṇi grahīṣyanti—atra saṃśayo nāsti ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya nói: “Bà-la-môn, Sát-đế-lợi và Phệ-xá sẽ lẫn lộn với nhau, sinh con vượt qua ranh giới, khiến xã hội rơi vào cảnh hỗn tạp giai cấp (varṇa-saṅkara). Mất đi khổ hạnh (tapas) và chân thật (satya), họ sẽ trở nên giống Thủ-đà-la trong nếp sống. Những kẻ bị coi là ‘ngoại tộc’ như Chiên-đà-la sẽ đảm nhận bổn phận của Sát-đế-lợi và Phệ-xá; còn Sát-đế-lợi và Phệ-xá lại theo nghề nghiệp và tập tục của Chiên-đà-la—điều ấy không còn nghi ngờ gì.”

Word by Word

• {'brāhmaṇāḥ': 'Brāhmaṇas

• the priestly/teaching class', 'kṣatriyāḥ': 'Kṣatriyas

• the ruling/warrior class', 'vaiśyāḥ': 'Vaiśyas

• the agrarian/mercantile class', 'saṅkīryantaḥ': 'mixing, intermingling, becoming blended', 'parasparam': 'with one another

• mutually', 'santānotpādana': 'begetting offspring

• procreation', 'varṇasaṅkara': 'confusion/mixture of social orders

• breakdown of inherited social roles', 'tapas': 'austerity

• disciplined spiritual effort', 'satya': 'truth

• truthfulness', 'rahita': 'devoid of

• lacking', 'śūdravat': 'like a Śūdra

• in the manner of the servant/labouring class (as a moral-social comparison here)', 'antyajāḥ': 'those ‘born at the end’

• outcast groups', 'cāṇḍāla': 'a term for an outcaste community

• often used as a marker of social exclusion in classical texts', 'karma (karmāṇi)': 'duties/occupations

• prescribed actions', 'saṃśaya': 'doubt'}

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Brāhmaṇa
• Kṣatriya
• Vaiśya
• Śūdra
• Antyaja
• Cāṇḍāla

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse warns that when social roles and ethical disciplines collapse—especially truthfulness (satya) and austerity/self-restraint (tapas)—society falls into disorder (varṇa-saṅkara). The emphasis is less on birth alone and more on the erosion of dharma-markers: integrity, restraint, and proper conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a future degeneration of society: the traditional boundaries of varṇa and occupation blur, people abandon tapas and satya, and groups labeled ‘outcast’ take up higher-status roles while higher-status groups adopt stigmatized occupations—presented as a sign of moral and social upheaval.