Shloka 19

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

ईदृशो भविता लोको युगान्ते पर्युपस्थिते । वस्त्राणां प्रवरा शाणी धान्यानां कोरदूषका:,युगान्तकाल आनेपर लोगोंकी ऐसी ही दशा होगी। वस्त्रोंमें सनके बने हुए वस्त्र अच्छे समझे जायँगे। धानोंमें कोदोका आदर होगा

Transliteration

īdṛśo bhavitā loko yugānte paryupasthite | vastrāṇāṃ pravarā śāṇī dhānyānāṃ koradūṣakāḥ ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya nói: “Khi thời mạt của kỷ nguyên đến gần, thế gian sẽ ra nông nỗi này: trong các thứ y phục, vải thô dệt từ sợi gai/lanh (śāṇī) lại bị coi là thượng hạng; còn trong các thứ ngũ cốc, những loại kê thô như kodrava lại được tôn quý.”

Word by Word

ईदृशःsuch, of this kind

भविताwill be

लोकःthe world/people

युगान्तेat the end of the age

पर्युपस्थितेwhen (it) has arrived/come upon

वस्त्राणाम्of garments

प्रवराthe best, excellent

शाणीhemp/linen cloth (śāṇī)

धान्यानाम्of grains

कोरदूषकाःkodo-millet grains (koradūṣaka-s)

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

yuga (age)

śāṇī (hemp/flax linen cloth)

kodrava (kodo millet)

ūṣaka (coarse grain)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse signals that at the yuga’s end, material scarcity and moral weakening distort social standards: what is ordinarily considered inferior becomes celebrated as ‘best,’ revealing a deeper decline in discernment and well-being.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing symptoms of the approaching yuga-end (yugānta), giving prophetic markers of societal conditions—specifically, the reduced quality of clothing and food that people will nonetheless praise due to changed circumstances.