Shloka 52

इन्द्रद्युम्नोपाख्यानम्

Indradyumna Upākhyāna: On Kīrti, Smṛti, and Restoration

Devanagari script

अट्टशूला जनपदा: शिवशूलाश्षतुष्पथा: । केशशूला: स्त्रियश्वापि भविष्यन्ति युगक्षये,युगक्षयकालमें सभी देशोंके लोग अन्न बेचेंगे। ब्राह्मण वेदविक्रय करेंगे और स्त्रियाँ वेश्या वृत्ति अपना लेंगी

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca |

aṭṭaśūlā janapadāḥ śivaśūlāś catuṣpathāḥ |

keśaśūlāḥ striyaś cāpi bhaviṣyanti yugakṣaye ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya nói: “Khi đến lúc yuga suy tận (yuga-kṣaya), sinh mệnh của xã hội sẽ hóa thành khổ hình: các xứ sở như bị giáo mác đâm xuyên; các ngã tư trở thành nơi kinh hãi và bạo lực; và ngay cả phụ nữ cũng sẽ mang ‘mái tóc như ngọn giáo’—một điềm báo của khốn cùng, loạn lạc, và sự sụp đổ của nết hạnh, gia phong. Đó là dấu hiệu của suy đồi đạo lý khi dharma tàn lụi, khiến sinh kế, an toàn và sự tự chế trong xã hội đều tan rã.”

Word by Word

• अट्टशूला: having raised/upraised spears (or: with spears held aloft)
• अट्टशूला: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अट्टशूल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• जनपदा: countries/kingdoms; peoples of the realms
• जनपदा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जनपद
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शिवशूला: having auspicious spears / (or) having Śiva’s trident-like spears
• शिवशूला: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिवशूल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अष्टपथा: having eight roads/paths; of eightfold ways
• अष्टपथा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टपथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• केशशूला: having hair as a weapon/spear; with hair like spears (dishevelled, bristling)
• केशशूला: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: केशशूल
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• स्त्रियः: women
• स्त्रियः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• भविष्यन्ति: will become / will be
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• युगक्षये: at the end of the age (yuga)
• युगक्षये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: युगक्षय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Śiva
• janapada (provinces/realms)
• catuṣpatha (crossroads)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents omens of yuga-kṣaya: when dharma declines, social spaces (realms and crossroads) become unsafe and people’s lives are marked by pain and disorder. It warns that ethical collapse manifests outwardly as insecurity, exploitation, and the breakdown of social restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is describing future degenerative conditions at the end of an age. Using compressed metaphors (‘spear-like’ affliction), he depicts widespread suffering in the land, fear at public junctions, and distressing changes in women’s condition—signals of a society entering moral and civic breakdown.