Shloka 5
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 85: Āṣṭaka–Yayāti संवादः
Merit-Exhaustion, Rebirth, and the Critique of Pride
यदुरुवाच जरायां बहवो दोषा: पानभोजनकारिता: । तस्माज्जरां न ते राजन ग्रहीष्य इति मे मति:,यदु बोले--राजन! बुढ़ापेमें खाने-पीनेसे अनेक दोष प्रकट होते हैं; अतः मैं आपकी वृद्धावस्था नहीं लूँगा, यही मेरा निश्चित विचार है
yadur uvāca jarāyāṃ bahavo doṣāḥ pānabhojanakāritāḥ | tasmāj jarāṃ na te rājan grahīṣya iti me matiḥ ||
قال يَدو: «أيها الملك، في الشيخوخة تنشأ عيوب كثيرة يثيرها الأكل والشرب. لذلك، أيها الحاكم، لن آخذ عنك شيخوختك—هذا عزمي الراسخ.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and practical burdens associated with senescence—especially the decline into faults linked with bodily appetites—and asserts personal agency: Yadu refuses to assume another’s old age, implying that one should bear the consequences of one’s own life and discipline desires rather than transfer burdens to others.
In the dialogue context, Yadu addresses a king and declines to take on the king’s old age. He argues that old age brings many defects connected with eating and drinking, and therefore he will not accept that condition for himself.