Shloka 40
Yayāti, Devayānī, Śarmiṣṭhā, and the Exchange of Youth: The Unsatisfied Nature of Desire
श्रीयदुरुवाच नोत्सहे जरसा स्थातुमन्तरा प्राप्तया तव । अविदित्वा सुखं ग्राम्यं वैतृष्ण्यं नैति पूरुष: ॥ ४० ॥
śrī-yadur uvāca notsahe jarasā sthātum antarā prāptayā tava aviditvā sukhaṁ grāmyaṁ vaitṛṣṇyaṁ naiti pūruṣaḥ
Yadu replied: My dear father, you have already achieved old age, although you also were a young man. But I do not welcome your old age and invalidity, for unless one enjoys material happiness, one cannot attain renunciation.
Renunciation of material enjoyment is the ultimate goal of human life. Therefore the varṇāśrama institution is most scientific. It aims at giving one the facility to return home, back to Godhead, which one cannot do without completely renouncing all connections with the material world. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya: one who wants to go back home, back to Godhead, must be niṣkiñcana, free from all affinity for material enjoyment. Brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam: unless one is fully renounced, one cannot engage in devotional service or stay in Brahman. Devotional service is rendered on the Brahman platform. Therefore, unless one attains the Brahman platform, or spiritual platform, one cannot engage in devotional service; or, in other words, a person engaged in devotional service is already on the Brahman platform.
FAQs
This verse states that a person often does not attain true dispassion toward worldly pleasures without first knowing or experiencing them; Yadu uses this to justify declining Yayati’s request.
Yadu says he cannot accept premature old age because, in his view, one typically becomes detached only after experiencing worldly life; therefore he declines to take on Yayati’s jarā.
It highlights honest self-assessment: understand the limitations of sense pleasure and cultivate disciplined living so that detachment arises from insight and maturity rather than mere repression.