Shloka 13
Yayāti’s Request for Youth: Sons’ Refusals and Pūru’s Acceptance (ययातेः यौवन-विनिमयः)
न हातो दुष्करतरं मन्ये लोकेष्वपि त्रिषु । (नि:संशयो विशेषेण परुषं मर्मकृन्तनम् । सुहन्मित्रजनास्तेषु सौहदं न च कुर्वते ।।) य: सपत्नश्रियं दीप्तां हीनश्री: पर्युपासते । मरणं शोभनं तस्य इति विद्वधज्जना विदु:,इससे बढ़कर महान् दुःखकी बात मैं अपने लिये तीनों लोकोंमें और कुछ नहीं मानती हूँ। इसमें संदेह नहीं कि कटुवचन मर्मस्थलोंको विदीर्ण करनेवाला होता है। कटुवादी मनुष्योंसे उनके सगे-सम्बन्धी और मित्र भी प्रेम नहीं करते हैं। जो श्रीहीन होकर शत्रुओंकी चमकती हुई लक्ष्मीकी उपासना करता है, उस मनुष्यका तो मर जाना ही अच्छा है; ऐसा विद्वान् पुरुष अनुभव करते हैं
śukra uvāca | na hāto duṣkarataraṃ manye lokeṣv api triṣu | niḥsaṃśayo viśeṣeṇa paruṣaṃ marmakṛntanam | suhanmitrajanās teṣu sauhṛdaṃ na ca kurvate || yaḥ sapatnaśriyaṃ dīptāṃ hīnaśrīḥ paryupāsate | maraṇaṃ śobhanaṃ tasya iti vidvadjanā viduḥ ||
Śukra said: “I consider that there is no hardship more difficult for me, even in the three worlds, than this. Without doubt, harsh speech is especially cruel, for it cuts into one’s vital points. Those who speak bitterly do not win affection even from their own kin and friends. And the person who, bereft of fortune, waits upon the blazing prosperity of his rivals—of such a one, the wise hold that death itself is preferable.”
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Harsh, cutting speech destroys relationships and wounds more deeply than many external hardships; likewise, living in humiliating dependence on a rival’s prosperity is portrayed as a loss of dignity so severe that the wise deem death preferable to such abasement.
Śukra is delivering a moral reflection: he laments the unbearable pain caused by bitter words, notes that harsh speakers lose even the affection of their own circle, and condemns the degraded state of a person who, lacking fortune, must attend upon an enemy’s flourishing prosperity.