Shloka 4

Yayāti’s Request for Youth: Sons’ Refusals and Pūru’s Acceptance (ययातेः यौवन-विनिमयः)

Devanagari script

यः समुत्पतितं क्रोधं क्षमयेह निरस्यति । यथोरगस्त्वचं जीर्णा स वै पुरुष उच्यते,जैसे साँप पुरानी केंचुल छोड़ता है, उसी प्रकार जो मनुष्य उभड़नेवाले क्रोधको यहाँ क्षमाद्वारा त्याग देता है, वही श्रेष्ठ पुरुष कहा गया है

Transliteration

yaḥ samutpatitaṁ krodhaṁ kṣamayehā nirasyati | yathoragas tvacaṁ jīrṇāṁ sa vai puruṣa ucyate ||

Translation

Śukra said: “Just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin, so he who, in this world, casts away the anger that suddenly rises through forbearance is indeed called a true man, a person of excellence.”

Word by Word

यःwho (he who)

समुत्पतितम्arisen, sprung up

क्रोधम्anger

क्षमयाby forgiveness, through forbearance

इहhere (in this world/at this time)

निरस्यतिcasts off, rejects, throws away

यथाas, just as

उरगःa snake

त्वचम्skin

जीर्णाम्worn-out, old

सःhe, that (person)

वैindeed, surely

पुरुषःman, person

उच्यतेis called, is said

Speaker

शुक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śukra

serpent (uraga)

skin (tvac)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that true human excellence lies in mastering anger: when wrath arises, one should discard it through kṣamā (forbearance/forgiveness), as effortlessly and decisively as a snake sheds an old skin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śukra is delivering a moral instruction in a didactic context, using a vivid natural simile (a serpent shedding its skin) to counsel restraint and patience as marks of a superior person.