Shloka 31
आदि पर्व — अध्याय ८३: ययाति-इन्द्र-संवादः तथा अष्टक-प्रश्नः
Yayāti–Indra Dialogue and Aṣṭaka’s Inquiry
शुक्र उवाच धर्मज्ञ: सन् महाराज यो<धर्ममकृथा: प्रियम् । तस्माज्जरा त्वामचिराद् धर्षयिष्यति दुर्जया,शुक्राचार्यने कहा--महाराज! तुमने धर्मज्ञ होकर भी अधर्मको प्रिय मानकर उसका आचरण किया है। इसलिये जिसको जीतना कठिन है, वह वृद्धावस्था तुम्हें शीघ्र ही धर दबायेगी
śukra uvāca | dharmajñaḥ san mahārāja yo ’dharmam akṛthāḥ priyam | tasmāj jarā tvām acirād dharṣayiṣyati durjayā ||
Śukra said: “O great king, though you know dharma, you have treated adharma as something dear and have acted accordingly. Therefore invincible old age (decay) will soon overpower you.”
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even if one possesses knowledge of dharma, choosing and practicing adharma brings inevitable consequences; here, moral failure is linked to the swift arrival of ‘jarā’—the inescapable force of decline—symbolizing that wrongdoing accelerates one’s downfall.
Śukra (Śukrācārya) rebukes a king, pointing out the contradiction between the king’s understanding of dharma and his actual preference for adharma, and warns that unconquerable old age will soon overpower him as a result.