Shloka 29
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 85: Āṣṭaka–Yayāti संवादः
Merit-Exhaustion, Rebirth, and the Critique of Pride
पूर्णे वर्षमहस्रे तु पुनर्दास्थामि यौवनम् । स्वं चैव प्रतिपत्स्यामि पाप्मानं जरया सह,कविपुत्र शुक्राचार्यके शापसे मेरी यह दशा हुई है; किंतु मैं जवानीके भोगोंसे अभी तृप्त नहीं हुआ हूँ। पूरो! तुम बुढ़ापेके साथ मेरे दोषको ले लो और मैं तुम्हारी युवावस्था लेकर उसके द्वारा कुछ कालतक विषयभोग करूँगा। एक हजार वर्ष पूरे होनेपर मैं तुम्हें पुनः तुम्हारी जवानी दे दूँगा और बुढ़ापेके साथ अपना दोष ले लूँगा
pūrṇe varṣa-sahasre tu punar dāsthāmi yauvanam | svaṃ caiva pratipatsyāmi pāpmānaṃ jarayā saha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “When a full thousand years are completed, I shall give back your youth again; and I shall take back my own sin together with old age.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between desire and responsibility: attempting to postpone the consequences of one’s actions (here symbolized by old age and ‘pāpa’) by shifting them to another is morally fraught and underscores that karmic burden is not easily escaped.
A king, afflicted with premature old age due to a curse, proposes a time-bound exchange: he will take another’s youth to enjoy sense-pleasures for a thousand years, promising to return that youth afterward while reclaiming his own old age and moral taint.