Shloka 4
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 85: Āṣṭaka–Yayāti संवादः
Merit-Exhaustion, Rebirth, and the Critique of Pride
पूर्णे वर्षमहस्रे तु पुनस्ते यौवनं त्वहम् । दत्त्वा स्वं प्रतिपत्स्यामि पाप्मानं जरया सह,यदो! तुम बुढ़ापेके साथ मेरे दोषको ले लो और मैं तुम्हारी जवानीके द्वारा विषयोंका उपभोग करूँ। एक हजार वर्ष पूरे होनेपर मैं पुनः तुम्हारी जवानी देकर बुढ़ापेके साथ अपना दोष वापस ले लूँगा
pūrṇe varṣa-mahasre tu punas te yauvanaṃ tv aham | dattvā svaṃ pratipatsyāmi pāpmānaṃ jarayā saha, yado ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “When a full thousand years have passed, I will again return your youth to you. Having granted it for now, I shall take back my own burden of decay—my ‘taint’—together with old age. Thus, by your youth I will enjoy the objects of sense; and when the term is complete, I will restore what is yours and reclaim what is mine.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between desire and responsibility: youth and pleasure are treated as transferable advantages, but the ‘burden’ of old age and moral taint remains real and must be borne by someone. It foreshadows that indulgence cannot erase consequences; it only shifts who carries them.
A king (addressing Yadu) proposes a time-bound exchange: he will take Yadu’s youth to enjoy worldly pleasures, and in return Yadu will take on the king’s old age and associated ‘taint.’ After a thousand years, the king promises to return Yadu’s youth and reclaim his own old age.