Shloka 10
Aṣṭāvakra–Bandi Vāda at Janaka’s Assembly
Numerical Cosmology and Restitution
द्वारपाल उवाच वृद्धेभ्य एवेह मतिं सम बाला गृह्लन्ति कालेन भवन्ति वृद्धा: | न हि ज्ञानमल्पकालेन शक््यं कस्माद् बाल: स्थविर इव प्रभाषसे,द्वारपालने कहा--बालक बड़े-बूढ़ोंसे ही ज्ञान प्राप्त करते हैं और समयानुसार वे भी वृद्ध होते हैं। थोड़े समयमें ज्ञानकी प्राप्ति असम्भव है, अतः तुम बालक होकर भी क्यों वृद्धकी-सी बातें करते हो?
dvārapāla uvāca vṛddhebhya eveha matiṁ sama bālā gṛhlanti kālena bhavanti vṛddhāḥ | na hi jñānam alpākālena śakyaṁ kasmād bālaḥ sthavira iva prabhāṣase ||
The gatekeeper said: “Here, children gain understanding only from the elders, and in time they themselves become old. Knowledge cannot be acquired in a short while. So why do you, though a child, speak like an aged man?”
द्वारपाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wisdom is ordinarily acquired through time, guidance, and lived experience; therefore youthful speech that sounds like mature counsel is treated as unusual and is questioned.
A gatekeeper addresses a young speaker, remarking that children typically learn understanding from elders and that knowledge is not quickly attained; he asks why the child speaks with the gravity and insight of an old man.