Shloka 57

Devanagari script

यावत्‌ सप्ततिवर्षाणि भवन्त्येते ग्रहा नृणाम्‌ । अतः: पर देहिनां तु ग्रहतुल्यो भवेज्ज्वर:,जबतक सत्तर वर्षकी अवस्था पूरी होती है, तबतक ये ग्रह मनुष्योंको सताते हैं। उसके बाद तो सभी देहधारियोंको ज्वर आदि रोग ही ग्रहोंके समान सताने लगते हैं

Transliteration

yāvat saptativarṣāṇi bhavanty ete grahā nṛṇām | ataḥ para dehināṁ tu grahatulyo bhavej jvaraḥ ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “So long as a man’s life has not yet reached seventy years, these ‘grahas’ (seizing afflictions) are said to trouble human beings. But after that point, for embodied creatures, fever and similar illnesses themselves become like grahas—seizing and tormenting the body.”

Word by Word

यावत्as long as; until

सप्तति-वर्षाणिseventy years (periods of years)

भवन्तिare; occur; last

एतेthese

ग्रहाःplanets; (here) grahas/afflicting forces

नृणाम्of men; of humans

अतःthereafter; from that point

परम्afterwards; further

देहिनाम्of embodied beings

तुbut; indeed

ग्रह-तुल्यःequal to a graha; like a graha

भवेत्would be; becomes

ज्वरःfever

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

graha (afflicting seizer)

jvara (fever)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames suffering across the lifespan: earlier, people fear external ‘seizing’ afflictions (grahas), but in old age ordinary diseases—especially fever—function as the real ‘seizers.’ It encourages a sober, realistic view of aging and bodily vulnerability.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners by describing how afflictions are understood to operate over time: up to seventy years grahas are said to trouble humans, and beyond that, illness itself becomes the graha-like force that grips embodied life.