Shloka 23
यक्षोपाख्यान-प्रवेशः
Entry into the Yakṣa-Lake Episode
एको दोषो<स्ति नान्यो<5स्य सोडद्यप्रभूृति सत्यवान् । संवत्सरेण क्षीणायुर्देहन्यासं करिष्यति,आजसे लेकर एक वर्ष पूर्ण होनेतक सत्यवान्की आयु पूर्ण हो जायगी और वह शरीर त्याग देगा। केवल यही दोष उसमें है, दूसरा नहीं
eko doṣo 'sti nānyo 'sya so 'dya prabhṛti satyavān | saṃvatsareṇa kṣīṇāyur dehanyāsaṃ kariṣyati ||
Nārada dijo: «Sólo hay una falla en él —ninguna otra. Desde hoy, dentro de un año, se agotará la vida que le fue asignada a Satyavān, y él dejará su cuerpo».
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when a person is exemplary in character, a single unavoidable condition—here, the fixed limit of lifespan—may remain. The verse highlights the ethical and spiritual challenge of responding to foreknown mortality with steadfastness and right action rather than despair.
Nārada delivers a decisive prophecy about Satyavān: he has no fault except that he is destined to die within a year from that day. This revelation sets the stakes for the ensuing events in the Savitrī–Satyavān episode.