Shloka 17
Tapovana-praveśaḥ — The King’s Entry into the Sacred Grove and Vision of the Āśrama
न बाल एव ग्रियते तदा कश्चिज्जनाधिप । न च स्त्रियं प्रजानाति कक्षिदप्राप्तयौवन:,राजन! उन दिनों कोई भी बाल्यावस्थामें नहीं मरता था। कोई भी पुरुष युवावस्था प्राप्त हुए बिना स्त्री-सुखका अनुभव नहीं करता था
na bāla eva mriyate tadā kaścid janādhipa | na ca striyaṃ prajānāti kaścid aprāptayauvanaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lord of men, in those days no one died while still a child; and no man, before attaining youth, came to know a woman.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an ideal social and moral order: life is protected through childhood, and sexual relations are associated with the proper life-stage (youth), implying restraint and adherence to dharma in matters of age, maturity, and conduct.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes conditions in an earlier time to the king: people did not die in childhood, and men did not engage in relations with women before reaching youth—an account that highlights a perceived harmony and regulated social life.