Shloka 3
Adhyaya 74 — King Svarashtra, the Deer-Queen’s Curse, and the Rise of Tamasa Manu
तस्य दीर्घायुṣः पत्न्यो नातिदीर्घायुṣो मुने ।
कालेन जग्मुर्निधनं भृत्यमन्त्रिजनास्तथा ॥
tasya dīrghāyuṣaḥ patnyo nātidīrghāyuṣo mune / kālena jagmur nidhanaṃ bhṛtyamantrijanās tathā
Ó sábio, as esposas daquele rei longevo não eram longevas; com o tempo foram para a morte—assim também seus servos, ministros e outras pessoas.
FAQs
Even when one person is granted exceptional longevity, relationships remain subject to time. The verse presses vairāgya (dispassion) and realism: worldly supports—family, staff, administration—are transient.
Vaṃśānucarita: a moralized royal biography illustrating the workings of kāla within human life.
Kāla functions as the hidden deity here: the dissolver of attachments. The long-lived king becomes a locus for contemplating the asymmetry of destinies—prompting an inward turn toward tapas.