Shloka 75

प्रह्लादचरितम् (हिरण्यकशिपोः स्वर्गापहरणं, प्रह्लादस्य विष्णुभक्तिः, उपदेशः)

Devanagari script

बाल्ये क्रीडनकासक्ता यौवने विषयोन्मुखाः अज्ञानयन्त्य् अशक्त्या च वार्द्धकं समुपस्थितम्

Transliteration

bālye krīḍanakāsaktā yauvane viṣayonmukhāḥ ajñānayanty aśaktyā ca vārddhakaṃ samupasthitam

Translation

В детстве они привязаны к играм и игрушкам; в юности обращены к предметам чувств. Так по неведению — а затем по немощи — они не замечают, что старость уже пришла.

Word by Word

• बाल्ये: in childhood
• बाल्ये: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाल्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचनम्

• क्रीडनकासक्ताः: attached to toys/playthings
• क्रीडनकासक्ताः: Karta (Qualifier of subject/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रीडनक + आसक्त (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचनम्; विशेषणम् (implicit subject 'people'); समासः: क्रीडनके आसक्ताः

• यौवने: in youth
• यौवने: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यौवन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचनम्

• विषयोन्मुखाः: turned toward sense-objects
• विषयोन्मुखाः: Karta (Qualifier of subject/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विषय + उन्मुख (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचनम्; विशेषणम् (implicit subject 'people'); समासः: विषयेषु उन्मुखाः

• अज्ञानयन्ति: they ignore/do not notice
• अज्ञानयन्ति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अज्ञा/ज्ञा (धातु; causative from √ज्ञा)
• Form: लट् (present), प्रथमपुरुषः (3rd), बहुवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्; णिच्-प्रत्यय (causative) = 'cause not to know/ignore'

• अशक्त्या: due to inability
• अशक्त्या: Hetu (Cause/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अशक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचनम्

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• वार्द्धकम्: old age
• वार्द्धकम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वार्द्धक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचनम्

• समुपस्थितम्: having arrived/present
• समुपस्थितम्: Karma (Qualifier of object/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-उप-स्था (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past participle), नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचनम्; वार्द्धकम्-विशेषणम्

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: How play in childhood and sense-objects in youth, followed by incapacity, make people fail to notice old age’s arrival.

Teaching: Ethical

Quality: didactic

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Attachment to play and sense-pleasures blinds one to time’s passage; by the time awareness comes, strength is gone.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Build ‘early-warning’ habits: periodic reflection on mortality/time, and disciplined enjoyment governed by dharma.

Vishishtadvaita: Encourages regulated life (niyama) as service to the Lord, where worldly stages are integrated under dharma rather than opposed to it.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Bhakti Type: Shanta

FAQs

What is the significance of old age (vārddhaka) in this Vishnu Purana verse?

It is presented as Time’s undeniable arrival, often ignored due to play in childhood and sense-pleasure in youth—urging timely awakening and reorientation toward dharma and devotion.

How does Sage Parāśara explain human delusion in the life-stages here?

He frames it as a progression: distraction in childhood, outward sense-orientation in youth, and then helplessness in later years—so people remain unaware of life’s decline until it is unavoidable.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

By highlighting the tyranny of Kāla over embodied life, the passage implicitly points to seeking refuge in Vishnu—the Supreme Reality beyond decay—as the stable goal amid impermanence.