Shloka 36
Śukra’s Ultimatum and Devayānī’s Demand (शुक्र-प्रतिज्ञा तथा देवयानी-वर-याचना)
स शाश्वती: समा राजन् प्रजा धर्मेण पालयन् | जरामार्च्छन्महाघोरां नाहुषो रूपनाशिनीम्,राजन! वे सर्वदा धर्मपूर्वक प्रजाका पालन करते थे। एक समय नहुषपुत्र ययातिको अत्यन्त भयानक वृद्धावस्था प्राप्त हुई, जो रूप और सौन्दर्यका नाश करनेवाली है
sa śāśvatīḥ samā rājan prajā dharmeṇa pālayan | jarām ārcchan mahāghorāṃ nāhuṣo rūpanāśinīm ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “O Hari, sa loob ng maraming taon ay pinangalagaan niya ang kanyang mga nasasakupan ayon sa dharma. Sa paglipas ng panahon, si Yayāti, anak ni Nahusha, ay inabot ng isang lubhang kakila-kilabot na katandaan—na sumisira sa ganda at anyo ng katawan.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a ruler who governs righteously cannot escape jarā (old age). The verse frames ethical kingship—protecting subjects by dharma—against the inevitability of bodily decline, highlighting impermanence and the limits of worldly power.
The narrator describes a period of sustained dharmic rule, then marks a turning point: Yayāti, son of Nahusha, is suddenly afflicted by a dreadful old age that ruins beauty—setting up the ensuing events connected with his response to aging.