Shloka 11
Āśramadharma and the Marks of the Muni
Yayāti–Aṣṭaka Saṃvāda
यथाकामं यथोत्साहं यथाकालमरिंदम । सेविता विषया: पुत्र यौवनेन मया तव,शत्रुदमन पुत्र! मैंने तुम्हारी जवानीके द्वारा अपनी रुचि, उत्साह और समयके अनुसार विषयोंका सेवन किया है
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yathākāmaṃ yathotsāhaṃ yathākālam ariṃdama | sevitā viṣayāḥ putra yauvanena mayā tava ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “O tagapagpasuko ng mga kaaway, anak ko, ayon sa aking nais, sa aking sigla, at sa nararapat na panahon, tinamasa ko ang mga bagay ng pandama sa pamamagitan ng iyong kabataan.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames enjoyment (kāma/viṣaya) as something regulated by three constraints—desire, capacity (utsāha), and proper timing (kāla). Ethically, it implies that even legitimate pleasures should be pursued with self-awareness and situational appropriateness rather than impulsively.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, reports a speaker addressing a ‘son’ praised as a foe-tamer. The speaker reflects on having enjoyed worldly pleasures in a measured way, emphasizing that such enjoyment occurred in youth and in accordance with desire, strength, and the right time.