Shloka 32
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 85: Āṣṭaka–Yayāti संवादः
Merit-Exhaustion, Rebirth, and the Critique of Pride
जरयाहं प्रतिच्छन्नो वयोरूपधरस्तव । यौवनं भवते दत्त्वा चरिष्यामि यथा55त्थ माम्,“मैं वृद्धावस्थासे आच्छादित हो आपकी आयु एवं रूप धारण करके रहूँगा और आपको जवानी देकर आप मेरे लिये जो आज्ञा देंगे, उसका पालन करूँगा”
jarayāhaṃ praticchanno vayorūpadharas tava | yauvanaṃ bhavate dattvā cariṣyāmi yathāttha mām ||
毗耶娑波耶那说道：“我将以衰老为掩，隐身其下，承受你的年岁与形貌；我把青春赐予你之后，必将完全依你所命而行。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of seeking pleasure or advantage by shifting hardship onto another. It invites reflection on responsibility for one’s life-stage duties (āśrama-dharma) and the moral consequences of treating youth and old age as transferable commodities.
A speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) offers to assume another person’s age and appearance—taking on old age—while granting that person youth, and promises to obey whatever commands are given thereafter. It signals a pivotal bargain that alters identity and life-course.