Shloka 62

Devanagari script

क्षीणायुषो महाराज तरुणा वृद्धशीलिन: । तरुणानां च यच्छीलं तद्‌ वृद्धेषु प्रजायते,महाराज! उस समयके तरुणोंकी आयु क्षीण होगी और उनका शील-स्वभाव बूढ़ोंका- सा हो जायगा और तरुणोंका जो शील-स्वभाव होना चाहिये, वह बूढ़ोंमें प्रकट होगा

Transliteration

kṣīṇāyuṣo mahārāja taruṇā vṛddhaśīlinaḥ | taruṇānāṃ ca yacchīlaṃ tad vṛddheṣu prajāyate ||

Translation

毗舍波耶那说道：“大王啊，那时青年寿命短促，却具备老者的行止与性情；而本应属于青年的风貌与作为，反倒在老人身上出现。”

Word by Word

क्षीणायुषःhaving diminished lifespan

महाराजO great king

तरुणाःyoung men

वृद्धशीलिनःhaving the conduct/nature of the old

तरुणानाम्of the young

चand

यत्which/that (what)

शीलम्conduct, disposition

तत्that

वृद्धेषुamong/in the old (people)

प्रजायतेarises, comes to be manifested

महाराजO great king

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mahārāja (the king addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic warning about social and ethical inversion: when natural roles and virtues are reversed—youth losing vigor and elders taking on youthful traits—society’s moral order becomes unstable, signaling decline in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing a future degenerate condition (a set of ominous societal symptoms), telling the king that people’s lifespans and customary virtues will be distorted, with youths behaving like the aged and elders displaying what should belong to youth.