अशक्तिरापदस्तृष्णा मूकता मूढबुद्धिता । गृध्नुता लोलता दैन्यं सर्वं बाल्ये प्रवर्त्तते ॥ २ ॥
aśaktirāpadastṛṣṇā mūkatā mūḍhabuddhitā | gṛdhnutā lōlatā dainyaṁ sarvaṁ bālyē pravarttatē || 2 ||
Translation
Weakness, mishaps, craving, speechlessness, dull understanding, greed, fickleness, misery: all of these hold sway in childhood.
Word by word
- aśaktir
- (aśaktiḥ) weakness
- āpadas
- (āpadaḥ) mishaps
- tṛṣṇā
- craving
- mūkatā
- speechlessness
- mūḍha
- dull
- buddhitā
- understanding
- gṛdhnutā
- greed
- lōlatā
- fickleness
- dainyaṁ
- misery
- sarvaṁ
- all of these
- bālyē
- in childhood
- pravarttatē
- hold sway
Meaning
A list without ornament. The child cannot do what it wants (aśakti); it falls and is hurt (āpad); it wants and cannot say what it wants (tṛṣṇā, mūkatā); it does not understand (mūḍhabuddhitā); it grasps at every toy and sweet (gṛdhnutā), cannot settle (lolatā), and is miserable when denied (dainya). The Dwivedi text reads gṛdhnutā as intense longing for play. Every item is something adults outgrow only partly. The reader may find the child's whole list still present in themselves, better hidden.