न मृतौ न जरा रोगे न चाऽऽपदि न यौवने । ताश्चिन्ताः परिकृन्तन्ति हृदयं शैशवेषु याः ॥ ४ ॥
na mṛtau na jarā rōgē na cā’’padi na yauvanē | tāścintāḥ parikṛntanti hṛdayaṁ śaiśavēṣu yāḥ || 4 ||
Translation
Not in death, not in old age, not in sickness, not in calamity, not in youth, do such cares cut the heart as those of childhood.
Word by word
- na
- not
- mṛtau
- in death
- jarā
- (jarā) in old age
- rōgē
- in sickness
- ca
- and
- āpadi
- in calamity
- yauvanē
- in youth
- tāś
- (tāḥ) such
- cintāḥ
- cares
- parikṛntanti
- do cut
- hṛdayaṁ
- the heart
- śaiśavēṣu
- of childhood
- yāḥ
- as those
Meaning
A startling claim, and true to experience. The griefs of a child, a toy broken, a parent gone for an hour, a refusal, cut deeper than the griefs of later life, because the child has no perspective, no words, and no way to console itself. An adult knows that a loss will pass; a child knows only the loss. The reader may remember a childhood sorrow that still feels sharp, and see how much of its pain was the absence of understanding.