श्रीराम उवाच । बाल्यानर्थमथ त्यक्त्वा पुमानभिहताशयः । आरोहति निपाताय यौवनं संभ्रमेण तु ॥ १ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | bālyānarthamatha tyaktvā pumānabhihatāśayaḥ | ārōhati nipātāya yauvanaṁ saṁbhramēṇa tu || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Rāma said: Then, having left behind the misery of childhood, a man, his mind struck down, climbs into youth in a fever of excitement, only to fall.
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- rāma
- Rāma
- uvāca
- said
- bālya
- of childhood
- anartham
- the misery
- atha
- then
- tyaktvā
- having left behind
- pumān
- a man
- abhihata
- struck down
- āśayaḥ
- his mind
- ārōhati
- climbs
- nipātāya
- only to fall
- yauvanaṁ
- into youth
- saṁbhramēṇa
- in a fever of excitement
- tu
- but
Meaning
Childhood was a time of helplessness (1.19). One might expect youth, with its strength and freedom, to be the happy age. Rāma says it is worse. The child at least does not fall far; the young man "climbs" (ārohati) eagerly, in sambhrama, a whirl of excitement, and climbs "only to fall" (nipātāya). The commentary: childhood does not lead to hell, but youth is the very cause of the fall. The image is of a man climbing a tree in a hurry, not looking where he puts his feet. The reader in youth is asked to climb slowly; the reader past it, to see what the climb was for.