यदा यदा परां कोटिमध्यारोहति यौवनम् । वल्गन्ति सज्वराः कामास्तदा नाशाय केवलम् ॥ ३६ ॥
yadā yadā parāṁ kōṭimadhyārōhati yauvanam | valganti sajvarāḥ kāmāstadā nāśāya kēvalam || 36 ||
Translation
Whenever youth climbs to its highest point, the desires, with their fevers, leap up, only for destruction.
Word by word
- yadā
- whenever
- parāṁ
- its highest
- kōṭim
- point
- adhyārōhati
- climbs to
- yauvanam
- youth
- valganti
- leap up
- sajvarāḥ
- with their fevers
- kāmās
- (kāmāḥ) the desires
- tadā
- then
- nāśāya
- for destruction
- kēvalam
- only
Meaning
At the peak of youth, desire is strongest, and with it come jvara, fevers, the heat of passion and its anxieties. The commentary and the Dwivedi text agree: at youth's height the fever of desire grows only to destroy. The verse points to a paradox: the strongest moment of youth is the moment of greatest danger.