महानरकबीजेन सन्ततभ्रमदायिना । यौवनेन न ये नष्टा नष्टा नाऽन्येन ते जनाः ॥ ६ ॥
mahānarakabījēna santatabhramadāyinā | yauvanēna na yē naṣṭā naṣṭā nā’nyēna tē janāḥ || 6 ||
Translation
Those who are not ruined by youth, the seed of the great hell, which gives unceasing confusion, will not be ruined by anything else.
Word by word
- mahā
- the great
- naraka
- of hell
- bījēna
- by the seed
- santata
- unceasing
- bhrama
- confusion
- dāyinā
- which gives
- yauvanēna
- by youth
- na
- not
- yē
- those who
- naṣṭā
- (naṣṭāḥ) are ruined
- anyēna
- by anything else
- tē
- they
- janāḥ
- people
Meaning
The verse is a test and a promise. Youth is the "seed of the great hell" (mahā-naraka-bīja): the passions sown then bear fruit for a lifetime. Whoever passes through it unruined has passed the hardest test, and nothing later can destroy them. The reader in youth is told the stakes; the reader who has come through is told what was won.