श्रीराम उवाच । अपर्याप्तं हि बालत्वं बलात् पिबति यौवनम् । यौवनं च जरा पश्चात् पश्य कर्कशतां मिथः ॥ १ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | aparyāptaṁ hi bālatvaṁ balāt pibati yauvanam | yauvanaṁ ca jarā paścāt paśya karkaśatāṁ mithaḥ || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Rāma said: Youth drinks up childhood by force before it has had its fill, and then old age drinks up youth: see how harsh they are to each other!
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- rāma
- Rāma
- uvāca
- said
- aparyāptaṁ
- before it has had its fill
- hi
- indeed
- bālatvaṁ
- childhood
- balāt
- by force
- pibati
- drinks up
- yauvanam
- youth
- yauvanaṁ
- youth (again)
- ca
- and
- jarā
- old age
- paścāt
- then
- paśya
- see
- karkaśatāṁ
- how harsh
- mithaḥ
- to each other
Meaning
The three ages are three devourers. Childhood never reaches its fill of play before youth swallows it; youth never has its fill of pleasure before age swallows it. The commentary: youth, which swallowed childhood, is harsher; what then of old age, which swallows youth? Each age ends unfinished. The reader is shown that no stage of life arrives at satisfaction; each is cut off by the next, and the last is cut off by death.