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Book 1 - Vairagya Prakaranam

Chapter 19 — Blemishes of Boyhood

1. श्रीराम उवाच ।
लब्ध्वापि तरलाकारे कार्यभारतरंगिणि ।
संसारसागरे जन्म बाल्यं दुःखाय केवलम् ॥ १ ॥
One receiving his birth in the unstable ocean of the world, which is disturbed by the billows of the bustle of business, has to pass his boyhood in sufferings only.
2. अशक्तिरापदस्तृष्णा मूकता मूढबुद्धिता ।
गृध्नुता लोलता दैन्यं सर्वं बाल्ये प्रवर्तते ॥ २ ॥
Want of strength and sense, and subjection to diseases and dangers, muteness and appetite (strong natural craving), joined with longings and helplessness, are the concomitants of infancy.
3. रोषरोदनरौद्रासु दैन्यजर्जरितासु च ।
दशासु बन्धनं बाल्यमालानं करिणामिव ॥ ३ ॥
Childhood is chained to fretting and crying, to fits of anger, craving and every kind of incapacity, as an elephant when tied to the post by its shackles.
4. न मृतौ न जरारोगे न चापदि न यौवने ।
ताश्चिन्ताः परिकृन्तन्ति हृदयं शैशवेषु याः ॥ ४ ॥
The vexations which tease the infant breast, are far greater than those which trouble us in youth and old age, or disturb one in disease, danger or at the approach of death.
5. तिर्यग्जातिसमारम्भः सर्वैरेवावधीरितः ।
लोलो बालसमाचारो मरणादपि दुःखदः ॥ ५ ॥
The acts of a boy are as those of young animals, that are always restless and snubbed by every body. Hence boyhood is more intolerable than death itself.
6. प्रतिबिम्बघनाज्ञानं नानासंकल्पपेलवम् ।
बाल्यमालूनसंशीर्णमनः कस्य सुखावहम् ॥ ६ ॥
How can boyhood be pleasing to anybody, when it is but a semblance of gross ignorance, and full of whims and hobbies, and ever subject to miscarriages.
7. जलवह्नयनिलाजस्रजातभीत्या पदे पदे ।
यद्भयं शैशवेऽबुद्ध्या कस्यापदि हि तद्भवेत् ॥ ७ ॥
It is this silly boyhood which is in constant dread of dangers arising at every step from fire, water and air, and which rarely betide us in other states of life.
8. लीलासु दुर्विलासेषु दुरीहासु दुराशये ।
परमं मोहमाधत्ते बालो बलवदापतन् ॥ ८ ॥
Boys are liable to very many errors in their plays and wicked frolics, and in all their wishes and attempts beyond their capacities:hence boyhood is the most perilous state (of life).
9. विकल्पकल्पितारम्भं दुर्विलारसं दुरास्पदम् ।
शैशवं शासनायैव पुरुषस्य न शान्तये ॥ ९ ॥
Boys are engaged in false pursuits and wicked sports, and are subject to all foolish puerilities. Hence boyhood is fit for the rod and not for rest.
10. ये दोषा ये दुराचारा दुष्क्रमा ये दुराधयः ।
ते सर्वे संस्थिता बाल्ये दुर्गर्त इव कौशिकाः ॥ १० ॥
All faults, misconduct, transgressions and heart-aches, lie hidden in boyhood like owls in hollow caves.
11. बाल्यं रम्यमिति व्यर्थबुद्धयः कल्पयन्ति ये ।
तान्मूर्खपुरुषान्ब्रह्मन्धिगस्तु हृतचेतसः ॥ ११ ॥
Fie to those ignorant and foolish people, who are falsely led to imagine boyhood as the most pleasant period of life.
12. यत्र दोलाकृति मनः परिस्फुरति वृत्तिषु ।
त्रैलोक्याऽभव्यमपि तत्कथं भवति तुष्टये ॥ १२ ॥
How can boyhood appear pleasing to any one, when the mind swings like a cradle towards every object of desire, however wrong it is deemed to be in both worlds.
13. सर्वेषामेव सत्त्वानां सर्वावस्थाभ्य एव हि ।
मनश्चञ्चलतामेति बाल्ये दशगुणं मुने ॥ १३ ॥
The minds of all living beings are ever restless, but those of young people are ten times more at unrest.
14. मनः प्रकृत्यैव चलं बाल्यं च चलतां वरम् ।
तयोः संश्लिष्यतोस्त्राता क इवान्तः कुचापले ॥ १४ ॥
The mind is naturally unsteady, and so is boyhood also. Say what can save us from that state of life, when both these vagrant things combine to our destruction.
15. स्त्रीलोचनैस्तडित्पुञ्जैर्ज्वलाजालैस्तरङ्गकैः ।
चापलं शिक्षितं ब्रह्मञ्छैशवाक्रान्तचेतसः ॥ १५ ॥
The glances of women, the flashes of lightning, the flame of fire, and the ever-rolling waves, have all imitated the fickleness of boyhood.
16. शैशवं च मनश्चैव सर्वास्वेव हि वृत्तिषु ।
भ्रातराविव लक्ष्येते सततं भङ्गुरस्थिती ॥ १६ ॥
Minority seems to be a twin brother to the mind, and resembles it in the unsteadiness and frailty of all its purposes.
17. सर्वाणि दुःखभूतानि सर्वे दोषा दुराधयः ।
बालमेवोपजीवन्ति श्रीमन्तमिव मानवाः ॥ १७ ॥
All kinds of miseries, misdeeds and miscarriages await on boyhood, as all sorts of men hang upon the rich (for their support).
18. नवं नवं प्रीतिकरं न शिशुः प्रत्यहं यदि ।
प्राप्नोति तदसौ याति विषवैषम्यमूर्च्छनाम् ॥ १८ ॥
Boys are fond of fresh things at all times, and on their failing to get the same, they fall to a fainting fit, as if from the effect of poison.
19. स्तोकेन वशमायाति स्तोकेनैति विकारिताम् ।
अमेध्य एव रमते बालः कौलेयको यथा ॥ १९ ॥
A boy like a dog, is as easily tamed as he is irritated at a little, and he is as glad to lie in the dust, as to play with dirt.
20. अजस्रवाष्पवदनः कर्दमाक्तो जडाशयः ।
वर्षोक्षितस्य तप्तस्य स्थलस्य सदृशः शिशुः ॥ २० ॥
A foolish fretful boy with his body daubed in mire with the tears in his eyes, appears as a heap of dry clay soiled by a shower of rain.
21. भयाहारपरं दीनं दृष्टादृष्टाभिलाषि च ।
लोलबुद्धि वपुर्धत्ते बाल्यं दुःखाय केवलम् ॥ २१ ॥
Boys are subject to fear and voracity; they are helpless but fond of every thing they have seen or heard, and equally fickle in their bodies and mind. Hence boyhood is a source of troubles only.
22. स्वसंकल्पाभिलषितान्भावानप्राप्य तप्तधीः ।
दुःखमेत्यबलो बालो विनिष्कृत्त इवाशये ॥ २२ ॥
The foolish and helpless child, becomes as sad and sour when he fails to get the object of his fancy, as when he is thwarted from the thing desired.
23. दुरीहालब्धलक्षाणि बहुवक्रोल्बणानि च ।
बालस्य यानि दुःखानि मुने तानि न कस्यचित् ॥ २३ ॥
Children have much difficulty to get at the things they want, and which they can ask only by indistinct words. Hence no one suffers so much as boys.
24. बालो बलवता स्वेन मनोरथविलासिना ।
मनसा तप्यते नित्यं ग्रीष्मेणेव वनस्थली ॥ २४ ॥
A boy is as much irritated by the eagerness of his whimsical desires, as a patch of ground in the desert is parched by the summer heat.
25. विद्यागृहगतो बालो परामेति कदर्थनाम् ।
आलान इव नागेन्द्रो विषवैषम्यभीषणाम् ॥ २५ ॥
A boy on entering his school, is subjected to corrections, which are as painful to him as the goading and fetters to the elephant.
26. नानामनोरथमयी मिथ्याकल्पितकल्पना ।
दुःखायात्यन्तदीर्घाय बालता पेलवाशया ॥ २६ ॥
A great many whims and hobbies, and a variety of false fancies, tend continually to afflict boyhood, which is ever fond of toys and trifles.
27. संहृष्टो भुवनं भोक्तमिन्दुमादातुमम्बरात् ।
वाञ्छते येन मौर्ख्येण तत्सुखाय कथं भवेत् ॥ २७ ॥
How can senseless childhood be said to be a happy state of life, when the child is led by its ignorance to swallow everything in the world, and to wish to lay hold on the moon in the sky.
28. अन्तश्चित्तेरशक्तस्य शीतातपनिवारणे ।
को विशेषो महाबुद्धे बालस्योर्वीरुहस्तथा ॥ २८ ॥
Say great sage! what difference is there between a child and a tree, both of which have sensitiveness, but unable to defend themselves from heat and cold.
29. उड्डीतुमभिवाञ्छन्ति पक्षाभ्यां क्षुत्परायणाः ।
भयाहारपरा नित्यं बाला विहगधर्मिणः ॥ २९ ॥
Boys are of the nature of birds, being both subject to fear and hunger, and ready to fly about when impelled by them.
30. शैशवे गुरुतो भीतिर्मातृतः पितृतस्तथा ।
जनतो ज्येष्ठबालाच्च शैशवं भयमन्दिरम् ॥ ३० ॥
Again boyhood is the abode of fear from all sides; such as from the tutor, father, mother, elder brother and elderly boys, and from every body besides.
31. सकलदोषदशाविहताशयं शरणमप्यविवेकविलासिनः ।
इह न कस्यचिदेव महामुने भवति बाल्यमलं परितुष्टये ॥ ३१ ॥
Hence the hopeless state of childhood, which is full of faults and errors, and addicted to sports and thoughtlessness, cannot be satisfactory to anybody.
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