Sarga 19¶

Vairāgya Prakaraṇa · On childhood (bālya) (31 verses)

Sarga 19 at a glance

Śrī Rāma's speech continues: on childhood (bālya).

Childhood is helplessness, fear, frustration; its worries cut the heart more deeply than those of any later stage (1.19.1–1.19.11).
The mind is restless by nature, and childhood ten times more so; the two are like brothers (1.19.12–1.19.17).
Portraits of a child: won and upset by a little, longing for the moon, sent unwillingly to school (1.19.18–1.19.29).
Childhood is a "house of fear", and never enough to bring contentment (1.19.30–1.19.31).

Verse 1.19.1¶

श्रीराम उवाच ।
लब्ध्वापि तरलाकारे कार्यभारतरंगिणि ।
संसारसागरे जन्म बाल्यं दुःखाय केवलम् ॥ १.१९.१ ॥

तरल-आकारे (restless in form) कार्य-भार-तरङ्गिणि (with waves of burdensome duties) संसार-सागरे (in the ocean of worldly existence) जन्म लब्ध्वा अपि (even having obtained birth) बाल्यं (childhood) केवलं दुःखाय (is only for sorrow).

Translation: Śrī Rāma said: "Even after one has been born into the restless ocean of worldly existence, with its waves of burdensome duties, childhood is only for sorrow."

Pointers for Reflection:

The stages of life (Sargas 19–22). Rāma now looks at a human life in sequence: childhood, youth, then (in later sargas) women and old age. Each stage is examined for whether it offers lasting happiness.
A surprising claim. We usually remember childhood as happy. Rāma argues the opposite — not from bitterness, but from close observation of what a child actually lives through: helplessness, fear, frustrated wants.
Gītā 2.13: देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा । तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति ॥ — as the embodied one passes through childhood, youth and old age in this body, so it passes to another body; the wise are not deluded by this. The Gītā names the same three stages Rāma is about to examine. Its answer: the one who passes through them is untouched by them.

Verse 1.19.2¶

अशक्तिरापदस्तृष्णा मूकता मूढबुद्धिता ।
गृध्नुता लोलता दैन्यं सर्वं बाल्ये प्रवर्तते ॥ १.१९.२ ॥

अशक्तिः (helplessness) आपदः (mishaps) तृष्णा (craving) मूकता (inability to speak) मूढ-बुद्धिता (a confused intellect) गृध्नुता (greed) लोलता (fickleness) दैन्यम् (wretchedness) — सर्वं बाल्ये प्रवर्तते (all this is found in childhood).

Translation: "Helplessness, mishaps, craving, being unable to speak, a confused mind, greed, fickleness, wretchedness — all of these are found in childhood."

Pointers for Reflection:

Helplessness and inability to speak. A child cannot say what it needs or do what it wants. This frustration is real, even if adults forget it.

Verse 1.19.3¶

रोषरोदनरौद्रासु दैन्यजर्जरितासु च ।
दशासु बन्धनं बाल्यमालानं करिणामिव ॥ १.१९.३ ॥

रोष-रोदन-रौद्रासु (fierce with anger and crying) दैन्य-जर्जरितासु च (and broken by wretchedness) दशासु (in such states) बाल्यं बन्धनम् (childhood is a bondage), करिणाम् आलानम् इव (like the tethering post of elephants).

Translation: "Childhood, in its moods of tantrum and tears and its spells of misery, is a fetter — the tethering post to which an elephant is chained."

Pointers for Reflection:

The tethering post. A child is tied to its condition. It cannot leave it, any more than the elephant can leave its post.

Verse 1.19.4¶

न मृतौ न जरारोगे न चापदि न यौवने ।
ताश्चिन्ताः परिकृन्तन्ति हृदयं शैशवेषु याः ॥ १.१९.४ ॥

याः चिन्ताः (those worries which) शैशवेषु (in childhood) हृदयं परिकृन्तन्ति (cut the heart), ताः (they) न मृतौ (not in death) न जरा-रोगे (not in old age or disease) न च आपदि (not in calamity) न यौवने (not in youth) [परिकृन्तन्ति] ([cut so deeply]).

Translation: "The worries that cut the heart in childhood cut deeper than those of death, of old age and disease, of calamity, or of youth."

Pointers for Reflection:

Childhood's wounds go deepest. A remarkably modern observation: the hurts of childhood are felt more sharply than later ones, because the child has no understanding with which to hold them.

Verse 1.19.5¶

तिर्यग्जातिसमारम्भः सर्वैरेवावधीरितः ।
लोलो बालसमाचारो मरणादपि दुःखदः ॥ १.१९.५ ॥

तिर्यक्-जाति-समारम्भः (behaving like an animal) सर्वैः एव अवधीरितः (disregarded by all) लोलः (fickle) बाल-समाचारः (the conduct of a child) मरणात् अपि दुःख-दः (gives more sorrow than even death).

Translation: "A child's ways are like an animal's, ignored by everyone, fickle — giving more sorrow even than death."

Pointers for Reflection:

Ignored by all. A child is not taken seriously. Its sorrows are dismissed. This too is a kind of suffering.

Verse 1.19.6¶

प्रतिबिम्बघनाज्ञानं नानासंकल्पपेलवम् ।
बाल्यमालूनसंशीर्णमनः कस्य सुखावहम् ॥ १.१९.६ ॥

प्रतिबिम्ब-घन-अज्ञानम् (dense with ignorance like a reflection) नाना-संकल्प-पेलवम् (flimsy with many fancies) आलून-संशीर्ण-मनः (with a broken, scattered mind) बाल्यं (childhood) कस्य सुख-आवहम् (brings happiness to whom?).

Translation: "Childhood — dense with ignorance like a mere reflection, flimsy with countless fancies, its mind broken and scattered — to whom does it bring happiness?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Like a reflection. The child lives in images, not in understanding — like a reflection that cannot know the face it reflects.

Verse 1.19.7¶

जलवह्न्यनिलाजस्रजातभीत्या पदे पदे ।
यद्भयं शैशवेऽबुद्ध्या कस्यापदि हि तद्भवेत् ॥ १.१९.७ ॥

शैशवे (in childhood) अ-बुद्ध्या (from lack of understanding) पदे पदे (at every step) जल-वह्नि-अनिल-अजस्र-जात-भीत्या (from constant fear of water, fire and wind) यत् भयम् (the fear that arises) तत् (that) कस्य आपदि हि भवेत् (in whose calamity would it be?).

Translation: "The fear that a child feels at every step from its lack of understanding — constant fear of water, fire and wind — whose calamity could equal it?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The online text prints जलवह्नयनिलाजस्र; corrected here to जलवह्न्यनिलाजस्र.
Fear from not understanding. The child's fear is not from real danger but from not knowing. Knowledge removes fear — the whole teaching in a nutshell.
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.2: द्वितीयाद्वै भयं भवति — fear arises only from a second. The child, surrounded by a world it does not understand, lives in the fear of 'the other'. The knower, who sees no second, is fearless.

Verse 1.19.8¶

लीलासु दुर्विलासेषु दुरीहासु दुराशये ।
परमं मोहमाधत्ते बालो बलवदापतन् ॥ १.१९.८ ॥

दुर्-आशये (in its wicked mind) लीलासु दुर्विलासेषु दुरीहासु (in games, bad pastimes and wrong wishes) बलवत् आपतन् (rushing headlong) बालः (the child) परमं मोहम् आधत्ते (falls into great delusion).

Translation: "Rushing headlong into games, mischief and wrong wishes, the child falls into great delusion."

Pointers for Reflection:

Play as delusion. Rāma sees play not as innocence but as absorption in what is unreal. Yet compare the sage's play (लीला) in later sargas — the knower too 'plays', but freely.

Verse 1.19.9¶

विकल्पकल्पितारम्भं दुर्विलासं दुरास्पदम् ।
शैशवं शासनायैव पुरुषस्य न शान्तये ॥ १.१९.९ ॥

विकल्प-कल्पित-आरम्भं (with undertakings imagined by fancy) दुर्विलासं दुर्-आस्पदम् (badly behaved and badly placed) शैशवं (childhood) पुरुषस्य शासनाय एव (is only for a person's discipline) न शान्तये (not for peace).

Translation: "Childhood, with undertakings made of fancies, wayward and ill-placed, exists only for a person to be disciplined, not for peace."

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The online text prints दुर्विलारसं, which is not a word; corrected here to दुर्विलासं, as in 1.19.8.
शासन — discipline. A child is constantly corrected. The word also means teaching, as in अनुशासन. Childhood is a time to be taught — which is also Rāma's present condition before his guru.

Verse 1.19.10¶

ये दोषा ये दुराचारा दुष्क्रमा ये दुराधयः ।
ते सर्वे संस्थिता बाल्ये दुर्गर्त इव कौशिकाः ॥ १.१९.१० ॥

ये दोषाः (whatever faults) ये दुराचाराः (whatever misconduct) ये दुष्क्रमाः (whatever wrong ways) ये दुराधयः (whatever grievous anxieties) [सन्ति], ते सर्वे (all of them) बाल्ये संस्थिताः (dwell in childhood), दुर्-गर्ते कौशिकाः इव (like owls in a dark hollow).

Translation: "All faults, misconduct, wrong ways and grievous anxieties dwell in childhood, like owls in a dark hollow."

Pointers for Reflection:

Owls in the hollow — the image of 1.17.1 returns. Darkness breeds faults.

Verse 1.19.11¶

बाल्यं रम्यमिति व्यर्थबुद्धयः कल्पयन्ति ये ।
तान्मूर्खपुरुषान्ब्रह्मन्धिगस्तु हृतचेतसः ॥ १.१९.११ ॥

ब्रह्मन् (O sage), ये व्यर्थ-बुद्धयः (those of foolish intellect who) बाल्यं रम्यम् इति कल्पयन्ति (imagine childhood to be pleasant), तान् हृत-चेतसः मूर्ख-पुरुषान् (those fools, robbed of sense) धिक् अस्तु (shame on them).

Translation: "O sage, shame on the foolish who imagine childhood is pleasant — they have lost their senses."

Pointers for Reflection:

Against nostalgia. Rāma rejects the common idea of childhood as a golden age. What we remember fondly is often a memory polished by forgetting.
A counterpoint — Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.5.1: तस्माद्ब्राह्मणः पाण्डित्यं निर्विद्य बाल्येन तिष्ठासेत् — therefore, having finished with learning, the knower should wish to live like a child. The Upaniṣad praises childlike simplicity, free from pride of learning. Rāma condemns childish ignorance. The two differ: one is innocence after knowledge, the other ignorance before it.

Verse 1.19.12¶

यत्र दोलाकृति मनः परिस्फुरति वृत्तिषु ।
त्रैलोक्याऽभव्यमपि तत्कथं भवति तुष्टये ॥ १.१९.१२ ॥

यत्र (where) मनः (the mind) दोला-आकृति (like a swing) वृत्तिषु परिस्फुरति (sways among its states), तत् (that) त्रैलोक्य-अभव्यम् अपि (unfit for even the three worlds) कथं तुष्टये भवति (how can it give satisfaction?).

Translation: "Where the mind swings back and forth among its moods, how can that bring satisfaction? It is unfit for all three worlds."

Pointers for Reflection:

The swing — compare 1.18.3, where the body swung between inert and conscious.

Verse 1.19.13¶

सर्वेषामेव सत्त्वानां सर्वावस्थाभ्य एव हि ।
मनश्चञ्चलतामेति बाल्ये दशगुणं मुने ॥ १.१९.१३ ॥

मुने (O sage), सर्वेषाम् एव सत्त्वानाम् (of all beings) सर्व-अवस्थाभ्यः एव हि (more than in all other states) बाल्ये (in childhood) मनः दश-गुणं चञ्चलताम् एति (the mind is ten times more restless).

Translation: "O sage, in every being the mind is ten times more restless in childhood than in any other stage of life."

Pointers for Reflection:

Ten times more restless. Sarga 16 said the mind is restless by nature; in a child it is restless at its peak.

Verse 1.19.14¶

मनः प्रकृत्यैव चलं बाल्यं च चलतां वरम् ।
तयोः संश्लिष्यतोस्त्राता क इवान्तः कुचापले ॥ १.१९.१४ ॥

मनः प्रकृत्या एव चलम् (the mind is restless by nature) बाल्यं च चलतां वरम् (and childhood is the most restless of all); अन्तः कु-चापले संश्लिष्यतोः तयोः (when these two unite in wretched restlessness within) कः इव त्राता (who is the protector?).

Translation: "The mind is restless by nature, and childhood is the most restless of all. When these two unite in wretched restlessness within, who can protect us?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Who protects? A real question. The answer, which Rāma does not yet give: the guru and the Self.

Verse 1.19.15¶

स्त्रीलोचनैस्तडित्पुञ्जैर्ज्वालाजालैस्तरङ्गकैः ।
चापलं शिक्षितं ब्रह्मञ्छैशवाक्रान्तचेतसः ॥ १.१९.१५ ॥

ब्रह्मन् (O sage), शैशव-आक्रान्त-चेतसः (from the mind seized by childhood) स्त्री-लोचनैः (by women's glances) तडित्-पुञ्जैः (by flashes of lightning) ज्वाला-जालैः (by sheets of flame) तरङ्गकैः (by ripples) चापलं शिक्षितम् (restlessness has been learned).

Translation: "O sage, women's darting glances, flashes of lightning, flickering flames and ripples have all learned their restlessness from the mind of a child."

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The online text prints ज्वलाजालैः; corrected here to ज्वालाजालैः.
A reversal. Not that the child is restless like lightning, but that lightning learned restlessness from the child. A poetic exaggeration (अतिशयोक्ति).

Verse 1.19.16¶

शैशवं च मनश्चैव सर्वास्वेव हि वृत्तिषु ।
भ्रातराविव लक्ष्येते सततं भङ्गुरस्थिती ॥ १.१९.१६ ॥

शैशवं च मनः च एव (childhood and the mind) सर्वासु एव वृत्तिषु (in all their ways) सततं भङ्गुर-स्थिती (always of fragile state) भ्रातरौ इव लक्ष्येते (look like two brothers).

Translation: "Childhood and the mind look like two brothers in all their ways: both are always fragile and unstable."

Pointers for Reflection:

Two brothers. Childhood and mind share the same nature: restlessness.

Verse 1.19.17¶

सर्वाणि दुःखभूतानि सर्वे दोषा दुराधयः ।
बालमेवोपजीवन्ति श्रीमन्तमिव मानवाः ॥ १.१९.१७ ॥

सर्वाणि दुःख-भूतानि (all forms of sorrow) सर्वे दोषाः दुराधयः (all faults and grievous anxieties) बालम् एव उपजीवन्ति (live off the child), श्रीमन्तं मानवाः इव (as people live off a rich man).

Translation: "Every sorrow, every fault and every grievous anxiety lives off the child, as hangers-on live off a rich man."

Pointers for Reflection:

Hangers-on. The child's helplessness attracts every sorrow, as wealth attracts parasites.

Verse 1.19.18¶

नवं नवं प्रीतिकरं न शिशुः प्रत्यहं यदि ।
प्राप्नोति तदसौ याति विषवैषम्यमूर्च्छनाम् ॥ १.१९.१८ ॥

यदि (if) शिशुः (a child) प्रत्यहं (every day) नवं नवं प्रीतिकरं न प्राप्नोति (does not receive something new and pleasing) तत् (then) असौ (it) विष-वैषम्य-मूर्च्छनाम् याति (falls into a fit as if from poison).

Translation: "If a child does not get something new and pleasing every day, it falls into a fit, as if poisoned."

Pointers for Reflection:

Constant novelty. The child needs ever-new stimulation. Adults are not so different: we only hide it better. Craving's hunger for the new (Sarga 17) begins here.

Verse 1.19.19¶

स्तोकेन वशमायाति स्तोकेनैति विकारिताम् ।
अमेध्य एव रमते बालः कौलेयको यथा ॥ १.१९.१९ ॥

बालः (a child) स्तोकेन वशम् आयाति (is won over by a little) स्तोकेन विकारिताम् एति (and upset by a little); कौलेयकः यथा (like a dog) अमेध्ये एव रमते (it delights in what is impure).

Translation: "A child is won over by a little and upset by a little; like a dog, it delights even in filth."

Pointers for Reflection:

Compare 1.18.4. The body too 'comes to joy by a little and to sorrow by a little'. The child is the body's nature unhidden.

Verse 1.19.20¶

अजस्रवाष्पवदनः कर्दमाक्तो जडाशयः ।
वर्षोक्षितस्य तप्तस्य स्थलस्य सदृशः शिशुः ॥ १.१९.२० ॥

अजस्र-वाष्प-वदनः (with a face always tearful) कर्दम-अक्तः (smeared with mud) जड-आशयः (dull-minded) शिशुः (a child) वर्ष-उक्षितस्य तप्तस्य स्थलस्य सदृशः (is like hot ground sprinkled by rain).

Translation: "With its face always wet with tears, smeared with mud and dull-minded, a child is like hot ground just sprinkled with rain."

Pointers for Reflection:

Hot ground after rain. Steaming, muddy, briefly cooled. A precise image of a child after a tantrum.

Verse 1.19.21¶

भयाहारपरं दीनं दृष्टादृष्टाभिलाषि च ।
लोलबुद्धि वपुर्धत्ते बाल्यं दुःखाय केवलम् ॥ १.१९.२१ ॥

भय-आहार-परं (intent only on fear and food) दीनम् (wretched) दृष्ट-अदृष्ट-अभिलाषि च (longing for what it sees and does not see) लोल-बुद्धि वपुः धत्ते (it bears a body with a fickle mind) — बाल्यं केवलं दुःखाय (childhood is only for sorrow).

Translation: "Absorbed only in fear and food, wretched, longing for what it sees and what it does not, with a fickle mind in its body — childhood is only for sorrow."

Pointers for Reflection:

Fear and food. The two basic drives of animal life. The child lives at this level, as Rāma said in 1.19.5.

Verse 1.19.22¶

स्वसंकल्पाभिलषितान्भावानप्राप्य तप्तधीः ।
दुःखमेत्यबलो बालो विनिष्कृत्त इवाशये ॥ १.१९.२२ ॥

स्व-संकल्प-अभिलषितान् भावान् (the things longed for by its own fancies) अप्राप्य (not getting) तप्त-धीः (with a burning mind) अबलः बालः (the helpless child) आशये विनिष्कृत्तः इव (as if cut to the heart) दुःखम् एति (comes to sorrow).

Translation: "Not getting the things its own fancies long for, the helpless child, its mind burning, suffers as if cut to the heart."

Pointers for Reflection:

Fancy and frustration. The child imagines, wants and does not get. The same pattern in an adult is subtler, but identical.

Verse 1.19.23¶

दुरीहालब्धलक्षाणि बहुवक्रोल्बणानि च ।
बालस्य यानि दुःखानि मुने तानि न कस्यचित् ॥ १.१९.२३ ॥

मुने (O sage), बालस्य (of a child) दुरीहा-लब्ध-लक्षाणि (aimed at by wrong desires) बहु-वक्र-उल्बणानि च (and full of many twists) यानि दुःखानि (the sorrows which there are), तानि (they) कस्यचित् न [भवन्ति] (are found in no one else).

Translation: "O sage, the sorrows of a child — aimed at by wrong desires and full of twists — are found in no one else."

Pointers for Reflection:

The child's unique suffering. Rāma's purpose is not to disparage children but to dismantle the fantasy that any stage of life is free of sorrow.

Verse 1.19.24¶

बालो बलवता स्वेन मनोरथविलासिना ।
मनसा तप्यते नित्यं ग्रीष्मेणेव वनस्थली ॥ १.१९.२४ ॥

बालः (a child) स्वेन बलवता मनोरथ-विलासिना मनसा (by its own powerful mind, playing with wishes) नित्यं तप्यते (is always tormented), ग्रीष्मेण वन-स्थली इव (as a forest by summer).

Translation: "The child is scorched, without respite, by its own strong mind and its play of wishes, the way summer heat scorches a woodland."

Pointers for Reflection:

मनोरथ — wish, literally 'the mind's chariot'. The mind rides on its wishes. The chariot of Kaṭha 1.3.3 (see 1.16.11) is here driven by fancy.

Verse 1.19.25¶

विद्यागृहगतो बालः परामेति कदर्थनाम् ।
आलान इव नागेन्द्रो विषवैषम्यभीषणाम् ॥ १.१९.२५ ॥

विद्या-गृह-गतः बालः (a child gone to the house of learning) आलाने नाग-इन्द्रः इव (like a great elephant at its tethering post) विष-वैषम्य-भीषणाम् (frightful as poison) पराम् कदर्थनाम् एति (comes to great misery).

Translation: "A child sent to the teacher's house suffers great misery, frightful as poison, like a great elephant tied to its post."

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The online text prints बालो परामेति; corrected here to बालः परामेति.
School as tethering. Rāma knew the gurukula himself (1.3.4). The discipline of learning is hard on a child.
An irony. Rāma, now the student of Vasiṣṭha, is again at the 'house of learning' — this time freely, by his own longing. The bondage of childhood becomes the freedom of the seeker.

Verse 1.19.26¶

नानामनोरथमयी मिथ्याकल्पितकल्पना ।
दुःखायात्यन्तदीर्घाय बालता पेलवाशया ॥ १.१९.२६ ॥

नाना-मनोरथ-मयी (made of many wishes) मिथ्या-कल्पित-कल्पना (with falsely imagined fancies) पेलव-आशया बालता (childhood, with its fragile mind) अत्यन्त-दीर्घाय दुःखाय (is for very long sorrow).

Translation: "Childhood, made of countless wishes and falsely imagined fancies, with its fragile mind, leads to long-lasting sorrow."

Pointers for Reflection:

Long-lasting. What is learned in childhood — the habit of craving and fancying — continues through life.

Verse 1.19.27¶

संहृष्टो भुवनं भोक्तुमिन्दुमादातुमम्बरात् ।
वाञ्छते येन मौर्ख्येण तत्सुखाय कथं भवेत् ॥ १.१९.२७ ॥

येन मौर्ख्येण (by which foolishness) संहृष्टः (delighted) भुवनं भोक्तुम् (to enjoy the whole world) अम्बरात् इन्दुम् आदातुम् (to take the moon from the sky) वाञ्छते (it wishes), तत् (that) कथं सुखाय भवेत् (how can it bring happiness?).

Translation: "How can the foolishness by which a child, delighted, wants to enjoy the whole world and take the moon out of the sky, bring happiness?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The online text prints भोक्तमिन्दुम्; corrected here to भोक्तुमिन्दुम्.
Wanting the moon. The classic image of childish desire. In later Rāma literature, the child Rāma himself is said to have cried for the moon and been consoled with its reflection in a mirror — a fitting irony.
Yet the longing is a clue. The desire to embrace the whole world is, at bottom, the longing of the infinite Self for itself. Turned outward it is foolishness; turned inward it is liberation.

Verse 1.19.28¶

अन्तश्चित्तेरशक्तस्य शीतातपनिवारणे ।
को विशेषो महाबुद्धे बालस्योर्वीरुहस्तथा ॥ १.१९.२८ ॥

महा-बुद्धे (O great intellect), शीत-आतप-निवारणे (in warding off cold and heat) अशक्तस्य (unable) अन्तः-चित्तेः बालस्य (of a child, whose understanding is still hidden within) उर्वी-रुहः तथा (and of a tree) कः विशेषः (what is the difference?).

Translation: "O great intellect, unable to ward off cold or heat, its understanding still hidden within — what difference is there between a child and a tree?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Child and tree. Both stand helpless before the weather. Compare 1.14.11: trees also live, but that is not true life.

Verse 1.19.29¶

उड्डीतुमभिवाञ्छन्ति पक्षाभ्यां क्षुत्परायणाः ।
भयाहारपरा नित्यं बाला विहगधर्मिणः ॥ १.१९.२९ ॥

नित्यं भय-आहार-पराः (always intent on fear and food) क्षुत्-परायणाः (dominated by hunger) बालाः (children) विहग-धर्मिणः (like birds) पक्षाभ्याम् उड्डीतुम् अभिवाञ्छन्ति (long to fly away on wings).

Translation: "Always intent on fear and food and ruled by hunger, children are like little birds that long to fly away on their wings."

Pointers for Reflection:

Longing to fly. Children want to grow up and be free. A touching image amid the harshness — and freedom will turn out to be not in growing up but in waking up.

Verse 1.19.30¶

शैशवे गुरुतो भीतिर्मातृतः पितृतस्तथा ।
जनतो ज्येष्ठबालाच्च शैशवं भयमन्दिरम् ॥ १.१९.३० ॥

शैशवे (in childhood) गुरुतः (from the teacher) मातृतः पितृतः तथा (from mother and father) जनतः (from people) ज्येष्ठ-बालात् च (and from older children) भीतिः [भवति] (there is fear); शैशवं भय-मन्दिरम् (childhood is a house of fear).

Translation: "In childhood there is fear of the teacher, of mother and father, of people, and of older children. Childhood is a house of fear."

Pointers for Reflection:

भयमन्दिर — the house of fear. A memorable phrase. The child depends on everyone and is therefore afraid of everyone.
Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.9: आनन्दं ब्रह्मणो विद्वान् न बिभेति कुतश्चन — knowing the bliss of Brahman, one fears nothing from anywhere. The opposite of childhood's house of fear is the knower's fearlessness.

Verse 1.19.31¶

सकलदोषदशाविहताशयं शरणमप्यविवेकविलासिनः ।
इह न कस्यचिदेव महामुने भवति बाल्यमलं परितुष्टये ॥ १.१९.३१ ॥

महा-मुने (great sage), सकल-दोष-दशा-विहत-आशयम् (with its mind struck by all faults and conditions) अविवेक-विलासिनः शरणम् अपि (the very refuge of undiscerning play) बाल्यम् (childhood) इह कस्यचित् एव (for anyone here) परितुष्टये अलं न भवति (is not enough for contentment).

Translation: Great sage, childhood — its mind struck by every fault and condition, a refuge for undiscerning play — is never enough to bring anyone contentment here.

Pointers for Reflection:

A closing verse in a longer metre (drutavilambita).
The search continues. Childhood offers no lasting happiness. Perhaps youth will? The next sarga asks.