Study a Verse

• When King Yayāti said that he had not yet satisfied his lusty desires with Śukrācārya’s daughter, Śukrācārya saw that it was against the interests of his own daughter for Yayāti to continue in old age and invalidity, for certainly his lusty daughter would not be satisfied.
• Therefore Śukrācārya blessed his son-in-law by saying that he could exchange his old age for someone else’s youth.
• He indicated that if Yayāti’s son would exchange his youth for Yayāti’s old age, Yayāti could continue to enjoy sex with Devayānī.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Insatiable desire → Renunciation. Exhausted enjoyment generates insight.

Chapters 18–19 of Canto 9: Yayāti's craving and liberation. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 18: King Yayāti Regains His Youth

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Vṛṣaparvā, however, satisfied Śukrācārya by offering Śarmiṣṭhā as Devayānī’s maidservant. Thus Śarmiṣṭhā, as the maidservant of Devayānī, also went to the house of Devayānī’s husband.