Text 1.10.9 | Ṛśyaśṛṅga Comes to Romapada’s kingdom | Bāla-kāṇḍa

Canto 1: Bāla-kāṇḍa (Boyhood)Chapter 10: Ṛśyaśṛṅga Comes to Romapada’s kingdomText 1.10.9

Canto 1 - Boyhood

Bāla-kāṇḍa

Chapter 10: Ṛśyaśṛṅga Comes to Romapada’s kingdom

Text 1.10.9

न तेन जन्मप्रभृति दृष्टपूर्वं तपस्विना।
स्त्री वा पुमान्वा यच्चान्यत्सर्वं नगरराष्ट्रजम्॥

na tena janma-prabhṛti dṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ tapasvinā
strī vā pumān vā yac cānyat sarvaṁ nagara-rāṣṭrajam

na = not; tena = that; janma-prabhṛti = from his very birth; dṛṣṭa-pūrvam = had seen; tapasvinā = ascetic; strī = a female; vā = or; pumān = a male; vā = or; yat ca = any; anyat = other; sarvam = living being; nagara-rāṣṭrajam = born in the city or countryside.

From his very birth, that ascetic had not seen a female or a male or any other living being born in the city or countryside.¹

¹. With the exception of his own father. He had not seen the male and female of any species and so was unaware of gender differences.

This is another reason for them to be careful. From his very birth, he had not seen living beings like horses born in a city or wild cocks born in the countryside.