गुरुलाघवमर्थानामारम्भे कर्मणां फलम्।
दोषं वा यो न जानाति स बाल इति होच्यते॥
guru-lāghavam arthānām ārambhe karmaṇāṁ phalam
doṣaṁ vā yo na jānāti sa bāla iti hocyate
guru-lāghavam = about the significance or insignificancec; arthānām = of the actions; ārambhe = he undertakes; karmaṇām = of those actions; phalam doṣam vā = or the good or bad results; yaḥ = who; na = does not; jānāti = know; saḥ = he; bālaḥ iti = is a mere child; ha = indeed; ucyate = it is said that.
Indeed, it is said that he who does not know about the significance or insignificance of the actions he undertakes or the good or bad results of those actions is a mere child.
1 Hunting is a risky activity because though it can generate the cheap thrill of a high-spirited sport, it can also consequently generate immense distress when a worshippable superior is killed or hurt. The young Daśaratha didn’t understand it then due to his immaturity. Meat eating, intoxication, sexual activity and gambling are allowed in Vedic civilization for karmīs under certain restrictions until one progresses to sattva-guṇa after which he avoids these four activities completely. (The hunting of kṣatriyas is included here.) It should be remembered that these four restricted allowances are also extremely dangerous. Even though it is not criminal to smoke in any country in the world, it is widely recognized by the educated that smoking is extremely injurious to health. Similarly, though the Vedic scriptures do not punish souls that engage in the above mentioned four activities under certain restrictions, they constantly issue statutory warnings to them about such activities to ward them off these activities too. Right now we can learn that hunting, even under the restrictions of Vedic dharma, is extremely dangerous.
This is another feature of this world.
A person who undertakes an activity with a lot of endeavor that yields meager results or no result desired by him is unintelligent. A person who undertakes an activity with a little endeavor that yields a lot or all of the results desired by him is intelligent.
Daśaratha implies here that he was certainly ignorant when he had undertaken the activity of hunting that resulted in his [immediate] meager pleasure in the form of a sport and the destruction of his [later] greater pleasure, that is, separation from his son.1