From Yayāti to Epstein: A Comparative Ethical Inquiry into Power, Desire, and the Consumption of Youth

This paper presents a comparative ethical and psychological inquiry between the Mahābhārata’s King Yayāti and the contemporary case of Jeffrey Epstein. While separated by millennia and belonging to distinct ontological domains, mythic and historical, the two narratives converge around the recurring problem of unchecked desire amplified by power. Drawing upon Indian philosophical concepts such as dharma, kāma, viveka, and taṇhā, alongside psychoanalytic insights from Freud and Jung, the study examines the symbolic motif of the consumption of youth as an archetype of moral collapse. The paper does not equate myth with crime, nor does it mythologize contemporary abuse. Rather, it employs symbolic analysis to illuminate how civilizational narratives have long warned against the dangers of power divorced from ethical restraint. By situating the Devouring Father archetype within both epic literature and modern scandal, the study reflects on systemic complicity, institutional silence, and the ethical responsibility of society in regulating power.