Shloka 21

Devanagari script

श्रुते वयसि जातौ च सद्धावो नाधिगम्यते | एष्वर्थेषूत्तरं तस्मात्‌ प्रवेद्यं मत्समागमे,वे बोले, किसीसे पूछे बिना उसके शास्त्रज्ञान, अवस्था और जातिके विषयमें सच्ची बात नहीं मालूम होती; अतः मेरे साथ जो तुम्हारा समागम हुआ है, इस अवसरपर इन सब विषयोंकी जानकारीके लिये यथार्थ उत्तर जानना आवश्यक है

Transliteration

śrute vayasi jātau ca saddhāvo nādhigamyate | eṣv artheṣūttaraṃ tasmāt pravedyaṃ matsamāgame ||

Translation

“নসুধিলে কাৰো শ্ৰুতি-জ্ঞান, বয়স আৰু জাতি বিষয়ে সত্য কথা জনা নাযায়। সেয়ে মোৰ সৈতে তোমাৰ এই সমাগম ঘটিছে যেতিয়া, তেতিয়া এই বিষয়সমূহত তুমি স্পষ্ট উত্তৰ দিব লাগিব।”

Word by Word

[{'term''śrute', 'definition': 'in learning

in what has been heard/studied (śruti, scriptural learning)'}, {'term''vayasi', 'definition': 'in age

regarding one’s stage of life'}, {'term''jātau', 'definition': 'in birth

lineage/caste/origin'}, {'term''ca', 'definition': 'and'}, {'term': 'saddhāvaḥ', 'definition': 'true state/reality

the factual truth about something'}, {'term''na adhigamyate', 'definition': 'is not ascertained/known (without inquiry)'}, {'term': 'eṣu artheṣu', 'definition': 'in these matters

regarding these points'}, {'term''uttaram', 'definition': 'answer

reply'}, {'term''tasmāt', 'definition': 'therefore

for that reason'}, {'term''pravedyam', 'definition': 'to be clearly stated/made known

to be disclosed accurately'}, {'term''mat-samāgame', 'definition': 'in meeting with me

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janaka

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Janaka emphasizes epistemic humility and ethical inquiry: a person’s learning, age, and social origin cannot be reliably known by assumption or appearance; truthful knowledge requires direct questioning and a clear answer.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a dialogue context, King Janaka addresses his interlocutor and requests an explicit, accurate account of the person’s learning, age, and birth, since their meeting provides the occasion to clarify these uncertainties.