Shloka 48
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
राजोवाच यत्तद् वर्षशतं पूर्ण जप्यं वै जपता त्वया । फल प्राप्तं तत् प्रयच्छ मम दित्सुर्भवान् यदि,राजाने कहा--मुने! यदि आप देना ही चाहते हैं तो पूरे सौ वर्षोतक जप करके आपने जिस फलको प्राप्त किया है, वही मुझे दे दीजिये
rājovāca yattad varṣaśataṁ pūrṇaṁ japyaṁ vai japatā tvayā | phalaṁ prāptaṁ tat prayaccha mama ditsur bhavān yadi ||
রাজা বললেন—হে মুনি, যদি তুমি সত্যিই দিতে চাও, তবে পূর্ণ একশো বছর জপ করে যে ফল তুমি লাভ করেছ, সেই ফলই আমাকে দাও—সেই পুণ্যফল।
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse probes the ethics of spiritual merit: the king demands not a material gift but the hard-won fruit of a century of japa, raising the question whether inner merit can—or should—be transferred, and highlighting the tension between genuine giving and possessive entitlement.
In a dialogue between a king and a Brāhmaṇa/ascetic, the king responds to an offer of giving by specifying what he wants: the exact spiritual reward the sage gained through a hundred years of recitation, effectively testing the meaning and limits of ‘giving’ in a dharmic context.