Shloka 45

Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)

Devanagari script

आयुर्वेदमधीयाना: केवलं सपरिग्रहा: | दृश्यन्ते बहवो वैद्या व्याधिभि: समभिप्लुता:

Transliteration

āyurvedam adhīyānāḥ kevalaṁ saparigrahāḥ | dṛśyante bahavo vaidyā vyādhibhiḥ samabhiplutāḥ ||

Translation

Janaka sprach: „Man sieht viele Ärzte, die Ayurveda studiert haben, doch bleiben sie bloß habgierig und besitzergreifend; und sie selbst werden von Krankheiten überwältigt.“

Word by Word

आयुर्वेदम्Ayurveda (the medical science)

अधीयानाःstudying / learning

केवलम्only, merely

सपरिग्रहाःpossessing possessions/attachments

दृश्यन्तेare seen, are found

बहवःmany

वैद्याःphysicians

व्याधिभिःby diseases

समभिप्लुताःoverwhelmed, afflicted

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janaka

Ayurveda

physicians (vaidya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Janaka highlights that mere learning—even of a practical and revered discipline like Ayurveda—does not guarantee well-being or wisdom if one remains driven by attachment and acquisition; inner discipline and freedom from grasping are implied as essential for true benefit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s reflective discourse, Janaka speaks as a moral teacher, using the example of physicians who know medical science yet still suffer disease, to critique knowledge without ethical restraint and to underscore the need for detachment and right conduct.