Shloka 29
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: On the Superiority of Giving
Maitreya–Vyāsa Exemplum
कर्मणा पुनरेवाहं सुखमागामि लक्षये । तच्छोतुमहमिच्छामि त्वत्त: श्रेयस्तपोधन
karmaṇā punarevāhaṃ sukham āgāmi lakṣaye | tac chrotum aham icchāmi tvattaḥ śreyas tapodhana ||
The insect said: “I perceive that it is through one’s own actions that I again attain happiness. I wish to hear from you, O treasure of austerity, what is truly for my highest good.”
कीट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds karma as the decisive factor in one’s experience of happiness and welfare, and it frames ethical inquiry as seeking śreyas (the highest good) from a spiritually disciplined teacher.
An insect, reflecting on its condition, concludes that its happiness is linked to its own actions and respectfully asks an ascetic (tapodhana) to instruct it about what is truly beneficial and elevating.