Shloka 11
जनक–ब्राह्मणसंवादः
Viṣaya, Mamatva, and Self-Mastery
तदा न विषयं मन्ये सर्वो वा विषयो मम | आत्मापि चायं न मम सर्वा वा पृथिवी मम
tadā na viṣayaṃ manye sarvo vā viṣayo mama | ātmāpi cāyaṃ na mama sarvā vā pṛthivī mama ||
Janaka said: “Then I no longer regard anything as ‘my domain’—either nothing at all is mine, or else everything is mine. From one standpoint even this embodied self is not mine; from another standpoint, the whole earth is mine.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Janaka articulates a vision born of discernment: possessiveness collapses when one sees the self and world rightly. From the standpoint of detachment, nothing is ‘mine’—not even the body; from the standpoint of universal identity and responsibility, everything can be regarded as ‘mine’ without egoistic grasping.
In a reflective, didactic setting within the Ashvamedhika Parva, King Janaka speaks as a philosopher-king. He reports the conclusion reached after the destruction of delusion through inquiry: ordinary notions of personal ownership and sovereignty are reinterpreted through spiritual insight.