Shloka 16
जनक–ब्राह्मणसंवादः
Viṣaya, Mamatva, and Self-Mastery
कस्येदमिति कस्य स्वमिति वेदवचस्तथा । नाध्यगच्छमहं बुद्ध्या ममेदमिति यद् भवेत्
kasyedam iti kasya svam iti vedavacas tathā | nādhyagaccham ahaṁ buddhyā mamedam iti yad bhavet ||
Janaka said: “The Vedic word itself asks, ‘Whose is this? Whose wealth is it?’—implying that, in truth, it belongs to none. Therefore, when I examine with my own understanding, I do not find any thing that can rightly be fixed as ‘mine.’”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches non-attachment by challenging the notion of personal ownership: even the Veda frames possessions as ultimately belonging to no one, so the wise refrain from the rigid claim ‘this is mine.’
King Janaka is speaking in a didactic context, citing a Vedic formulation to support his reflective conclusion that, upon careful discernment, nothing can be securely established as one’s personal possession.