Shloka 19
असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्
On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment
इस विषयमें पूर्वकालमें राजा जनककी कही हुई एक गाथाका लोग उल्लेख किया करते हैं। राजा जनक समस्त द्वद्धोंसे रहित और जीवन्मुक्त पुरुष थे। उन्होंने मोक्षस्वरूप परमात्मतत्त्वका साक्षात्कार कर लिया था। अनन्तं बत मे वित्तं यस्य मे नास्ति किंचन । मिथिलायां प्रदीप्तायां न मे दह्युति किंचन
anantaṃ bata me vittaṃ yasya me nāsti kiṃcana | mithilāyāṃ pradīptāyāṃ na me dahyati kiṃcana ||
People cite an ancient gāthā spoken by King Janaka. Though he appeared to possess boundless wealth, he was inwardly free from all pairs of opposites and liberated while living, having realized the Supreme Self as the very nature of mokṣa. His verse declares: “Vast indeed is my wealth—yet of it nothing is mine. Even if Mithilā were set ablaze, nothing of mine would be burned.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
That ownership is a mental construction: even amid great wealth, the wise person claims nothing as ‘mine’. Through detachment and Self-realization, one remains unshaken by loss—even the destruction of a kingdom—because one’s identity is not tied to possessions.
Yudhiṣṭhira refers to a well-known saying of King Janaka, presented as an authoritative example from earlier times. Janaka is portrayed as a realized ruler who uses a striking image—Mithilā on fire—to illustrate his inner freedom from attachment.