Shloka 12
जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः
Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment
तीनों वेदोंके ज्ञानमें बढ़े-चढ़े सहसरों ब्राह्मणों तथा इस सम्पूर्ण जगत्का भरण-पोषण करनेवाले होकर भी आज आप उन्हींके द्वारा अपना भरण-पोषण चाहते हैं ।। श्रियं हित्वा प्रदीप्तां त्वं श्ववत् सम्प्रति वीक्ष्यसे । अपुत्रा जननी तेड5द्य कौसल्या चापतिस्त्वया,“इस जगमगाती हुई राजलक्ष्मीको छोड़कर इस समय आप दर-दर भटकनेवाले कुत्तेके समान दिखायी देते हैं। आज आपके जीते-जी आपकी माता पुत्रहीन और यह अभागिनी कौसल्या पतिहीन हो गयी
śriyaṃ hitvā pradīptāṃ tvaṃ śvavat samprati vīkṣyase | aputrā jananī te ’dya kausalyā cāpatistvayā ||
Arjuna said: “Abandoning your blazing royal fortune, you now appear like a dog wandering from door to door. While you still live, your mother has, as it were, become sonless, and this unfortunate Kausalyā has become husbandless because of you.” The speech condemns the renunciation of rightful kingship when it results in the neglect of dependents and the collapse of familial and social duties.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Renunciation is not praised when it causes abandonment of rightful obligations; a ruler’s prosperity and position are to be upheld insofar as they sustain dependents and protect social and familial dharma.
Arjuna rebukes a royal figure for giving up kingship and living in a degraded, dependent state, arguing that this choice effectively leaves the mother ‘sonless’ and Kausalyā ‘husbandless’ despite the person still being alive.