Shloka 48
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
राजोवाच यत्तद् वर्षशतं पूर्ण जप्यं वै जपता त्वया । फल प्राप्तं तत् प्रयच्छ मम दित्सुर्भवान् यदि
rājovāca yattad varṣaśataṁ pūrṇaṁ japyaṁ vai japatā tvayā | phalaṁ prāptaṁ tat prayaccha mama ditsur bhavān yadi ||
The king said: “O sage, if you truly wish to give me something, then grant me the very fruit you have obtained by completing a full hundred years of disciplined recitation. Give me that merit itself.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse probes the ethics of spiritual merit: the king demands not a material gift but the hard-won fruit of a century of japa, raising the question whether inner merit can—or should—be transferred, and highlighting the tension between genuine giving and possessive entitlement.
In a dialogue between a king and a Brāhmaṇa/ascetic, the king responds to an offer of giving by specifying what he wants: the exact spiritual reward the sage gained through a hundred years of recitation, effectively testing the meaning and limits of ‘giving’ in a dharmic context.