Shloka 4
सुसुखं बत जीवामि यस्य मे नास्ति किंचन । मिथिलायां प्रदीप्तायां न मे दह्युति किंचन,राजा जनकने कहा था कि मैं बड़े सुखसे जीवन व्यतीत करता हूँ; क्योंकि इस जगत्की कोई भी वस्तु मेरी नहीं है। किसीपर भी मेरा ममत्व नहीं है। यदि सारी मिथिलामें आग लग जाय तो भी मेरा कुछ नहीं जलता है
su-sukhaṃ bata jīvāmi yasya me nāsti kiṃcana | mithilāyāṃ pradīptāyāṃ na me dahyati kiṃcana ||
Bhishma said: “Indeed, I live in great ease, for nothing whatsoever is mine. Even if Mithilā were to be set ablaze, nothing of mine would burn.” (This saying, attributed to King Janaka, teaches non-possessiveness: when the sense of ‘mine’ (mamatā) is relinquished, one remains inwardly unshaken amid loss, disaster, or upheaval.)
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches aparigraha/non-possessiveness: when one abandons the sense of ownership (‘mine-ness’), one remains inwardly secure even if external possessions, status, or the whole city/kingdom is destroyed.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma cites (or echoes) King Janaka’s famous declaration to illustrate the ideal of a wise ruler who is inwardly detached—so that even a calamity like Mithilā burning does not disturb him through personal loss.