Shloka 38
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
मातापितृसहस्राणि पुत्रदारशतानि च । संसारेष्वनुभूतानि कस्य ते कस्य वा वयम्,हमने संसारमें अनेक बार जन्म लेकर सहस्रों माता-पिता और सैकड़ों स्त्री-पुत्रोंके सुखका अनुभव किया है; परंतु अब वे किसके हैं अथवा हम उनमेंसे किसके हैं?
mātāpitr̥sahasrāṇi putradāraśatāni ca | saṁsāreṣv anubhūtāni kasya te kasya vā vayam ||
Janaka said: “In the long course of transmigratory existence, we have been born again and again and have experienced thousands of mothers and fathers, and hundreds of sons and wives. But now—whose are they, and whose are we? To whom do these relationships truly belong?”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Repeated births create countless familial bonds, showing that worldly relations are transient and not ultimately ‘mine’ or ‘yours’. The verse urges discernment and detachment (vairāgya), pointing toward a stable basis of identity beyond changing social roles.
King Janaka reflects philosophically on saṁsāra: across innumerable lives one has had many parents, spouses, and children. By questioning ownership and belonging—‘whose are they, whose are we?’—he undermines possessiveness and prepares the ground for teachings on liberation-oriented conduct.