Shloka 46
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
केवल आयुर्वेदका अध्ययन करनेवाले बहुत-से वैद्य भी परिवारसहित रोगोंके शिकार हुए देखे जाते हैं ।। ते पिबन्त: कषायांश्र सर्पीषि विविधानि च । न मृत्युमतिवर्तन्ते वेलामिव महोदधि:
te pibantaḥ kaṣāyān sarpīṃṣi vividhāni ca | na mṛtyum ativartante velām iva mahodadhiḥ ||
Janaka said: “Even many physicians who have studied only Ayurveda are seen to fall prey to disease, along with their families. Though they drink medicinal decoctions and take various kinds of ghee-preparations, they still do not pass beyond Death—just as the great ocean does not cross its own shoreline.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly expertise and remedies, though valuable, cannot ultimately conquer mortality; therefore one should not rely on technical knowledge alone for ultimate security, but turn toward higher wisdom and inner discipline.
King Janaka illustrates a philosophical point with a concrete example: even learned physicians using medicines (decoctions and ghee-preparations) still succumb to disease and death, just as the ocean remains bounded by its shore.