Shloka 52
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
राज्यैश्वर्यमय: पाश: स्नेहायतनबन्धन: । मोक्षाश्मनिशितेनेह च्छिन्नस्त्यागासिना मया
rājyaiśvaryamayaḥ pāśaḥ snehāyatanabandhanaḥ | mokṣāśmani niśiteneha chinnaḥ tyāgāsinā mayā ||
Janaka said: “Here, with the sword of renunciation—sharpened on the whetstone of liberation—I have cut through the noose made of kingship and worldly power, and also the bondage rooted in affection, namely the possessive attachment that takes wife, children, and the like as its shelter. Thus I stand freed from the ties that bind the mind to rule and to ‘mine-ness.’”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly sovereignty and familial possessiveness are portrayed as binding ‘nooses.’ Liberation is achieved by cultivating renunciation and detachment—symbolized as a sword sharpened on the whetstone of moksha—so that one cuts through attachment and ‘mine-ness’ while remaining ethically steady.
King Janaka, speaking in the Shanti Parva’s discourse setting, declares his inner victory: he has severed attachment to royal power and to the emotional bonds that generate possessive clinging (especially toward wife and children). The statement frames his ideal of a ruler who is inwardly free even amid worldly roles.