Shloka 6
संयुज्यमानानि निशम्य लोके निर्यात्यमानानि च सात्विकानि । दृष्टवा तु धर्मध्वजकेतुमालां प्रकीर्यमाणामुपरि प्रजानाम्,जब मैं सुनता हूँ कि संसारमें विषयोंके सम्पर्कमें आये हुए साक्चिक पुरुष भी तरह तरहकी यातनाएँ भोगते हैं तथा जब देखता हूँ कि समस्त प्रजाके ऊपर यमराजकी ध्वजाएँ फहरा रही हैं, तब भोगकालमें भोगोंके प्राप्त होनेपर भी उन्हें भोगनेकी रुचि मेरे मनमें नहीं होती है। जब संन्यासियोंको भी दूसरोंके दरवाजोंपर अन्न-वस्त्रकी भीख माँगते देखता हूँ, तब उस संन्यास-धर्ममें भी मेरा मन नहीं लगता है; अतः अतिथिदेव! आप अपनी ही बुद्धिके बलसे अब मुझे धर्मद्वारा धर्ममें लगाइये
saṁyujyamānāni niśamya loke niryātyamānāni ca sāttvikāni | dṛṣṭvā tu dharmadhvajaketumālāṁ prakīryamāṇām upari prajānām ||
The brāhmaṇa says: “When I hear in this world that even sāttvika people—though engaged in the ordinary contacts of life—are driven onward and made to undergo many afflictions, and when I see above all beings the banners and standards of Dharma (the signs of Yama’s rule) being cast and spread over the multitude, then even when enjoyments come at the time of enjoyment, my mind finds no taste for them. And when I see renunciants too standing at others’ doors begging for food and clothing, my mind does not settle even in that path of renunciation. Therefore, O revered guest, by the strength of your own understanding, establish me in Dharma through Dharma.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse expresses vairāgya: seeing that suffering and death overtake even the virtuous, the speaker loses appetite for sense-enjoyments and even feels unsettled about external renunciation. He asks to be grounded in true Dharma—an inner, discerning commitment rather than mere worldly pleasure or mere outward asceticism.
A brāhmaṇa reflects on the condition of the world: people, including the sāttvika, are swept into hardship, and the shadow of Yama’s law hangs over all beings. Disillusioned with both enjoyment and the visible hardships of mendicancy, he turns to the respected interlocutor (‘guest’) for guidance to be established in Dharma.