Shloka 17
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
कृत्वा चाध्ययन तेषां शिष्याणां शतमुत्तमम् | विप्रियार्थ सशिष्यस्य मातुलस्य महात्मन:
Yājñavalkya uvāca | kṛtvā cādhyayanaṃ teṣāṃ śiṣyāṇāṃ śatam uttamam | vipriyārthaṃ saśiṣyasya mātulasya mahātmanaḥ, mahārāja! | tad-anantaraṃ mayā śatam uttama-śiṣyān śatapathasya adhyayanaṃ kāritam | tataḥ śiṣya-sahitaṃ svam mahāmanasvinaṃ mātulaṃ (yaḥ pūrvaṃ māṃ tiraskṛtavān) apriyaṃ kartum kiraṇaiḥ prakāśamānasya sūryasya iva śiṣyaiḥ suśobhitaḥ san tava pituḥ mahātmanaḥ rājñaḥ janakasya yajñasya anuṣṭhānaṃ kāritavān |
Dijo Yājñavalkya: «¡Oh rey! Tras concluir la instrucción de aquellos discípulos —cien excelentes— quise desagradar a mi magnánimo tío materno, que antes me había desdeñado, aunque estuviera rodeado de sus propios alumnos. Entonces fui, engalanado por mis discípulos como el sol por sus rayos, e hice que se celebrara el sacrificio de tu padre, el noble rey Janaka».
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how spiritual authority is grounded in disciplined learning and successful transmission of Vedic knowledge, yet it also warns ethically about letting scholarship become a tool for personal rivalry or retaliation. True dharma requires mastery joined with restraint and right intention.
Yājñavalkya recounts that after training a hundred excellent disciples and having them study the Śatapatha, he went—surrounded by those disciples—to King Janaka’s sacrificial rite and had it performed. He frames this public display of learning and influence as a way to affront his maternal uncle who had previously insulted him.