Shloka 14
जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः
Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment
तांश्व त्वं विफलान् कुर्वन् क॑ नु लोक॑ गमिष्यसि । राजन् संशयिते मोक्षे परतन्त्रेषु देहिषु
tānś ca tvaṁ viphalān kurvan ka nu lokaṁ gamiṣyasi | rājan saṁśayite mokṣe paratantrēṣu dehiṣu ||
Arjuna dit : «Ô roi, si tu rends vains les efforts de ces suppliants, vers quel monde iras-tu ? Car la délivrance est incertaine, et les êtres incarnés dépendent de forces qui les dépassent (leur destinée impartie). En une telle condition, décevoir ceux qui recherchent un gain et se sont réfugiés dans ton service est périlleux sur le plan moral.»
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma includes not frustrating the legitimate hopes of dependents and supplicants. Since embodied life is already constrained by destiny and uncertainty about liberation, ethical governance demands compassion and reliability; failing those who rely on you risks moral downfall.
Arjuna addresses a king and warns him that if he makes the efforts of those who have come seeking benefit (and serve under him) come to nothing, the king’s afterlife destination will be blameworthy. He frames the warning through the uncertainty of mokṣa and the dependence of embodied beings on fate.