Shloka 26
जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः
Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment
“सदा ही याचना करनेवालेको और दम्भीको दी हुई दक्षिणा दावानलमें दी गयी आहुतिके समान व्यर्थ है ।।
jātavedā yathā rājan nādagdhvaivopaśāmyati | sadaiva yācamāno hi tathā śāmyati na dvijaḥ ||
Ô roi, de même que le feu ne s’apaise pas sans avoir d’abord consumé son combustible, ainsi le brahmane qui mendie sans cesse n’obtient pas la paix intérieure tant que dure cette habitude de sollicitation. La donation (dakṣiṇā) faite à celui qui importune continuellement et qui est hypocrite ressemble à une oblation jetée dans un brasier de forêt : elle est vaine et sans fruit bénéfique.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that habitual, insatiable begging prevents inner peace, and that gifts given to the perpetually importunate and hypocritical are ethically unfruitful—like offerings thrown into a wildfire.
A speaker addresses a king and uses the image of fire needing fuel to illustrate a moral point about recipients of charity: a person who constantly solicits does not become content, so indiscriminate giving to such a person is portrayed as wasted.