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 dit : «Ici même, avec l’épée du renoncement—affûtée sur la pierre à aiguiser de la délivrance—j’ai tranché le nœud coulant fait de royauté et de puissance mondaine, et j’ai aussi rompu la chaîne née de l’attachement : cette appropriation du “mien” qui prend pour abri l’épouse, les enfants et autres. Ainsi je me tiens affranchi des liens qui rivent l’esprit au règne et à la notion de “moi et mien”.»
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.