Shloka 53
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
सो5हमेवंगतो मुक्तो जातास्थस्त्वयि भिक्षुकि । अयशथार्थ हि ते वर्ण वक्ष्यामि शूणु तन्मम
so’ham evaṁgato mukto jātāsthastvayi bhikṣuki | ayathārthaṁ hi te varṇaṁ vakṣyāmi śṛṇu tanmama saṁnyāsinī ||
Janaka dit : «Ainsi établi, je suis délivré ; pourtant, ô nonne mendiante, en voyant la puissance de ton yoga, j’ai conçu pour toi une estime ferme. Cependant, je ne tiens pas que cette forme et cette beauté soient vraiment convenables à la discipline du renoncement. C’est pourquoi je te dirai ce que je juge juste : écoute mes paroles, ô saṁnyāsinī.»
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Janaka distinguishes inner liberation and respect for spiritual attainment from uncritical approval of outward appearance. He suggests that renunciation requires congruence between one’s external mode of life and the discipline of detachment, and he insists on speaking what he considers truthful and ethically appropriate.
King Janaka addresses a female mendicant/renunciant. Though impressed by her yogic influence and feeling reverence toward her, he questions whether her outward form and beauty align with the ideals of saṁnyāsa, and he prepares to explain his view to her.