Shloka 34

जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः

Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment

Devanagari script

अनिष्कषाये काषायमीहार्थमिति विद्धि तम्‌ धर्मध्वजानां मुण्डानां वृत्यर्थमिति मे मिति:

Transliteration

aniṣkāṣāye kāṣāyam īhārtham iti viddhi tam | dharmadhvajānāṁ muṇḍānāṁ vṛttyartham iti me matiḥ ||

Translation

यदि हृदय का कषाय—रागादि मल—दूर न हुआ हो, तो काषाय (गेरुआ) वस्त्र धारण करना केवल स्वार्थ-साधन की चेष्टा ही समझो। मेरे मत में धर्म-ध्वजा उठाने वाले ऐसे मुण्डित जनों के लिये यह मात्र जीविका का उपाय बन जाता है।

Word by Word

• {'aniṣkāṣāye': 'when not cleansed

• when not purified (especially of inner impurities)', 'kāṣāyam': 'ochre/ascetic robe

• saffron-colored garment associated with renunciation', 'īhā-artham': 'for the sake of striving

• for personal ends/advantage', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner', 'viddhi': 'know

• understand (imperative)', 'tam': 'that (practice/person), accusative singular', 'dharma-dhvajānām': 'of those who carry the ‘flag’ of dharma

• those who make a show of religiosity', 'muṇḍānām': 'of the shaven-headed (ascetics)', 'vṛtti-artham': 'for livelihood

• as a profession', 'me': 'my', 'matiḥ': 'opinion

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• ascetics wearing kāṣāya (ochre robes)
• muṇḍa (shaven-headed religious mendicants)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Outer marks of renunciation (like ochre robes and a shaven head) are ethically meaningless if inner impurities—attachment, passion, and other दोष—remain. True dharma requires inner cleansing; otherwise religious symbols become tools for self-interest and livelihood.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna voices a critical judgment about pseudo-ascetics: if a person has not removed inner defilements, adopting ascetic dress is not genuine renunciation but a strategy for personal gain, turning धर्म into a public display and a means of subsistence.