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 ||
Wahai Raja, sebagaimana api tidak mereda sebelum melahap kayu bakar, demikian pula seorang brahmana yang terus-menerus meminta-minta tidak memperoleh ketenangan batin selama kebiasaan itu belum dihentikan. Dakṣiṇā yang diberikan kepada peminta yang tak henti-henti dan munafik diibaratkan seperti persembahan yang dilemparkan ke dalam kebakaran hutan—sia-sia dan tanpa buah kebajikan.
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.