Shloka 40
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
तमुपाध्यायस्तथापि पीवानमेव दृष्टवोवाच वत्सोपमन्यो सर्वमशेषतस्ते भैक्ष्यं गृह्नामि केनेदानीं वृत्ति कल्पयसीति,उस दशामें भी उपमन्युको पूर्ववत् हृष्ट-पुष्ट ही देखकर उपाध्यायने पूछा--“बेटा उपमन्यु! तुम्हारी सारी भिक्षा तो मैं ले लेता हूँ, फिर तुम इस समय कैसे जीवन-निर्वाह करते हो?”
tam upādhyāyas tathāpi pīvānam eva dṛṣṭvā uvāca—vatsopamanyo sarvam aśeṣatas te bhaikṣyaṁ gṛhṇāmi; kena idānīṁ vṛttiṁ kalpayasīti.
Seeing that Upamanyu still looked well-nourished despite everything, the teacher said: “My child Upamanyu, I take all of your alms without leaving anything. By what means, then, do you manage your livelihood now?” The question probes the student’s integrity and discipline: whether he is sustaining himself through a permitted means or by some concealed, improper practice while under instruction.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical scrutiny in discipleship: a student must sustain himself only through permitted means and remain transparent under the guru’s discipline. Outward prosperity despite deprivation raises a moral question—whether one is secretly violating the rules of brahmacarya or finding a legitimate, dharmic alternative.
The teacher observes that Upamanyu remains healthy even though the teacher takes all the alms Upamanyu collects. The teacher therefore asks how Upamanyu is currently managing to live, setting up an inquiry into the student’s actual method of subsistence.