Shloka 18
जनक–ब्राह्मणसंवादः
Viṣaya, Mamatva, and Self-Mastery
नाहमात्मार्थमिच्छामि गन्धान् प्राणगतानपि । तस्मान्मे निर्जिता भूमिर्वशे तिष्ठति नित्यदा,मैं अपनी नासिकामें पहुँची हुई सुगन्न्धको भी अपने सुखके लिये नहीं ग्रहण करना चाहता। इसलिये मैंने पृथ्वीको जीत लिया है और वह सदा ही मेरे वशमें रहती है
nāham ātmārtham icchāmi gandhān prāṇagatān api | tasmān me nirjitā bhūmir vaśe tiṣṭhati nityadā ||
Janaka said: “I do not desire even fragrances that have reached my very breath for my own pleasure. Therefore, having conquered the earth (through self-mastery), it remains ever under my control.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
True sovereignty begins with mastery over the senses. Janaka presents restraint from even subtle pleasures (like fragrance at the nostrils) as the basis for enduring control—suggesting that outer dominion is stable only when rooted in inner conquest.
Janaka is speaking as a model of the self-possessed king-sage. He explains that he does not appropriate sensory enjoyments for personal pleasure; because of this disciplined detachment, he claims to have ‘conquered the earth’—i.e., his realm (and the world of experience) remains steadily under his governance.