Shloka 22
जनक–ब्राह्मणसंवादः
Viṣaya, Mamatva, and Self-Mastery
नाहमात्मार्थमिच्छामि शब्दान् श्रोत्रगतानपि । तस्मान्मे निर्जिता: शब्दा वशे तिष्ठन्ति नित्यदा,मैं कानोंमें पड़े हुए शब्दोंको भी अपने सुखके लिये नहीं ग्रहण करना चाहता, इसलिये वे मेरे द्वारा जीते हुए शब्द सदा मेरे अधीन रहते हैं
nāham ātmārtham icchāmi śabdān śrotragatān api | tasmān me nirjitāḥ śabdā vaśe tiṣṭhanti nityadā ||
Janaka said: “I do not desire even the sounds that enter the ear for the sake of my own pleasure. Therefore, those sounds—conquered by me—remain always under my control.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
True mastery is not merely avoiding sense-objects but refusing to appropriate them for personal pleasure; when desire is absent, sensory inputs like sound no longer dominate the mind and become ‘conquered’—remaining under one’s control.
King Janaka is speaking as a model of inner renunciation while living an active life; he explains his discipline of sense-restraint, using hearing (śabda) as an example to show how he maintains sovereignty over impulses rather than being ruled by them.