Shloka 7

Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)

Devanagari script

अभिजातो<स्मि सिद्धो5स्मि नास्मि केवलमानुष: । इत्येभिहेतुभिस्तस्य त्रिभिक्षित्तं प्रसिच्यते,इसीसे “मैं कुलीन हूँ, सिद्ध हूँ और कोई साधारण मनुष्य नहीं हूँ” ये अहंकारकी तीन धाराएँ मनुष्यके चित्तको सींचने लगती हैं

Transliteration

abhijāto ’smi siddho ’smi nāsmi kevalamānuṣaḥ | itye-bhir hetubhis tasya tribhiś cittaṃ prasicyate ||

Translation

ジャナカは言った。「『我は良き家に生まれ、我は成就し、我はただの凡人ではない。』かくのごとき理由—この三つ—によって彼の心は潤され養われる。すなわち慢心の流れが内なる意識を灌ぎ、我執を増大させるのだ。」

Word by Word

अभिजातःwell-born, noble

अस्मिI am

सिद्धःaccomplished, perfected

अस्मिI am

नnot

अस्मिI am

केवल-मानुषःa mere human being

इतिthus (quoting)

एभिःby these

हेतुभिःby causes/reasons

तस्यof him/of that person

त्रिभिःby three

भिक्षितम्begged for; sought (as alms)

प्रसिच्यतेis sprinkled/irrigated

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janaka

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pride rooted in birth, achievement, and a sense of being more-than-human becomes a threefold cause that nourishes ego in the mind; ethical discipline requires recognizing and checking these self-exalting thoughts.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janaka is speaking reflectively, diagnosing how certain self-descriptions (“noble,” “accomplished,” “not ordinary”) function as causes that ‘water’ the mind—an image for how arrogance grows and takes hold internally.