Shloka 17

Pūjya-namaskārya-prakaraṇa

On Those Worthy of Honor and Salutation

Devanagari script

एकारामो हाहं शक्र निर्दधन्द्ो निष्परिग्रह:

Transliteration

ekārāmo hāhaṃ śakra nirdahanno niṣparigrahaḥ

Translation

ಮಾತಂಗನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಹೇ ಶಕ್ರ (ಇಂದ್ರ), ನಾನು ಒಂದೇ ಸರಳ ಆನಂದದಲ್ಲಿ ತೃಪ್ತನಾಗಿ ಬದುಕುತ್ತೇನೆ; ಅಯ್ಯೋ, ನಾನು ನಿರ್ಪರಿಗ್ರಹನಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ ದುಃಖಾಗ್ನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ದಹಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ.”

Word by Word

• एकारामः: one who delights in the One/solitude (content with one refuge)
• एकारामः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकाराम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• हा: alas! (interjection)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हा

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• शक्र: O Śakra (Indra)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शक्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• निर्दहन्: burning up, consuming
• निर्दहन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर्दह् (नि + दह्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, शतृ (present active participle)

• निष्परिग्रहः: without possessions; non-possessive
• निष्परिग्रहः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निष्परिग्रह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

मतंग उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mātaṅga
• Śakra (Indra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External renunciation (being niṣparigraha, without possessions) and simple living (ekārāma) do not automatically remove inner pain; the verse highlights the reality of suffering even for the detached, prompting reflection on deeper causes and remedies beyond mere non-ownership.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mātaṅga addresses Śakra (Indra) directly, lamenting that despite living with minimal wants and no attachments, he feels ‘burned’—a vivid statement of distress that frames a moral-spiritual dialogue about the nature of hardship and the limits of outward asceticism.