Shloka 43

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

Devanagari script

कुर्वीत पितृदैवत्यं धर्माणि च समाचरेत्‌ । यजेच्च विद्वान्‌ विधिवत त्रिवर्ग चाप्युपाचरेत्‌,विज्ञ पुरुष पितरोंका श्राद्ध और देवताओंका यजन करे। धर्मानुकूल कार्योंका अनुष्ठान और यज्ञ करे तथा विधिपूर्वक धर्म, अर्थ और कामका भी सेवन करे

Transliteration

kurvīta pitṛdaivatyaṁ dharmāṇi ca samācaret | yajec ca vidvān vidhivat trivargaṁ cāpy upācaret ||

Translation

ಜನಕನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ವಿದ್ವಾಂಸನು ಪಿತೃಗಳಿಗೆ ಶ್ರಾದ್ಧವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿ, ದೇವತೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಯಜನವನ್ನು ನೆರವೇರಿಸಬೇಕು. ಧರ್ಮಾನುಸಾರ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಆಚರಿಸಿ, ವಿಧಿವಿಧಾನದಿಂದ ಯಜ್ಞ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಧರ್ಮ, ಅರ್ಥ, ಕಾಮ ಎಂಬ ತ್ರಿವರ್ಗವನ್ನೂ ನಿಯಮಬದ್ಧವಾಗಿ ಅನುಸರಿಸಬೇಕು.

Word by Word

कुर्वीतshould do / should perform

पितृदैवत्यंrite/act having the Pitṛs as the deity (śrāddha-type act)

धर्माणिduties / righteous acts

चand

समाचरेत्should practice / should observe

यजेत्should worship / should sacrifice

चand

विद्वान्a learned man

विधिवत्according to rule / duly

त्रिवर्गम्the three aims (dharma-artha-kāma)

चand

अपिalso

उपाचरेत्should pursue / should cultivate / should practice

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janaka

Pitṛs (ancestors)

Devas (gods)

yajña (sacrifice)

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?

The verse teaches a balanced, rule-governed life: honor ancestors and gods through prescribed rites, practice dharma in conduct, and pursue artha and kāma only within the boundaries set by dharma (the trivarga pursued in harmony).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous living, King Janaka speaks as a moral teacher, advising how a wise person—especially in worldly life—should combine ritual obligations (to Pitṛs and Devas) with ethical conduct and the measured pursuit of life’s goals.