Shloka 20

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

Devanagari script

गन्धवर्णरसस्पर्शा निवर्तन्ते स्वभावत: । तथैव सुखदुःखानि विधानमनुवर्तते,जैसे शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध स्वभावत: आते-जाते रहते हैं, उसी प्रकार मनुष्य सुख और दु:खोंको प्रारब्धानुसार पाता रहता है

Transliteration

gandha-varṇa-rasa-sparśā nivartante svabhāvataḥ | tathaiva sukha-duḥkhāni vidhānam anuvartate ||

Translation

ജനകൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഗന്ധം, വർണം, രസം, സ്പർശം എന്നിവ സ്വഭാവത്താൽ തന്നെ ഉദിച്ച് അസ്തമിക്കുന്നു; അതുപോലെ സുഖദുഃഖങ്ങളും വിധാനത്തെ അനുഗമിച്ച്, അഥവാ പ്രാരബ്ധക്രമത്തിൽ, മനുഷ്യനിൽ എത്തിച്ചേരുന്നു.

Word by Word

गन्ध-वर्ण-रस-स्पर्शाःsmell, color, taste, touch (sense-objects)

निवर्तन्तेcease/turn back, come and go

स्वभावतःby nature, naturally

तथाso, likewise

एवindeed, just

सुख-दुःखानिpleasures and pains

विधानम्ordainment, destiny, dispensation

अनुवर्ततेfollows, conforms to

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?

Sense-experiences (smell, color/form, taste, touch) naturally arise and pass away; likewise, pleasure and pain arrive according to the ordained order (vidhāna). The ethical implication is to cultivate steadiness and non-attachment rather than being driven by changing sensations and fortunes.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right conduct, King Janaka speaks as a teacher-figure, using the transient nature of sensory contact as an analogy to explain why one should remain even-minded when confronted with happiness and suffering.