Shloka 34

जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः

Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment

Devanagari script

अनिष्कषाये काषायमीहार्थमिति विद्धि तम्‌ धर्मध्वजानां मुण्डानां वृत्यर्थमिति मे मिति:

Transliteration

aniṣkāṣāye kāṣāyam īhārtham iti viddhi tam | dharmadhvajānāṁ muṇḍānāṁ vṛttyartham iti me matiḥ ||

Translation

जर हृदयातील कषाय—रागादि मल—दूर झाला नसेल, तर काषाय (गेरुआ) वस्त्र धारण करणे हे केवळ स्वार्थसाधनाची धडपड आहे, असे समज. माझ्या मते धर्मध्वजा मिरवणाऱ्या अशा मुंडित लोकांसाठी ते फक्त उपजीविकेचे साधन ठरते.

Word by Word

• {'aniṣkāṣāye': 'when not cleansed

• when not purified (especially of inner impurities)', 'kāṣāyam': 'ochre/ascetic robe

• saffron-colored garment associated with renunciation', 'īhā-artham': 'for the sake of striving

• for personal ends/advantage', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner', 'viddhi': 'know

• understand (imperative)', 'tam': 'that (practice/person), accusative singular', 'dharma-dhvajānām': 'of those who carry the ‘flag’ of dharma

• those who make a show of religiosity', 'muṇḍānām': 'of the shaven-headed (ascetics)', 'vṛtti-artham': 'for livelihood

• as a profession', 'me': 'my', 'matiḥ': 'opinion

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• ascetics wearing kāṣāya (ochre robes)
• muṇḍa (shaven-headed religious mendicants)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Outer marks of renunciation (like ochre robes and a shaven head) are ethically meaningless if inner impurities—attachment, passion, and other दोष—remain. True dharma requires inner cleansing; otherwise religious symbols become tools for self-interest and livelihood.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna voices a critical judgment about pseudo-ascetics: if a person has not removed inner defilements, adopting ascetic dress is not genuine renunciation but a strategy for personal gain, turning धर्म into a public display and a means of subsistence.