Shloka 57
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
समं हि धर्म चरतो नृपस्य द्रव्याणि चाभ्याहरतो यथावत् । प्रवृत्तधर्मस्य यशो 5भिवर्धते सर्वेषु लोकेषु चराचरेषु
Janaka uvāca:
Samaṁ hi dharmaṁ carato nṛpasya dravyāṇi cābhyāharato yathāvat |
Pravṛttadharmasya yaśo ’bhivardhate sarveṣu lokeṣu carācareṣu ||
जनक म्हणाला—जो राजा समभावाने धर्माचरण करतो आणि नियमपूर्वक, विधिसम्मत रीतीने प्रजेकडून कर-आदि द्रव्य गोळा करतो, त्याचा यश वाढतो. जो शासक धर्मयुक्त राज्यकारभारात सतत प्रवृत्त असतो, त्याची कीर्ती सर्व लोकांत—चराचरांमध्ये—पसरते.
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s legitimacy and lasting fame arise from impartial adherence to dharma and from collecting revenue only in the proper, prescribed way—without personal bias, greed, or hostility.
Janaka is instructing on rajadharma: he describes the ideal king who governs righteously and fairly, and explains that such conduct naturally causes the king’s good reputation to spread everywhere.