Shloka 51
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
तस्माद् धर्मार्थकामेषु तथा राज्यपरिग्रहे । बन्धनायलतनेष्वेषु विद्धयबन्धे पदे स्थितम्,इसलिये धर्म, अर्थ, काम तथा राज्यपरिग्रह--इन बन्धनके स्थानोंमें रहते हुए भी मुझे आप बन्धनरहित (जीवन्मुक्त) पदपर प्रतिष्ठित समझें
Janaka uvāca: tasmād dharmārthakāmeṣu tathā rājyaparigrahe | bandhanāyatan eṣv eṣu viddhy abaddhe pade sthitam ||
म्हणून धर्म, अर्थ, काम तसेच राज्यपरिग्रह—जे बंधनाची स्थाने मानली जातात—त्यांत राहूनही मला अबंध (जीवन्मुक्त) पदावर स्थित असे जाणावे.
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Janaka teaches that bondage is not created merely by outer roles—pursuing dharma, artha, kāma, or ruling a kingdom—but by inner attachment. One can be established in an unbound state while performing worldly responsibilities, if one remains free from possessiveness and egoic clinging.
In the Śānti Parva’s discourse on peace and liberation, King Janaka speaks as an exemplar of a ruler-sage. He asserts that although he lives amid the usual causes of entanglement—ethical duties, prosperity, pleasure, and royal power—he is to be understood as abiding in the state of inner freedom.