Shloka 78
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
राजोवाच कृतं स्वर्गेण मे कार्य गच्छ स्वर्ग यथागतम् । विप्रो यदीच्छते गन्तुं चीर्ण गृह्नातु मे फलम्,राजाने कहा--मुझे स्वर्गकी कोई आवश्यकता नहीं है। स्वर्ग! तुम जैसे आये थे, वैसे ही लौट जाओ। यदि ये ब्राह्मणदेवता स्वर्गमें जाना चाहते हों तो मेरे किये हुए पुण्पफलको ग्रहण करें
rājovāca: kṛtaṃ svargeṇa me kāryaṃ gaccha svarga yathāgatam | vipro yadīcchate gantuṃ cīrṇaṃ gṛhṇātu me phalam ||
O rei disse: “Não tenho necessidade do céu; meu propósito está cumprido sem ele. Ó Svarga, volta pelo caminho por onde vieste. Se este brâmane deseja ir ao céu, que tome o mérito que eu acumulei.”
स्वर्ग उवाच
Educational Q&A
Heaven is not the highest aim when dharma is grounded in selflessness. The king rejects personal heavenly reward and offers his earned merit to another, illustrating detachment from फल (reward) and compassion as a higher ethical choice.
Heaven appears as an offered destination or reward. The king declines it, telling Heaven to depart, and proposes that if the brahmin desires to go, he may take the king’s accumulated merit (puṇya-phala) instead.