Shloka 37
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
ये चैव पुरुषा: स्त्रीभिर्गीतवाद्यैरुपस्थिता: । ये चानाथा: परान्नादा: कालस्तेषु समक्रिय:,जगत्में जिन धनवान पुरुषोंकी सेवामें बहुत-सी सुन्दरियाँ गीत और वाद्योंके साथ उपस्थित हुआ करती हैं और जो अनाथ मनुष्य दूसरोंके अन्नपर जीवन-निर्वाह करते हैं, उन सबके प्रति कालकी समान चेष्टा होती है
ye caiva puruṣāḥ strībhir gītavādyair upasthitāḥ | ye cānāthāḥ parānnādāḥ kālas teṣu samakriyaḥ ||
Janaka disse: “Sejam homens ricos, servidos por muitas mulheres com cantos e instrumentos, sejam desamparados que sobrevivem do alimento alheio, o Tempo age sobre todos do mesmo modo.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time (and thus death and change) is impartial: social status, luxury, and dependence may differ, but all are equally subject to impermanence. The ethical implication is to cultivate detachment and right conduct rather than pride in prosperity or despair in poverty.
King Janaka is speaking in a reflective, instructive mode, contrasting two extremes—those surrounded by pleasures and attendants, and those who are unprotected and live on others’ food—to emphasize that Time’s power reaches both without distinction.