Shloka 44
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
संनिमज्जेज्जगदिदं गम्भीरे कालसागरे | जरामृत्युमहाग्राहे न कश्चिदवबुध्यते,जिसमें जरा और मृत्युरूपी बड़े-बड़े ग्राह पड़े हुए हैं, उस गम्भीर कालसमुद्रमें यह सारा संसार डूब रहा है, किंतु कोई इस बातको समझ नहीं पाता है
sannimajjej jagad idaṃ gambhīre kāla-sāgare | jarā-mṛtyu-mahā-grāhe na kaścid avabudhyate ||
Disse o rei Janaka: “Este mundo inteiro está afundando no oceano profundo do Tempo, onde espreitam os grandes crocodilos da velhice e da morte; e, no entanto, ninguém desperta de fato para essa verdade.”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges sober awareness of impermanence: all beings are being carried toward decay and death by Time, yet people live as if unaware. Ethical urgency follows—one should pursue dharma and inner awakening rather than complacent attachment.
Janaka speaks in a reflective, instructive mode, using a vivid metaphor: the world is like a person drowning in the ocean of Time, threatened by the ‘crocodiles’ of old age and death. His point is to shake listeners out of heedlessness and toward wisdom.