Shloka 28
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
अकिज्चनाश्र दृश्यन्ते पुरुषाश्चिरजीविन: । समृद्धे च कुले जाता विनश्यन्ति पतंगवत्,इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि व्यासवाक्येडष्टाविंशोडध्याय:
akiñcanāśrā dṛśyante puruṣāś cirajīvinaḥ | samṛddhe ca kule jātā vinaśyanti pataṅgavat ||
Джанака сказал: «Видно, что люди без имущества, свободные от мирской зависимости, живут долго. Но рождённые в богатых и процветающих родах нередко гибнут быстро — словно мотыльки, летящие в пламя».
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Janaka highlights the ethical danger of prosperity when it breeds attachment and recklessness: the possessionless (akiñcana) tend to be steady and endure, while those born amid abundance may be drawn into self-destructive pleasures and pride, perishing like moths attracted to flame.
In the Rajadharma instruction section of Śānti Parva, King Janaka speaks as a teacher-figure, using a vivid simile to contrast the stability of the detached with the fragility of those intoxicated by family wealth and status.