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Shloka 5

जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः

Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment

त॑ ददर्श प्रिया भार्या भैक्ष्यवृत्तिमकिंचनम्‌ । धानामुष्टिमुपासीनं निरीहं गतमत्सरम्‌

taṁ dadarśa priyā bhāryā bhaikṣya-vṛttim akiñcanam | dhānā-muṣṭim upāsīnaṁ nirīhaṁ gata-matsaram ||

तं ददर्श प्रिया भार्या भैक्ष्यवृत्तिमकिञ्चनम् । धानामुष्टिमुपासीनं निरीहं गतमत्सरम् ॥

तंhim
तं:
Karma
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
ददर्शsaw
ददर्श:
TypeVerb
Rootदृश्
FormPerfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada
प्रियाbeloved
प्रिया:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootप्रिय
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
भार्याwife
भार्या:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootभार्या
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
भैक्ष्यवृत्तिम्one whose livelihood is by begging
भैक्ष्यवृत्तिम्:
TypeNoun
Rootभैक्ष्यवृत्ति
FormFeminine, Accusative, Singular
अकिञ्चनम्having nothing; destitute
अकिञ्चनम्:
TypeAdjective
Rootअकिञ्चन
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
धानामुष्टिम्a handful of grains
धानामुष्टिम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootधानामुष्टि
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
उपासीनम्sitting near; seated
उपासीनम्:
TypeVerb
Rootउप-आस्
Formक्त (past participle, used adjectivally), Masculine, Accusative, Singular
निरीहम्inactive; without striving
निरीहम्:
TypeAdjective
Rootनिरीह
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
गतम्gone; departed
गतम्:
TypeVerb
Rootगम्
Formक्त (past participle, used adjectivally), Masculine, Accusative, Singular
मत्सरम्envy; jealousy
मत्सरम्:
TypeNoun
Rootमत्सर
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular

अजुन उवाच

B
bhāryā (wife)
D
dhānā (parched grain)
M
muṣṭi (handful)
B
bhaikṣya (alms)

Educational Q&A

The verse presents an ethical portrait of inner renunciation: living simply on alms, owning nothing, being free from anxious striving, and abandoning envy. It implies that true restraint is measured by mental purity (nirīhatā, amātsarya) as much as by external poverty.

A wife observes her husband in an austere condition—subsisting on alms, seated with only a handful of parched grain, calm and unresentful. The description frames him as a person who has turned away from competitive worldly life and cultivated equanimity.