Shloka 20
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
जनक उवाच भगवत्या: क्व चर्येयं कृता क्व च गमिष्यसि । कस्य च त्वं कुतो वेति पप्रच्छैनां महीपति:,जनकने पूछा--भगवति! आपको यह संन्यासकी दीक्षा कहाँसे प्राप्त हुई है, आप कहाँ जायँगी? किसकी हैं और कहाँसे यहाँ आपका शुभागमन हुआ है? ये सब बातें राजा जनकने सुलभासे पूछीं
janaka uvāca | bhagavatyāḥ kva caryeyaṁ kṛtā kva ca gamiṣyasi | kasya ca tvaṁ kuto veti papracchaināṁ mahīpatiḥ ||
जनक उवाच—भगवत्याः क्व चर्येयं कृता क्व च गमिष्यसि । कस्य च त्वं कुतो वेति पप्रच्छैनां महीपतिः ॥
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dhārmic inquiry: before judging or accepting a spiritual claimant, one may ask about their discipline (caryā), intention, and provenance. It frames renunciation as a life-choice that invites ethical scrutiny and contextual understanding.
King Janaka addresses the ascetic woman Sulabhā and asks where she adopted her renunciant conduct, where she is headed, whose lineage she belongs to, and from where she has arrived—initiating a probing dialogue on renunciation, identity, and true freedom.