Shloka 9
जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः
Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment
नैतेनातिथयो राजन् देवर्षिपितरस्तथा । अद्य शक््यास्त्वया भर्तु मोघस्तेडयं परिश्रम:,“राजन! इस मुद्ठीभर जौसे देवताओं, ऋषियों, पितरों तथा अतिथियोंका आप भरण- पोषण नहीं कर सकते, अत: आपका यह परिश्रम व्यर्थ है
arjuna uvāca | naitena atithayo rājan devarṣi-pitaras tathā | adya śakyās tvayā bhartuṃ moghas te 'yaṃ pariśramaḥ ||
“రాజా! ఇంతమాత్రంతో నీవు ఈ రోజు అతిథులను గానీ, దేవర్షులను గానీ, పితరులను గానీ పోషించలేవు; కాబట్టి నీ ఈ శ్రమ వ్యర్థం.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma must be effective and proportionate to one’s means: obligations to guests, sages, and ancestors require sufficient resources; otherwise the action becomes ‘mogha’ (fruitless), however well-intended.
Arjuna addresses a king and points out that the small quantity at hand is inadequate to perform the expected duties of support and offerings to guests, divine seers, and ancestors, concluding that the king’s present exertion will not achieve its intended purpose.