Shloka 104

Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman

Manu’s Instruction

Devanagari script

विकृत उवाच स्वं मया याचितेनेह दत्तं कथमिहाद्य तत्‌ । गृह्नीयां गच्छतु भवानभ्यनुज्ञां ददानि ते,विकृत बोला--तुम्हारे माँगनेपर मैंने अपना धन दानके रूपमें दिया था; फिर आज उसे वापस कैसे ले सकता हूँ? तुम्हारे ऊपर मेरा कुछ भी पावना नहीं है। मैं तुम्हें जानेके लिये आज्ञा देता हूँ, तुम जाओ

Transliteration

vikṛta uvāca | svaṁ mayā yāciteneha dattaṁ katham ihādya tat | gṛhnīyāṁ gacchatu bhavān abhyanujñāṁ dadāni te ||

Translation

వికృతుడు అన్నాడు—నీవు అడిగినప్పుడు నేను ఇక్కడ నా ధనాన్ని దానంగా ఇచ్చాను; మరి నేడు దాన్ని ఎలా తిరిగి తీసుకోగలను? వెళ్ళండి, మహాశయా—మీకు వెళ్లుటకు నేను అనుమతి ఇస్తున్నాను.

Word by Word

• {'vikṛta uvāca': 'Vikṛta said', 'svam': 'one’s own (property/wealth)', 'mayā': 'by me', 'yācitena': 'by (one) who has asked/begged

• at the request', 'iha': 'here, in this matter', 'dattam': 'given, bestowed', 'katham': 'how?', 'adya': 'today, now', 'tat': 'that (gift/thing given)', 'gṛhnīyām': 'could/should I take (back)? (optative)', 'gacchatu': 'let (him/you) go

• go', 'bhavān': 'you, sir (honorific)', 'abhyanujñām': 'permission, consent, leave', 'dadāni': 'I give', 'te': 'to you'}

Speaker

विकृत उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vikṛta

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A gift given upon request should not be reclaimed; true dāna is marked by integrity, non-attachment, and freedom from later claims.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vikṛta responds to someone who appears to seek the return of what was earlier given. He refuses to take it back, stating it was already donated, and grants the other person permission to leave.