Shloka 26

जनक-राज्ञः मौण्ड्य-परिव्रज्या-विवादः

Janaka’s Renunciation Questioned; Discourse on Dāna and Detachment

Devanagari script

“सदा ही याचना करनेवालेको और दम्भीको दी हुई दक्षिणा दावानलमें दी गयी आहुतिके समान व्यर्थ है ।।

Transliteration

jātavedā yathā rājan nādagdhvaivopaśāmyati | sadaiva yācamāno hi tathā śāmyati na dvijaḥ ||

Translation

O Hari, kung paanong ang apoy ay hindi humuhupa hangga’t hindi muna nito nauubos ang panggatong, gayon din ang isang brahmin na laging namamalimos: hindi niya nakakamtan ang katahimikan sa loob hangga’t nagpapatuloy ang ugaling palagiang paghingi. Ang kaloob (dakṣiṇā) na ibinibigay sa taong walang tigil ang paghingi at mapagpaimbabaw ay tulad ng handog na inihahagis sa naglalagablab na sunog sa gubat—nasasayang at walang mabuting bunga.

Word by Word

• जातवेदा: Jātavedas (Agni, the fire-god)
• जातवेदा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जातवेदस्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अदग्ध्वा: without burning (having not burned)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दह्
• Form: Absolutive (ktvā), Parasmaipada (usage)

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• उपशाम्यति: subsides, becomes calm, is extinguished
• Type: Verb
• Root: शम् (उप-शम्)
• Form: Present, Indicative, Parasmaipada, Third, Singular

• सदैव: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा + एव

• याचमानः: begging, requesting
• याचमानः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: याच्
• Form: Present active participle (śatṛ), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• हि: indeed/for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• तथा: so, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• शाम्यति: becomes calm, is appeased
• Type: Verb
• Root: शम्
• Form: Present, Indicative, Parasmaipada, Third, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• द्विजः: a twice-born (Brahmin)
• द्विजः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• rājan (the king addressed)
• jātavedāḥ (Agni/fire)
• dvija (brahmin/twice-born)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse warns that habitual, insatiable begging prevents inner peace, and that gifts given to the perpetually importunate and hypocritical are ethically unfruitful—like offerings thrown into a wildfire.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker addresses a king and uses the image of fire needing fuel to illustrate a moral point about recipients of charity: a person who constantly solicits does not become content, so indiscriminate giving to such a person is portrayed as wasted.