Shloka 41
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
तेभ्य: प्रयच्छ दानानि ये प्रवृत्ता नराधिप । अहं न प्रतिगृह्नामि किमिष्टं कि ददामि ते | ब्रृहि त्वं नृपतिश्रेष्ठ तपसा साधयामि किम्
tebhyaḥ prayaccha dānāni ye pravṛttā narādhipa | ahaṃ na pratigṛhṇāmi kim iṣṭaṃ kiṃ dadāmi te | brūhi tvaṃ nṛpatiśreṣṭha tapasā sādhayāmi kim, nareśvara ||
برہمن نے کہا—اے نرادھپ! جو لوگ پرورتّی مارگ (دنیاوی راہ) میں لگے ہیں، انہیں ہی دان دو۔ میں تمہارا دان قبول نہیں کروں گا۔ اے نرپ شریشٹھ! اس گھڑی تمہاری کیا ابھیष्ट ہے؟ میں تمہیں کیا دوں؟ بتاؤ، اے نریشور—میں اپنی تپسیا سے تمہارا کون سا کام پورا کروں؟
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity should be directed appropriately: the Brahmin, aligned with renunciation, declines material gifts and instead offers the fruit of austerity. The verse contrasts pravṛtti (worldly engagement) with a renunciant ethic, suggesting that spiritual power and self-restraint can serve others without attachment to possessions.
A Brahmin addresses a king and instructs him to give donations to those living the active, worldly life. He refuses to accept the king’s gift himself and asks what the king truly seeks, offering to fulfill the king’s purpose through his tapas (ascetic merit) rather than through material exchange.