Shloka 48
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
राजोवाच यत्तद् वर्षशतं पूर्ण जप्यं वै जपता त्वया । फल प्राप्तं तत् प्रयच्छ मम दित्सुर्भवान् यदि
rājovāca yattad varṣaśataṁ pūrṇaṁ japyaṁ vai japatā tvayā | phalaṁ prāptaṁ tat prayaccha mama ditsur bhavān yadi ||
بادشاہ نے کہا—اے منی، اگر تم واقعی دینا چاہتے ہو تو پورے سو برس کے جپ (ذکر) سے جو پھل تم نے پایا ہے، وہی مجھے دے دو—وہی ثواب کا پھل۔
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse probes the ethics of spiritual merit: the king demands not a material gift but the hard-won fruit of a century of japa, raising the question whether inner merit can—or should—be transferred, and highlighting the tension between genuine giving and possessive entitlement.
In a dialogue between a king and a Brāhmaṇa/ascetic, the king responds to an offer of giving by specifying what he wants: the exact spiritual reward the sage gained through a hundred years of recitation, effectively testing the meaning and limits of ‘giving’ in a dharmic context.