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

Tâu Đại vương, như lửa không thể lặng tắt nếu chưa thiêu hết củi làm nhiên liệu, cũng vậy, một Bà-la-môn cứ mãi cầu xin không thôi thì không thể đạt được sự tĩnh lặng nội tâm chừng nào thói quen van xin ấy còn tiếp diễn. Bố thí (dakṣiṇā) trao cho kẻ luôn đòi hỏi và giả dối được ví như lễ vật ném vào biển lửa rừng—uổng phí, không sinh quả lành.

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.