Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
अभिजातो<स्मि सिद्धो5स्मि नास्मि केवलमानुष: । इत्येभिहेतुभिस्तस्य त्रिभिक्षित्तं प्रसिच्यते
abhijāto ’smi siddho ’smi nāsmi kevalamānuṣaḥ | itye-bhir hetubhis tasya tribhiś cittaṃ prasicyate ||
Janaka nói: “ ‘Ta dòng dõi cao quý; ta đã thành tựu; ta chẳng phải kẻ phàm thường.’ Bởi ba cớ ấy, tâm người kia được tưới tẩm; những dòng kiêu mạn bắt đầu tưới vào nội tâm, làm cái ngã lớn dần.”
जनक उवाच
Pride rooted in birth, achievement, and a sense of being more-than-human becomes a threefold cause that nourishes ego in the mind; ethical discipline requires recognizing and checking these self-exalting thoughts.
King Janaka is speaking reflectively, diagnosing how certain self-descriptions (“noble,” “accomplished,” “not ordinary”) function as causes that ‘water’ the mind—an image for how arrogance grows and takes hold internally.