Shloka 21

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

श्रुते वयसि जातौ च सद्धावो नाधिगम्यते | एष्वर्थेषूत्तरं तस्मात्‌ प्रवेद्यं मत्समागमे

Transliteration

śrute vayasi jātau ca saddhāvo nādhigamyate | eṣv artheṣūttaraṃ tasmāt pravedyaṃ matsamāgame ||

Translation

Janaka nói: “Không hỏi thì không thể biết thật sự về học vấn Veda và kinh điển của một người, về tuổi tác hay về xuất thân. Vì vậy, nay nàng đã gặp ta, thì ngay trong dịp này cần phải trả lời rõ ràng và chân thật về những điều ấy.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'śrute', 'definition': 'in learning

• in what has been heard/studied (śruti, scriptural learning)'}, {'term': 'vayasi', 'definition': 'in age

• regarding one’s stage of life'}, {'term': 'jātau', 'definition': 'in birth

• lineage/caste/origin'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and'}, {'term': 'saddhāvaḥ', 'definition': 'true state/reality

• the factual truth about something'}, {'term': 'na adhigamyate', 'definition': 'is not ascertained/known (without inquiry)'}, {'term': 'eṣu artheṣu', 'definition': 'in these matters

• regarding these points'}, {'term': 'uttaram', 'definition': 'answer

• reply'}, {'term': 'tasmāt', 'definition': 'therefore

• for that reason'}, {'term': 'pravedyam', 'definition': 'to be clearly stated/made known

• to be disclosed accurately'}, {'term': 'mat-samāgame', 'definition': 'in meeting with me

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janaka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Janaka emphasizes epistemic humility and ethical inquiry: a person’s learning, age, and social origin cannot be reliably known by assumption or appearance; truthful knowledge requires direct questioning and a clear answer.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a dialogue context, King Janaka addresses his interlocutor and requests an explicit, accurate account of the person’s learning, age, and birth, since their meeting provides the occasion to clarify these uncertainties.