Shloka 36
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
वृद्धावस्था और मृत्युके वशमें पड़े हुए मनुष्यको औषध, मन्त्र, होम और जप भी नहीं बचा पाते हैं ।।
vṛddhāvasthā-mṛtyu-vaśaṁ patitaṁ manuṣyam auṣadha-mantra-homa-japā api na trātum śaknuvanti. yathā kāṣṭhaṁ ca kāṣṭhaṁ ca sameyātāṁ mahodadhau; sametya ca vyapeyātāṁ, tadvat bhūta-samāgamaḥ.
阇那迦说道：“落入衰老与死亡权势之下的人，即使凭药物、咒语、火供与反复祈诵，也不能得救。譬如大海之中，一段木从此岸漂来，另一段木从彼岸漂来，二者暂时相遇，旋即分离；同样，在此世间，众生的聚合与离散不断发生。”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
That mortality is unavoidable: when old age and death take hold, external means—medicine, mantras, rituals, or recitation—cannot ultimately prevent the end. Therefore one should cultivate detachment and live by dharma, not by clinging to transient bonds.
King Janaka delivers a reflective instruction using a simile: like two logs that drift together in the ocean and then separate, beings in the world meet and part according to time and circumstance. The point is to understand the nature of worldly association and respond with wisdom rather than grief-driven attachment.