Shloka 44

Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)

Devanagari script

संनिमज्जेज्जगदिदं गम्भीरे कालसागरे | जरामृत्युमहाग्राहे न कश्चिदवबुध्यते

Transliteration

sannimajjej jagad idaṃ gambhīre kāla-sāgare | jarā-mṛtyu-mahā-grāhe na kaścid avabudhyate ||

Translation

阇那迦王说道：“整个世界正沉没于时间那深邃的大海之中；老与死如巨鳄潜伏其间，伺机而动，然而无人真正觉醒，洞见此事实。”

Word by Word

• संनिमज्जेत्: would sink / should sink
• Type: Verb
• Root: निमज्ज् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), 3, singular, परस्मैपद

• जगत्: the world
• जगत्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• गम्भीरे: in the deep
• गम्भीरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गम्भीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, singular

• कालसागरे: in the ocean of Time
• कालसागरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कालसागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• जरामृत्युमहाग्राहे: in which there are great crocodiles (as) old age and death
• जरामृत्युमहाग्राहे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरामृत्युमहाग्राह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)

• कश्चित्: anyone / someone
• कश्चित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: कश्चित् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• अवबुध्यते: understands / realizes
• Type: Verb
• Root: बुध् (धातु) + अव (उपसर्ग)
• Form: लट् (Present), 3, singular, आत्मनेपद

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janaka
• Kāla (Time)
• Jarā (Old age)
• Mṛtyu (Death)
• Sāgara (Ocean, metaphorical)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse urges sober awareness of impermanence: all beings are being carried toward decay and death by Time, yet people live as if unaware. Ethical urgency follows—one should pursue dharma and inner awakening rather than complacent attachment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janaka speaks in a reflective, instructive mode, using a vivid metaphor: the world is like a person drowning in the ocean of Time, threatened by the ‘crocodiles’ of old age and death. His point is to shake listeners out of heedlessness and toward wisdom.