Shloka 8
Aśmagīta: Janaka’s Inquiry on Loss, Kāla, and the Limits of Control (अश्मगीता)
सम्प्रसक्तमना भोगान् विसृज्य पितृसंचितान् । परिक्षीण: परस्वानामादानं साधु मन्यते
samprasaktamanā bhogān visṛjya pitṛsañcitān | parikṣīṇaḥ parasvānām ādānaṃ sādhu manyate ||
阇那迦说道：“当一个人的心纠缠于享乐，他便挥霍祖先积聚的财富。及至耗尽而败落，他竟开始认为夺取他人财物亦可为之——欲望便如此将他从浪费推入公然的罪行。”
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment to sense-pleasures erodes restraint: first one wastes rightful resources, then—when impoverished—one rationalizes taking what belongs to others. The verse warns that unchecked desire can normalize adharma.
In Janaka’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he describes a moral decline: a pleasure-addicted person dissipates inherited wealth and, once ruined, starts considering the appropriation of others’ wealth as ‘good’ or justified.