Shloka 20
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
जनक उवाच भगवत्या: क्व चर्येयं कृता क्व च गमिष्यसि । कस्य च त्वं कुतो वेति पप्रच्छैनां महीपति:
janaka uvāca | bhagavatyāḥ kva caryeyaṁ kṛtā kva ca gamiṣyasi | kasya ca tvaṁ kuto veti papracchaināṁ mahīpatiḥ ||
阇那迦说道：“尊贵的女士，你在何处受持此出离之行？如今又将往何方？你属何人之家，又从何处而来？”阇那迦王如此询问苏罗婆。
जनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dhārmic inquiry: before judging or accepting a spiritual claimant, one may ask about their discipline (caryā), intention, and provenance. It frames renunciation as a life-choice that invites ethical scrutiny and contextual understanding.
King Janaka addresses the ascetic woman Sulabhā and asks where she adopted her renunciant conduct, where she is headed, whose lineage she belongs to, and from where she has arrived—initiating a probing dialogue on renunciation, identity, and true freedom.