2(A). SHAUNAKA RECITES JANAKA SHLOKA

SRIMAD MAHABHARATA > AARANYA PARVA > AARANYAKA PARVA > CHAPTER 2(A) - SHAUNAKA RECITES JANAKA SHLOKA

“Vaishampaayana said, ‘When that night passed away and day broke in, those Brahmanas who supported themselves by mendicancy (Bhiksha in Sanskrit), stood before the Paandavaas of noble activities, who were about to enter the forest. Then king Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, addressed them, saying, ‘Robbed of our prosperity and kingdom, robbed of everything, we are about to enter the deep forest in sorrow, depending for our food on fruits and roots, and the produce of the hunt. The forest too is full of dangers and abounds with reptiles and predators. It appears to me that you will certainly have to suffer much poverty and misery there. The sufferings of the Brahmanas might overpower even Devas. That they would overwhelm me is too certain. Therefore, O Brahmana, you go back wheresoever you like!’

“Brahmanas replied, ‘O king, our path is that on which you are for setting out! It is not your duty, therefore, to leave us who are your devoted admirers practising the true Dharma! The very Devas have compassion upon their worshippers – specially upon Brahmanas of regulated (Aachaara in Sanskrit) lives!’

“Yudhishthira said, ‘We Dwijas, I too am devoted to the Brahmanas! But this poverty that has overtaken me overwhelmed me with confusion! These my brothers that are to procure fruits and roots and the deer (of the forest) are shocked with grief arising from their pain and on account of the distress of Draupadi and the loss of our kingdom! Alas, as they are distressed, I cannot employ them in painful tasks!’

“Brahmanas said, ‘Let no anxiety, O king (Yudhishthira), in respect of our maintenance, find a place in your heart! Ourselves providing our own food, we shall follow you, and by meditation and saying our prayers we shall compass your welfare while by pleasant conversation we shall entertain you and be cheered ourselves.’

“Yudhishthira said, ‘Without doubt, it must be as you say, for I am ever pleased with the company of Dwijas! But my fallen condition makes me see in myself an object of criticism! How shall I see you all, that do not deserve to bear trouble, out of love for me painfully living upon food procured by your own labour? Oh, fie upon the wicked sons of Dhritarashtra!’

“Vaishampaayana continued, ‘Saying this, the weeping king (Yudhishthira) sat himself down upon the ground. Then a learned Dwija, Shaunaka by name versed in self-knowledge and skilled in the Saankhya system of yoga, addressed the king (Yudhishthira), saying, ‘Causes of grief by thousands, and causes of fear by hundreds, day after day, overwhelm the ignorant but not the wise. Surely, sensible men like you never suffer themselves to be tricked by acts that are opposed to true knowledge, filled with every kind of evil, and destructive of salvation. O king (Yudhishthira), in you dwells that understanding furnished with the eight attributes (Ashtaanga Buddhimaahuryaam in Sanskrit) which is said to be capable of providing against all evils and which results from a study of the Srutis (Vedas) and Smritis! Men like to you are never overwhelmed on the accession of poverty or a pain overtaking their friends, through bodily or mental uneasiness! Listen, I shall tell the shlokas which were chanted in ancient times by Mahatma Janaka touching the subject of controlling the soul!

“This world is pained with both bodily and mental suffering. Listen now to the means of reducing it as I indicate them both briefly and in detail. Disease, contact with painful things, labour and want of objects desired – these are the four causes that induce bodily suffering. As regards disease, it may be reduced by the application of medicine, while mental ailments are cured by seeking to forget them through yoga-meditation. For this reason, sensible physicians first seek to reduce the mental sufferings of their patients by agreeable conversation and then offer of desirable objects. As a hot iron bar thrust into a jar makes the water in that place hot, so does mental grief bring on bodily agony. As water quenches fire, so does true knowledge reduces mental uneasiness. The mind attaining ease, the body finds ease also. It seems that affection is the root of all mental sorrow. It is affection that makes every creature miserable and brings on every kind of sadness. Certainly, affection is the root of all misery and of all fear, of joy and grief of every kind of pain. From affection spring all purposes, and it is from affection that spring the love of worldly goods! Both of these (latter) are sources of evil, though the first is worse than the second. As (a small portion of) fire put into the hollow of a tree consumes the tree itself to its roots, does so affection, ever so little, destroys both Dharma and Arthaa. He cannot be regarded to have renounced the world who has merely withdrawn from worldly possessions. He, however, who though in actual contact with the world regards its faults, may be said to have truly renounced the world. Freed from every evil passion, soul dependent on nothing with such a one has truly renounced the world. Therefore, no one should seek to place his affections on either friends or the wealth he has earned. So, should affection for one’s own person be extinguished by knowledge. Like the lotus-leaf that is never drenched by water, the souls of men capable of distinguishing between the short-lived and the everlasting, of men devoted to the pursuit of the eternal, knowledgeable with Shaastraas and purified by knowledge, can never be moved by affection. The man that is influenced by affection is tortured by Kaamaa; and from Kaamaa that springs up in his heart his thirst for worldly possessions increases. Certainly, this thirst is sinful and is regarded as the source of all anxieties. It is this terrible thirst, filled with sin that leans to unrighteous acts (Adharma in Sanskrit). Those find happiness that can renounce this thirst, which can never be renounced by the wicked, which does not decay with the decay of the body, and which is truly a fatal disease! It has neither beginning nor end. Dwelling within the heart, it destroys creatures, like a fire of non-material origin (Ayonija Ivaala in Sanskrit). As a bundle of wood is consumed by the fire that is fed by itself, so does a person of impure soul find destruction from the greed born of his heart. As creatures filled with life have ever a fear of death, so men of wealth are in constant apprehension of the king and the thief, of water, fire and of their relatives. As a fragment of meat, if in air, may be eaten by birds; if on ground by animals of prey; and if in water by the fishes; so is the man of wealth exposed to dangers wherever he may be. To many the wealth they own is their bane, and he that seeing happiness in wealth becomes wedded to it, knows not true happiness. Hence, accession of wealth is viewed as that which increases greed and foolishness. Wealth alone is the root of niggardliness and boastfulness, pride and fear and anxiety! These are the miseries of men that the wise see in riches! Men undergo infinite miseries in the acquisition and retention of wealth. Its expenditure also is filled with grief. Actually, sometimes, life itself is lost for the sake of wealth! The abandonment of wealth produces misery, and they that are cherished by one’s wealth become enemies for the sake of that wealth! When, therefore, the possession of wealth is filled with such misery, one should not mind its loss. It is the ignorant alone who are discontented. The wise, however, are always content. The thirst of wealth can never be reduced. Contentment is the highest happiness; therefore, it is, that the wise regard contentment as the highest object of pursuit. The wise knowing the instability of youth and beauty, of life and treasure-hoards, of prosperity and the company of the loved ones, never desire them. Therefore, one should withhold from the acquisition of wealth, bearing the pain incident to it. None that is rich free from trouble, and it is for this that the Dharmic people applaud them that are free from the desire of wealth. As regards those that pursue wealth for purposes of Dharma, it is better for them to refrain altogether from such pursuit, for, surely, it is better not to touch mud at all than to wash it off after having been covered with it. O Yudhishthira, it is not your duty to desire anything! If you would have Dharma, liberate yourself from desire of worldly possessions!’

THE SHLOKA RECITED BY JANAKA IN SANSKRIT:

मनोदेहसमुत्थाभ्यां दुःखाभ्यामर्दितं जगत् |

तयोर्व्याससमासाभ्यां शमोपायमिमं शृणु ||

व्याधेरनिष्टसंस्पर्शाच्छ्रमादिष्टविवर्जनात् |

दुःखं चतुर्भिः शारीरं कारणैः संप्रवर्तते ||

तदाशुप्रतिकाराच्च सततं चाविचिन्तनात् |

आधिव्याधिप्रशमनं क्रियायोगद्वयेन तु ||

मतिमन्तो ह्यतो वैद्याः शमं प्रागेव कुर्वते |

मानसस्य प्रियाख्यानैः संभोगोपनयैर्नृणाम् ||

मानसेन हि दुःखेन शरीरमुपतप्यते |

अयःपिण्डेन तप्तेन कुम्भसंस्थमिवोदकम् ||

मानसं शमयेत्तस्माज्ज्ञानेनाग्निमिवाम्बुना |

प्रशान्ते मानसे दुःखे शारीरमुपशाम्यति ||

मनसो दुःखमूलं तु स्नेह इत्युपलभ्यते |

स्नेहात्तु सज्जते जन्तुर्दुःखयोगमुपैति च ||

स्नेहमूलानि दुःखानि स्नेहजानि भयानि च |

शोकहर्षौ तथायासः सर्वं स्नेहात्प्रवर्तते ||

स्नेहात्करणरागश्च प्रजज्ञे वैषयस्तथा |

अश्रेयस्कावुभावेतौ पूर्वस्तत्र गुरुः स्मृतः ||

कोटराग्निर्यथाशेषं समूलं पादपं दहेत् |

धर्मार्थिनं तथाल्पोअपि रागदोषो विनाशयेत् ||

विप्रयोगे न तु त्यागी दोषदर्शी समागमात् |

विरागं भजते जन्तुर्निर्वैरो निष्परिग्रहः ||

तस्मात्स्नेहं स्वपक्षेभ्यो मित्रभ्यो धनसञ्चयात् |

स्वशरीरसमुत्थं तु ज्ञानेन विनिवर्तयेत् ||

ज्ञानान्वितेषु मुख्येषु शास्त्रज्ञेषु कृतात्मसु |

न तेषु सज्जते स्नेहः पद्मपत्रेष्विवोदकम् ||

रागाभिभूतः पुरुषः कामेन परिकृष्यते |

इच्छा सञ्जायते तस्य ततस्तृष्णा प्रवर्तते ||

तृष्णा हि सर्वपापिष्ठा नित्योद्वेगकरी नृणाम् |

अधर्मबहुला चैव घोरा पापानुबन्धिनी ||

या दुस्त्यजा दुर्मतिभिर्या न जीर्यति जीर्यतः |

योअसौ प्राणान्तिको रोगस्तां तृष्णां त्यजतः सुखम् ||

अनाद्यन्ता तु सा तृष्णा अन्तर्देहगता नृणाम् |

विनाशयति संभूता अयोनिज इवानलः ||

यथैधः स्वसमुत्थेन वह्निना नाशमृच्छति |

तथाकृतात्मा लोभेन सहजेन विनश्यति ||

राजतः सलिलादग्नेश्चोरतः स्वजनादपि |

भयमर्थवतां नित्यं मृत्योः प्राणभृतामिव ||

यथा ह्यामिषमाकाशे पक्षिभिः श्वापदैर्भुवि |

भक्ष्यते सलिले मत्स्यैस्तथा सर्वेण वित्तवान् ||

अर्थ एव हि केषाञ्चिदनर्थो भविता नृणाम् |

अर्थश्रेयसि चासक्तो न श्रेयो विन्दते नरः ||

तस्मादर्थागमाः सर्वे मनोमोहविवर्धनाः ||

कार्पण्यं दर्पमानौ च भयमुद्वेग एव च |

अर्थजानि विदुः प्राज्ञा दुःखान्येतानि देहिनाम् ||

अर्थस्योपार्जने दुःखं पालेन च क्षये तथा |

नाशे दुःखं व्यये दुःखं घ्नन्ति चैवार्थकारणात् ||

अर्था दुःखं परित्यक्तुं पालिताश्चापि तेअसुखाः |

दुःखेन चाधिगम्यन्ते तेषां नाशं न चिन्तयेत् ||

असंतोषपरा मूढाः संतोषं यान्ति पण्डिताः |

अन्तो नास्ति पिपासायाः संतोषः परमं सुखम् ||

तस्मात्संतोषमेवेह धनं पश्यन्ति पण्डिताः |

अनित्यं यौवनं रूपं जीवितं द्रव्यसञ्चयः ||

एश्वर्यं प्रियसंवासो गृध्येदेषु न पण्डितः ||

त्यजेत सञ्चयांस्तस्मात्तज्जं क्लेशं सहेत कः |

न हि सञ्चयवान्कश्चिद्दृष्यते निरुपद्रवः ||

अतश्च धर्मिभिः पुम्भिरनीहार्थः प्रशस्यते |

प्रक्षालनाद्धि पङ्कस्य दूरादस्पर्शनं वरम् ||