जनको नाम भूपालो विद्यते वसुधातले । यथावद्वेत्त्यसौ वेद्यं तस्मात् सर्वमवाप्स्यसि ॥ १८ ॥
janakō nāma bhūpālō vidyatē vasudhātalē | yathāvadvēttyasau vēdyaṁ tasmāt sarvamavāpsyasi || 18 ||
Translation
"There is a king on the earth named Janaka. He knows what is to be known as it is: from him you will gain everything."
Word by word
- janakō
- (janakaḥ) Janaka
- nāma
- named
- bhūpālō
- (bhūpālaḥ) a king
- vidyatē
- there is
- vasudhā
- the earth
- talē
- on
- yathāvad
- (yathāvat) as it is
- vētty
- (vetti) knows
- asau
- he
- vēdyaṁ
- what is to be known
- tasmāt
- from him
- sarvam
- everything
- avāpsyasi
- you will gain
Meaning
Vyāsa sends his son to King Janaka of Videha, a householder and a ruler who is also, in tradition, the model of the knower living free in the world. The choice is telling. Śuka, the renunciate born of a sage, is sent to learn from a king who lives among wealth, women and affairs of state. Knowledge is not the property of any way of life. And "from him you will gain everything" (sarvam avāpsyasi) promises not new information but completion.