अथ प्रवेशयामास जनकोऽन्तःपुरं शुकम् । राजा न दृश्यते तावदिति सप्त दिनानि च ॥ २३ ॥
atha pravēśayāmāsa janakō’ntaḥpuraṁ śukam | rājā na dṛśyatē tāvaditi sapta dināni ca || 23 ||
Translation
Then Janaka had Śuka brought into the inner palace, and for seven days more he was told only, "The king is not to be seen yet."
Word by word
- atha
- then
- pravēśayāmāsa
- had brought
- janakō
- (janakaḥ) Janaka
- antaḥpuraṁ
- into the inner palace
- śukam
- Śuka
- rājā
- the king
- na
- not
- dṛśyatē
- is to be seen
- tāvad
- (tāvat) yet
- iti
- thus
- sapta
- seven
- dināni
- days
- ca
- and
Meaning
The third stage of the test. Śuka is taken into the inner apartments (antaḥpura), the women's quarters and the private heart of the palace, and is told that the king cannot be seen for another seven days. The commentary: the pretext was that the king would not appear until Śuka had been honoured with food and every comfort. The first two tests were of neglect; this one is of the opposite kind. A seeker who can bear being ignored may still be caught by being indulged.