उपनिषद् · Mahā 2.28
॥
देवनागरी
परिज्ञातस्वभावं तं शुकं स जनको नृपः आनीय मुदितात्मानमवलोक्य ननाम ह
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
parijñātasvabhāvaṃ taṃ śukaṃ sa janako nṛpaḥ ānīya muditātmānamavalokya nanāma ha
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
परिज्ञात-स्वभावम् तम् शुकम्parijñāta-svabhāvam tam śukamthat Śuka whose nature he had discerned; Śuka, whose essence had become plain to him
सः जनकः नृपः आनीयsaḥ janakaḥ nṛpaḥ ānīyaking Janaka, having brought him in; that sovereign Janaka, summoning him
मुदित-आत्मानम् अवलोक्यmudita-ātmānam avalokyabeholding him glad of soul; seeing him rejoicing in spirit
ननाम हnanāma habowed down; inclined before him
अनुवाद
Having discerned Śuka's nature, king Janaka summoned him and, beholding him glad of soul, bowed down before him.
संस्करण
f59034a7f23c · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 6:29:20 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The king bows to the youth whom for three weeks he kept at the gate and in the courtyard.
This bow is the trial's end and its explanation. Janaka was not humiliating Śuka; he was ascertaining. Having ascertained, he bowed without delay and without explanations.
Note to what exactly he bowed. Not to learning and not to lineage: parijñāta-svabhāva, “whose nature is discerned”, and mudita-ātmā, “glad of soul”. What was tested was not knowledge but a state.
Here is the key to the whole scene. Knowledge Śuka had from birth; it had to be learned whether it had grown into him. Ingrown knowledge is seen as health is seen — by what a man does when no one is watching.
And one more trait, important for what follows. The teacher is first to bow before the pupil. In a few verses the pupil will acknowledge that from the teacher he received everything — but it was not he who began.