Ashtavakra Gita · Verse 14.2 · Janaka speaks
When my desire has melted away, where are my riches, where my friends, where the robbers in the forms of the sense-objects, where the scriptures and where knowledge?
Word by word
क्व
kva
where
interrogative adverb
धनानि
dhanāni
riches
noun, neuter, nominative plural
मित्राणि
mitrāṇi
friends
noun, neuter, nominative plural
मे
me
my
pronoun, genitive singular
विषयदस्यवः
viṣayadasyavaḥ
robbers as sense-objects
compound noun, masculine, nominative plural
The sense-objects are called robbers because they rob us of the perception of the Self.
शास्त्रम्
śāstram
scripture
noun, neuter, nominative singular
Scriptural injunctions are only for those still in ignorance; they are of no use to one who has realized the Self. Cf. Gita ii.46.
च
ca
and
conjunction
विज्ञानम्
vijñānam
knowledge
noun, neuter, nominative singular
Knowledge here is both secular and scriptural. Worldly knowledge is useless to the Jnani, while scriptural knowledge is only indirect; having now directly experienced the spiritual realities, he no longer needs it.
यदा
yadā
when
relative adverb
गलिता
galitā
melted away, dropped
past passive participle, feminine, nominative singular
स्पृहा
spṛhā
desire, longing
noun, feminine, nominative singular
Desire for the objects of enjoyment in this world or the next; with its melting away the whole apparatus of worldly life loses its meaning.