Shloka 29
Brāhmaṇa-mahattva and Atithi-Dharma
Brahmagītā: Praise of Brāhmaṇas and norms of honor
अस्थिभूतो यदा राजा निर्मासो रुधिरस्रव: । तुलां ततः: समारूढ: स्वं मांसक्षयमुत्सूजन्
asthibhūto yadā rājā nirmāso rudhirasravaḥ | tulāṃ tataḥ samārūḍhaḥ svaṃ māṃsakṣayam utsṛjan |
لما غدا الملكُ هيكلًا من عظامٍ لا غير—وقد نَفِدَ لحمُه وسالَ دمُه—كفَّ عن قطعِ المزيد من اللحم، ثم قَبِلَ خسارةَ جسده كاملةً وصعدَ بنفسه إلى كِفَّةِ الميزان. وتُبرزُ هذه الحادثةُ المثالَ الأخلاقيَّ للتضحية بالنفس: إذ يختارُ الحاكمُ أن يتحمّلَ الثمنَ في ذاته بدلَ أن يُخفقَ في واجبِ الرحمةِ والصدقِ الذي تقتضيه المحنة.
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as radical self-giving: when compassion and truth are tested, the righteous person accepts personal suffering rather than abandon a moral commitment. The king’s willingness to offer himself embodies the priority of ethical duty over bodily attachment.
In the hawk’s narration, the king has been cutting and offering his own flesh in a weighing test. When he is reduced to bones and bleeding, he stops further cutting and instead steps onto the scale himself, offering his whole body to fulfill the demanded equivalence.