Shloka 16
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
अनुनीय यथाकामं सत्यसंधो महाव्रतः । स्वै: प्राणैब्राह्मणप्राणान् परित्राय दिवं गत:
anūnīya yathākāmaṃ satyasaṃdho mahāvrataḥ | svaiḥ prāṇair brāhmaṇaprāṇān paritrāya divaṃ gataḥ ||
ব্যাসে ক’লে—সত্যসন্ধ আৰু মহাব্ৰতধাৰী সেই ৰজাই, বিপক্ষক তেওঁলোকৰ ইচ্ছা অনুসাৰে বিনয়ে অনুনয় কৰি, নিজৰ প্ৰাণৰ বিনিময়ে এজন ব্রাহ্মণৰ প্ৰাণ ৰক্ষা কৰিলে; এইদৰে ধৰ্ম স্থাপন কৰি তেওঁ স্বৰ্গলৈ গ’ল।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is upheld through truthfulness and self-sacrifice: protecting an innocent (here, a Brāhmaṇa) even at the cost of one’s own life is presented as a supreme ethical act that leads to heavenly merit.
Vyāsa recounts an exemplary deed: a great-vowed, truth-steadfast king, after conciliating others as needed, saves a Brāhmaṇa’s life by giving up his own life-breath, and as a result attains heaven.