Shloka 236
Vyāsa’s Boon-Offer and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse in the Forest Assembly (आश्रमवासिक पर्व, अध्याय ३६)
वयमत्राग्निना युक्ता गमिष्याम: परां गतिम् । “संजय! तुम किसी ऐसे स्थानमें भाग जाओ, जहाँ यह दावाग्नि तुम्हें कदापि जला न सके। हमलोग तो अब यहीं अपनेको अग्निमें होम कर परम गति प्राप्त करेंगे”
vayam atrāgninā yuktā gamiṣyāmaḥ parāṃ gatim |
Nārada said: “Here we are resolved to unite ourselves with the fire and depart to the highest state. Sanjaya, you should flee to some place where this forest-conflagration can never burn you. As for us, we shall offer ourselves into the fire here and attain the supreme goal.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes vairāgya (detachment) and steadfastness in one’s chosen dharmic end: those who have completed worldly duties may embrace a deliberate, disciplined departure, while those not meant to die there (Sañjaya) should preserve life and continue their responsibility.
Amid a spreading forest fire, Nārada instructs Sañjaya to escape to safety, while declaring that the others will remain and enter the fire, treating it as a final sacrificial offering of themselves to attain the supreme state.