Shloka 27
Vyāsa’s Boon-Offer and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse in the Forest Assembly (आश्रमवासिक पर्व, अध्याय ३६)
नैष मृत्युरनिष्टो नो निःसृतानां गृहात् स्वयम् । जलमग्निस्तथा वायुरथवापि विकर्षणम्
naiṣa mṛtyur aniṣṭo no niḥsṛtānāṃ gṛhāt svayam | jalam agnis tathā vāyur athavāpi vikarṣaṇam ||
Nārada dit : «Pour nous qui, de notre plein gré, avons quitté la vie de maison, une telle mort ne doit pas être tenue pour indésirable. Qu’elle vienne par l’eau, par le feu, par le vent, ou même par le fait d’être traînés au loin—aucune de ces fins n’est blâmable pour ceux qui ont renoncé et demeurent fermes sur la voie choisie.»
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
For one who has voluntarily renounced household life, the manner of death is not to be feared or judged as inauspicious; ethical emphasis is on inner detachment and steadfastness in the renunciant’s dharma rather than on external circumstances.
Nārada addresses those who have left worldly life, reassuring them that death—whether by natural elements like water, fire, or wind, or even by violent force—should not be considered an ‘undesirable’ end for renunciants, framing their situation within the values of vairāgya (dispassion) and dharma.