Shloka 36
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
स चिन्तयामास मुनि: कि नु मे सुकृतं भवेत् । कथं वृथा न मृत्यु: स्यादिति पार्थिवसत्तम
sa cintayāmāsa muniḥ ki nu me sukṛtaṃ bhavet | kathaṃ vṛthā na mṛtyuḥ syād iti pārthiva-sattama nṛpa-śreṣṭha |
तब वह मुनि सोचने लगे—“मेरे लिए कौन-सा सत्कर्म फलदायी हो? ऐसा क्या करूँ कि अन्न के बिना मेरी मृत्यु व्यर्थ न हो?” हे नृपश्रेष्ठ!
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when facing death, one should examine one’s life through the lens of dharma and seek a meaningful, merit-bearing course of action, so that death is not ‘in vain’ but connected to right intention and ethical purpose.
Bhīṣma narrates that a sage, confronted with the prospect of dying, begins to deliberate about what virtuous act or merit he can still accomplish and how to avoid a pointless death; Bhīṣma addresses the listener respectfully as the best of kings.