Shloka 16
Marutta Seeks a Priest: Bṛhaspati’s Refusal and Nārada’s Guidance to Saṃvarta
Chapter 6
प्रत्याख्यातश्न तेनाहं जीवितुं नाद्य कामये । परित्यक्तश्न गुरुणा दूषितश्चास्मि नारद,नारदजी! मेरे गुरुने मुझपर मरणधर्मा मनुष्य होनेका दोष लगाकर मुझे त्याग दिया। उनके द्वारा इस प्रकार अस्वीकार किये जानेके कारण अब मैं जीवित रहना नहीं चाहता
pratyākhyātaś ca tena ahaṁ jīvituṁ na adya kāmaye | parityaktaś ca guruṇā dūṣitaś ca asmi nārada ||
Marutta said: “Rejected by him, I no longer wish to live today. Cast off by my teacher and censured as though I were blameworthy, O Nārada, I stand disgraced. When one’s own guru repudiates one in this way—branding one with the fault of being a mortal bound to death—life itself loses its meaning for me.”
मरुत्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and psychological weight of the guru–disciple bond: a guru’s acceptance confers legitimacy and purpose, while repudiation can feel like moral condemnation. It also foregrounds the human struggle with mortality—being labeled ‘mortal’ as a defect becomes a trigger for shame and despair, inviting reflection on how dharma requires steadiness even when honor is wounded.
Marutta addresses the sage Nārada, confessing that he has been rejected and abandoned by his guru and publicly censured. Because of this repudiation, he declares he no longer wishes to live, framing his crisis as arising from disgrace and the stigma attached to his mortal condition.