Shloka 2
अकार्षी: साहसमिदं कस्मात् प्रायोपवेशनम् । आत्मत्यागी ह्यथो याति वाच्यतां चायशस्करीम्,दानव बोले--भरतवंशका भार वहन करनेवाले महाराज सुयोधन! आप सदा शूरवीरों तथा महामना पुरुषोंसे घिरे रहते हैं, फिर आपने यह आमरण उपवास करनेका साहस क्यों किया है? आत्महत्या करनेवाला पुरुष तो अधोगतिको प्राप्त होता है और लोकमें उसकी निन््दा होती है, जो अयश फैलानेवाली है
akārṣīḥ sāhasam idaṃ kasmāt prāyopaveśanam | ātmatyāgī hy atho yāti vācyatāṃ cāyaśaskarīm ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Why have you committed this rash act—this resolve to fast unto death? For one who abandons his own life falls into a lower state, and he also earns blame in the world—disgrace that spreads ill-fame.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames self-destruction (or a death-seeking fast) as ethically blameworthy: it leads to an inferior destiny and produces public censure and lasting ill-repute, implying that one should face adversity through dharmic endurance rather than self-harm.
The narrator reports an admonition directed at someone who has undertaken prāyopaveśana (a fast unto death). The speaker challenges the motive for such a drastic vow and warns of its moral and social consequences.