Shloka 29
Brāhmaṇa-mahattva and Atithi-Dharma
Brahmagītā: Praise of Brāhmaṇas and norms of honor
अस्थिभूतो यदा राजा निर्मासो रुधिरस्रव: । तुलां ततः: समारूढ: स्वं मांसक्षयमुत्सूजन्
asthibhūto yadā rājā nirmāso rudhirasravaḥ | tulāṃ tataḥ samārūḍhaḥ svaṃ māṃsakṣayam utsṛjan |
王がついに骨の枠組みだけとなり—肉は尽き、血は流れ—これ以上肉を削ぐことをやめ、自らの身体の損耗をことごとく受け入れて、みずから天秤の上に乗った。この挿話は自己犠牲という倫理の理想を示す。統治者は、試練が求める慈悲と真実の務めを損なうくらいなら、代価を自分自身で負うことを選ぶのである。
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as radical self-giving: when compassion and truth are tested, the righteous person accepts personal suffering rather than abandon a moral commitment. The king’s willingness to offer himself embodies the priority of ethical duty over bodily attachment.
In the hawk’s narration, the king has been cutting and offering his own flesh in a weighing test. When he is reduced to bones and bleeding, he stops further cutting and instead steps onto the scale himself, offering his whole body to fulfill the demanded equivalence.