Shloka 38
शरभङ्गाश्रमगमनम् तथा इन्द्रदर्शनम्
Approach to Sarabhanga’s Hermitage and the Vision of Indra
एष पन्था नरव्याघ्र मुहूर्तं पश्य तात माम्।यावज्जहामि गात्राणि जीर्णां त्वचमिवोरगः।।3.5.38।।
eṣa panthā naravyāghra muhūrtaṃ paśya tāta mām | yāvaj jahāmi gātrāṇi jīrṇāṃ tvacam ivoragaḥ || 3.5.38 ||
これが道だ、人中の虎よ。愛しき子よ、しばし我を見守れ――我がこの身を捨て去るまで。蛇が古びた皮を脱ぐがごとく。
O Rama, the best among men, this is the way. Look at me for a while, my dear, until I shed my limbs just as a snake sheds its withered slough.
FAQs
Dharma is framed as vairāgya (detachment): the sage demonstrates that the body is shed, while spiritual attainment is pursued without clinging.
Śarabhaṅga asks Rāma to wait briefly and witness his impending act of leaving the body, described metaphorically as a serpent’s sloughing.
Śarabhaṅga’s vairāgya and spiritual mastery—calm, intentional departure rather than fear of death.