Shloka 108
छन््दतो मृत्युरित्येवं तस्य चास्तु वरस्तथा । धारयिष्ये ततः प्राणानुत्सगें नियते सति
chandato mṛtyur ity evaṃ tasya cāstu varas tathā | dhārayiṣye tataḥ prāṇān utsarge niyate sati ||
“ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ‘ಮರಣವು ನನ್ನ ಇಚ್ಛೆಯಂತೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬರಲಿ’—ಎಂಬ ಆ ವರವು ಯಥಾವತ್ತಾಗಿ ಸ್ಥಿರವಾಗಲಿ. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಾಣತ್ಯಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ನಿಶ್ಚಿತವಾದ ಕ್ಷಣ ಬರುವವರೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಪ್ರಾಣಗಳನ್ನು ಧರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡೇ ಇರುತ್ತೇನೆ.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights self-mastery and fidelity to a vow/boon: life is sustained not by impulse but by disciplined resolve, and death is approached as a consciously accepted, ethically timed act rather than a mere accident.
In the war narrative, the speaker reports a resolve to postpone death until the predetermined moment, so that an earlier boon—granting death only by one’s own choice—remains effective and fulfilled.