Mahabharata 1.179.20 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 179, Shloka 20
अर्जुनस्य लक्ष्यवेधः
Arjuna’s Hitting of the Target at the Svayaṃvara
आत्महा च पुमांस्तात न लोकॉल्लभते शुभान् | ततोअस्माभि: समीक्ष्यैवं नात्मना55त्मा निपातित:
ātmāhā ca pumāṁs tāta na lokāl labhate śubhān | tato ’smābhiḥ samīkṣyaivaṁ nātmanā ’tmā nipātitaḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Wahai anakku, seorang yang membunuh dirinya tidak mencapai alam-alam yang mulia. Maka, setelah menimbang dengan saksama demikian, kami tidak menjatuhkan diri kami oleh tangan kami sendiri.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Suicide (ātmahatyā) is presented as ethically blameworthy and spiritually harmful: it prevents attainment of auspicious post-mortem realms. Hence one should not destroy oneself, even under distress, but act with discernment in line with dharma.
Vasiṣṭha addresses someone affectionately as “tāta” and explains that, after careful reflection, he (or “we”) refrained from self-destruction because a self-killer does not reach blessed worlds.
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