Shloka 463

Devanagari script

आत्मानं जुहुयादग्नौ समिद्धे तेन शुद्धयते । गर्भके बच्चेकी हत्या करनेवाला यदि युद्धमें शस्त्रोंके आधातसे मर जाय तो उसकी शुद्धि हो जाती है अथवा प्रज्वलित अग्निमें कूदकर अपने आपको होम दे तो वह शुद्ध हो जाता है

Transliteration

ātmānaṃ juhuyād agnau samiddhe tena śuddhyate |

Translation

Бхишма говорит, что очищение можно обрести, принесши самого себя в жертву в хорошо разожжённый огонь; этим деянием человек становится чист. В окружающем этическом рассуждении это приводится как искупительное средство за тягчайшие проступки — очищение через самопожертвование, будь то смерть под ударами оружия в битве или самосожжение в пылающем огне.

Word by Word

आत्मानम्oneself

जुहुयात्should offer (as oblation)

अग्नौin the fire

समिद्धेwhen kindled / in a blazing state

तेनby that / thereby

शुद्ध्यतेis purified

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Agni (fire)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Purification from severe sin is said to be attainable through extreme expiation: offering oneself into a well-kindled fire (or, in the broader passage, dying under weapons in battle). The emphasis is on self-surrender as a purificatory act within the dharma framework of prāyaścitta.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and expiations. Here he states a specific expiatory rule: one who offers oneself into a blazing fire becomes purified, presented amid discussion of remedies for grievous transgressions.