Shloka 20

Adhyāya 142: Cyavana, the Devas’ Arrogance, and Vāyu’s Counsel on Protecting Brāhmaṇas

Devanagari script

सहस्रचित्यो: राजर्षि: प्राणानिष्टान्‌ महायशा: । ब्राह्मणार्थे परित्यज्य गतो लोकाननुच्तमान्‌

Transliteration

sahasracityo rājārṣiḥ prāṇān iṣṭān mahāyaśāḥ | brāhmaṇārthe parityajya gato lokān anuttamān ||

Translation

सहस्रचित्यो राजर्षिः प्राणानिष्टान् महायशाः । ब्राह्मणार्थे परित्यज्य गतो लोकाननुत्तमान् ॥

Word by Word

सहस्रचित्यःhaving a thousand funeral pyres (or: connected with a thousand pyres)

राजर्षिःroyal sage

प्राणान्life-breaths; lives

इष्टान्dear; cherished

महायशाःof great fame

ब्राह्मणार्थेfor the sake of a Brahmin

परित्यज्यhaving abandoned; having given up

गतःgone; departed

लोकान्worlds; realms

अनुच्युत्तमान्unsurpassed; most excellent

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Sahasracitya

brāhmaṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That the highest dharmic merit can lie in self-sacrifice for the protection and welfare of a brāhmaṇa and the sacred order; renouncing even one’s life for such a cause is portrayed as leading to unsurpassed spiritual attainment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma cites the example of the famed royal sage Sahasracitya, who gave up his cherished life for a brāhmaṇa’s sake, and as a result is said to have attained the highest worlds—an illustrative precedent within Bhīṣma’s dharma-instruction.