Shloka 31
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
सहस्नजिच्च राजर्षि: प्राणानिष्टानू महायशा: । ब्राह्मणार्थ परित्यज्य गतो लोकाननुत्तमान्,महायशस्वी राजर्षि सहस्नरजित् ब्राह्मणके लिये अपने प्यारे प्राणोंका परित्याग करके परम उत्तम लोकोंमें गये
Sahasnajic ca rājarṣiḥ prāṇān iṣṭān mahāyaśāḥ | brāhmaṇārthaṃ parityajya gato lokān anuttamān ||
सहस्नजिच्च राजर्षिः प्राणानिष्टान् महायशाः । ब्राह्मणार्थे परित्यज्य गतो लोकाननुत्तमान् ॥
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dharma may demand self-sacrifice: a ruler devoted to righteousness may renounce even life itself to protect or serve a brāhmaṇa, and such an act is praised as leading to the highest spiritual reward.
Vyāsa cites Sahasnajit as an exemplar: the royal sage gives up his cherished life for a brāhmaṇa’s sake and, as a result of that supreme gift, attains the unsurpassed worlds.