Shloka 93
Sāvitrī–Satyavān Vivāha: Kanyāpradāna and Āśrama-Śīla (सावित्री-सत्यवान्विवाहः)
अवश्यं मरणे प्राप्ते करिष्याम्यस्य यन्मतम् । मारीचने सोचा, “यदि मृत्यु निश्चित ही है तो श्रेष्ठ पुरुषके हाथसे ही मरना अच्छा होगा; अतः रावणका जो अभीष्ट कार्य है, उसे अवश्य करूँगा”
avaśyaṃ maraṇe prāpte kariṣyāmy asya yanmatam | mārīcena socā, “yadi mṛtyu niścita hī hai to śreṣṭha puruṣa-ke hātha-se hī maranā acchā hogā; ataḥ rāvaṇa-kā jo abhīṣṭa kārya hai, use avaśya karū̃gā”
Nagmuni-muni si Mārīca: “Kung ang kamatayan ay dumating na at di maiiwasan, gagawin ko ang nais niya. Kung tiyak ang kamatayan, higit na mabuti ang mamatay sa kamay ng isang marangal na lalaki; kaya’t tiyak kong tutuparin ang gawaing ninanais ni Rāvaṇa.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
When death is unavoidable, one may still exercise moral agency by choosing the manner of one’s end—seeking dignity and a ‘noble’ hand—yet the verse also exposes the danger of rationalizing compliance with an unrighteous command as mere submission to fate.
In Markandeya’s narration, Mārīca internally resolves that since death seems certain, he will fulfill Rāvaṇa’s desired task, consoling himself that dying at the hands of a noble person would be preferable to other forms of death.