Shloka 20
अर्जुनस्य लक्ष्यवेधः
Arjuna’s Hitting of the Target at the Svayaṃvara
आत्महा च पुमांस्तात न लोकॉल्लभते शुभान् | ततोअस्माभि: समीक्ष्यैवं नात्मना55त्मा निपातित:,बेटा! आत्महत्या करनेवाला पुरुष शुभ लोकोंको नहीं पाता, इसीलिये हमने खूब सोच-विचारकर अपने ही हाथों अपना वध नहीं किया
ātmāhā ca pumāṁs tāta na lokāl labhate śubhān | tato ’smābhiḥ samīkṣyaivaṁ nātmanā ’tmā nipātitaḥ ||
婆悉吒说道：“亲爱的孩子，自戕之人不得至吉祥诸界。因此我们如此细细省察，便不以己手令自身陨落。”
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.