Shloka 86
विश्वामित्र उवाच अद्याहमेतद् वृजिनं कर्म कृत्वा जीवंश्नरिष्यामि महापवित्रम् | स पूतात्मा धर्ममेवाभिपत्स्ये यदेतयोर्गुरु तद् वै ब्रवीहि,विश्वामित्र बोले--आज यह पापकर्म करके भी यदि मैं जीवित रहा तो परम पवित्र धर्मका अनुष्ठान करूँगा। इससे मेरे तन, मन पवित्र हो जायूँगे और मैं धर्मका ही फल प्राप्त करूँगा। जीवित रहकर धर्माचरण करना और उपवास करके प्राण देना--इन दोनोंमें कौन बड़ा है, यह मुझे बताओ
viśvāmitra uvāca | adyāham etad vṛjinaṃ karma kṛtvā jīvaṃśnariṣyāmi mahāpavitram | sa pūtātmā dharmam evābhipatsye yad etayor guru tad vai bravīhi ||
毗湿瓦密多罗说道：“今日纵使我作此罪业，若仍得存活，随后我必修行至为清净的正法之道。内心既净，我将唯求正法而得其果。请如实告我：是活着而行法更大，还是绝食而舍命更大？”
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical dilemma: whether moral recovery is better pursued through continued life devoted to dharma (reform and righteous action) or through self-starvation leading to death (an extreme ascetic exit). It highlights the idea that purification and the fruits of dharma are tied to deliberate, sustained righteous conduct, not merely to self-destruction.
Viśvāmitra, anticipating or acknowledging a wrongful deed, declares that if he survives he will undertake a highly purifying observance and commit himself to dharma. He then asks his interlocutor to judge which is ‘greater’: living on to practice dharma or dying by fasting.