शार्ङ्गका ऊचुः
अबर्हान् मांसभूतान् नः क्रव्यादाखुर् विनाशयेत् ॥
पश्यमाना भयम् इदं न शक्ष्यामो निषेवितुम् ॥
कथम् अग्निर् न नो दह्यात् कथम् आखुर् न भक्षयेत् ॥
कथं न स्यात् पिता मोघः कथं माता ध्रियेत नः ॥
बिल आखोर् विनाशः स्याद् अग्नेर् आकाशचारिणाम् ॥
अन्ववेक्ष्यैतद् उभयं श्रेयान् दाहो न भक्षणम् ॥
गर्हितं मरणं नः स्याद् आखुना खादता बिले ॥
शिष्टाद् इष्टः परित्यागः शरीरस्य हुताशनात् ॥
śārṅgakā ūcuḥ
abarhān māṃsabhūtān naḥ kravyādākhur vināśayet ||
paśyamānā bhayam idaṃ na śakṣyāmo niṣevitum ||
katham agnir na no dahyāt katham ākhur na bhakṣayet ||
kathaṃ na syāt pitā moghaḥ kathaṃ mātā dhriyeta naḥ ||
bila ākhor vināśaḥ syād agner ākāśacāriṇām ||
anvavekṣyaitad ubhayaṃ śreyān dāho na bhakṣaṇam ||
garhitaṃ maraṇaṃ naḥ syād ākhunā khādatā bile ||
śiṣṭād iṣṭaḥ parityāgaḥ śarīrasya hutāśanāt ||
The shārngakas said: "Featherless, as if become one mass of flesh, a flesh-eating mouse will destroy us; seeing this danger, we shall not be able to resort to the hole; how might the fire not burn us, how might the mouse not eat us, how might our father not be in vain, how might our mother be preserved? In the hole there would be death by the mouse, and from the fire — death of sky-goers; having weighed both, better burning than being eaten; shameful would be our death — from a mouse gnawing us in the hole; therefore the well-bred prefer to leave the body through fire."
ba0acc4d169c · published Jul 12, 2026, 6:20:36 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here the children choose a worthy death, rejecting a shameful one. Their reasoning is telling: death by fire is purer than being eaten alive by a mouse in a hole; and for the noble, how one dies is not a matter of indifference. Here it is revealed that for one established in dharma, the dignity of one's very death matters: better a glorious end than a disgraceful escape. Thus the scripture reveals the fledglings' noble choice; and their trust will turn to Agni.