ब्राह्मण उवाच
नाहम् एतत् करिष्यामि जीवितार्थी कथं चन ॥
ब्राह्मणस्यातिथेश् चैव स्वार्थे प्राणैर् वियोजनम् ॥
न त्व् एतद् अकुलीनासु नाधर्मिष्ठासु विद्यते ॥
यद् ब्राह्मणार्थे विसृजेद् आत्मानम् अपि चात्मजम् ॥
brāhmaṇa uvāca
nāham etat kariṣyāmi jīvitārthī kathaṃ cana ||
brāhmaṇasyātitheś caiva svārthe prāṇair viyojanam ||
na tv etad akulīnāsu nādharmiṣṭhāsu vidyate ||
yad brāhmaṇārthe visṛjed ātmānam api cātmajam ||
The brahmin said: «I will not do this in any way, for the sake of my own life — I will not allow a brahmin and guest to be parted from life for my own gain. For even among the lowborn, even among the most impious, none refuses to give, for a brahmin's sake, both himself and even his son.»
92665509fdf1 · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 5:09:57 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here the brahmin rejects a salvation bought with another's death. His reasoning is telling: if even the lowly are ready to give their lives for a brahmin, how could he, a brahmin himself, accept life at the price of a guest's death? — nobility is ashamed of what even the worst would not do. Here is the sanctity of the guest (atithi) and the duty of hospitality: one who receives a stranger under his roof answers for him and does not abandon him to misfortune. Reverence for the brahmin here is reverence for the holy and the learned — homage to the bearer of dharma, not to birth alone. Thus the scripture reveals a conscience for which one's own life is no dearer than fidelity to the duty of hospitality.