Shloka 124
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
विश्वामित्र उवाच जीवतो वै गुरून् भृत्यान् भरन्त्वस्य परे जना: । अगतिर्षहुपुत्र: स्याद् बिसस्तैन्यं करोति यः
Viśvāmitra uvāca: jīvato vai gurūn bhṛtyān bharantv asya pare janāḥ | agatiḥ sahuputraḥ syād bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ ||
قال فيشفامِترا: «ليَقَعْ ذلك الإثمُ بعينه على من يسرق هذه أليافَ اللوتس وسيقانَه—إثمُ رجلٍ وهو حيٌّ يَدَعُ الناسَ الآخرين يعولون شيوخه ومعاليه ومَن يعولهم (كالمعلّمين والوالدين)؛ وإثمُ من سقط في حالٍ شقيّةٍ مُزرية؛ وإثمُ من كَثُرَتْ ذريّتُه ثم قصّر في واجبه.»
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns theft by equating it with grave moral failures: neglecting one’s duty to support elders and dependents (so that outsiders must do it), and living in a degraded state despite having family responsibilities. It frames dharma as active responsibility and self-restraint.
Viśvāmitra pronounces a moral imprecation: whoever stole the lotus-stalks should incur the same sin as a person who, while alive, allows others to maintain his teachers/elders and dependents—an ethical censure meant to expose the thief through the weight of dharmic guilt.