Shloka 44
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
(भत्रिरुवाच न जातु काम: कामनामुपभोगेन शाम्यति । हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्धते ।।
atrir uvāca—na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāmyati | haviṣā kṛṣṇavartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate || jagadagnir uvāca—pratigrahe saṃyamo vai tapo dhārayate dhruvam | tad dhanaṃ brāhmaṇasyeha lubhyamānasya visravet ||
قال أتري: إن الرغبة لا تخمد قطّ بالانغماس في موضوعات الرغبة؛ فهي كالنار إذا أُطعمت بالسمن المصفّى ازدادت اشتعالًا. وقال جاغاداغني: بالامتناع عن قبول العطايا يحفظ البراهمن يقينًا ضبط النفس، وبذلك يصون تقشّفه (tapas). فالتقشّف هو ثروة البراهمن الحقّة في هذه الدنيا؛ أمّا من طمع في غنى الدنيا فإن ثروة التاباس فيه تتسرّب وتضيع.
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Indulgence does not extinguish desire; it intensifies it, like fire growing when fed with ghee. Therefore, restraint—especially a brāhmaṇa’s restraint from accepting gifts and from greed—is presented as essential to preserve tapas, which is declared to be the brāhmaṇa’s true wealth.
Within a didactic sequence of teachings in Anuśāsana-parvan, sages’ voices are cited: Atri offers a moral analogy about desire, and Jagadagni follows with a rule of conduct for brāhmaṇas—warning that accepting gifts and craving worldly wealth undermines self-control and causes one’s accumulated austerity to dissipate.