Shloka 25
Chatra–Upānah Dāna: Origin Narrative
Jamadagni–Reṇukā–Sūrya Saṃvāda
जगदग्निरुवाच अनध्यायेष्वधीयीत मित्र श्राद्धे च भोजयेत् । श्राद्धे शूद्रस्य चाश्रीयाद् यस्ते हरति पुष्करम्
jamadagnir uvāca—anadhyāyeṣv adhīyīta mitra śrāddhe ca bhojayet | śrāddhe śūdrasya cāśrīyād yas te harati puṣkaram ||
قال جامَدَغني: «ليدرس من أخذ لوتسك حتى في الأوقات المنهيّ عنها؛ وليُطعم في طقس الشرادها (śrāddha) “صديقًا” واحدًا لا غير؛ وليقبل هو نفسه طعامًا في شرادها رجلٍ من طبقة الشُّودرا».
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses deliberate inversion of accepted ritual norms as a moral rebuke: the offender is ‘assigned’ conduct that is normally censured (studying in anadhyāya, limiting śrāddha hospitality, eating at a Śūdra’s śrāddha). The ethical point is that wrongdoing invites social and ritual disapproval, expressed here through a punitive prescription.
Within the discourse, Jamadagni speaks about the person who has taken away the listener’s ‘lotus’ (puṣkara). He pronounces a set of harsh injunctions aimed at that wrongdoer, framed as a condemnation rather than a model for ordinary dharmic practice.