Shloka 38
Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory
विश्वामित्र उवाच तथापि खलु दातव्या त्वया मे यज्ञदक्षिणा ।
विशेषतो ब्राह्मणानां हन्त्यदत्तं प्रतिश्रुतम् ॥
viśvāmitra uvāca tathāpi khalu dātavyā tvayā me yajñadakṣiṇā / viśeṣato brāhmaṇānāṃ hanty adattaṃ pratiśrutam //
قال فيشفاميترا: «ومع ذلك، يجب أن تعطيني أجر القربان (يَجْنَ-دَكْشِنَا). ولا سيما في حقّ البراهمة، فإن العطية الموعودة—إن لم تُؤدَّ—تجلب الهلاك».
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FAQs
The verse reinforces dāna-dharma and satya: once a dakṣiṇā (or any gift) is pledged—particularly to Brahmins as ritual recipients—failure to deliver it is treated as a serious breach with destructive karmic and social consequences. The emphasis is not merely on generosity but on integrity: a vow or promise creates an obligation that must be honored.
This verse is not primarily sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita in a technical sense; it belongs best under vaṃśānucarita-style narrative instruction (didactic material embedded in story), using an episode involving a renowned ṛṣi to teach dharma regarding yajña and dakṣiṇā.
Esoterically, “dakṣiṇā” signifies the required completion of a sacrificial act: without the rightful offering, the rite is symbolically ‘unfinished,’ and the imbalance (ṛta-bhaṅga) rebounds upon the withholder. The warning that an undelivered promise ‘destroys’ points to the inner law that intention (saṅkalpa) binds the actor; breaking it corrodes tapas, credibility, and spiritual merit.