Shloka 4
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
साधुभिर्गहितं कर्म चाण्डालस्य विधीयते । कस्माद् गोरजसा ध्वस्तमपां कुण्डे निषिउचसि
rājanya uvāca |
sādhubhir garhitaṃ karma cāṇḍālasya vidhīyate |
kasmād gorajasā dhvastam apāṃ kuṇḍe niṣiñcasi ||
ক্ষত্রিয় বলল— চাণ্ডালের জন্য যে কর্ম বিধেয়, সজ্জনেরা তা নিন্দিত বলে মানে। তবে গোর ধুলোয় আচ্ছন্ন দেহকে তুমি কেন জলকুণ্ডে ধুয়ে ফেলছ?
राजन्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a tension between socially prescribed occupations and ideals of purity: the speaker argues that if an occupation is socially condemned, external cleansing appears futile. It sets up a discussion on whether dharma is determined by birth-based duty, by conduct, or by inner disposition.
A Kshatriya addresses a Caṇḍāla (or someone treated as such) and questions why he is bathing in a water-tank after being covered in cow-dust, implying that ritual washing is meaningless for someone whose prescribed work is disparaged by ‘the good’.