Shloka 3
Adhyāya 122 — Śruta-vṛtta-yukta Brāhmaṇa and the Ethics of Dāna
Maitreya–Vyāsa Saṃvāda
जानामि पापै: स्वकृतैर्गतं त्वां कीट कीटताम् । अवाप्स्यसि पुनर्धर्म धर्म तु यदि मन्यसे
jānāmi pāpaiḥ svakṛtair gataṃ tvāṃ kīṭa kīṭatām | avāpsyasi punar dharma dharma tu yadi manyase ||
ব্যাস বললেন—আমি জানি, তোমার নিজের কৃত পাপের ফলেই তুমি কীট-অবস্থায় পতিত হয়েছ। তবু যদি তুমি এখনও ধর্মকে মান্য করো এবং তাকে প্রামাণ্য বলে গ্রহণ করো, তবে তুমি আবার ধর্ম লাভ করবে।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wrongdoing brings self-caused downfall (even to a degraded birth), but moral restoration remains possible if one still recognizes dharma and chooses to realign one’s conduct with it.
Vyāsa addresses someone who has fallen into a worm-like condition due to their own sins, affirming his knowledge of the cause and offering a conditional assurance: dharma can be regained if the person still accepts dharma as a guiding principle.