Shloka 66
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
भरद्वाज उवाच नैतस्येह यथास्माकं ब्रह्मुबन्धोरचेतस: । शोको भार्यापवादेन तेन पीवाउछुना सह
bharadvāja uvāca naitasy eha yathāsmākaṁ brahmabandhor acetasaḥ | śoko bhāryāpavādena tena pīvaucchunā saha
ভরদ্বাজ বললেন—এই অচেতন ‘ব্রাহ্মণ-বন্ধু’ আমাদের মতো নয়। স্ত্রীর ওপর আরোপিত অপবাদ থেকে যে শোক জন্মায়, তা এর মধ্যে নেই; তাই সেই করুণ আর্তনাদের সঙ্গেও এ অবিচল রইল।
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes between grief for a person’s fate and grief caused by moral injury—here, the real pain is the unjust reproach/slander directed at a wife. It underscores the ethical weight of protecting another’s honor and the harm caused by apavāda (defamation).
Bharadvāja comments on a situation involving an unworthy brahmin (brahmabandhu). He says that their sorrow is not for the man himself, but for the scandal and lament arising from accusations against the man’s wife.