Shloka 20
Jaratkāru’s Marital Compact and Departure (जरत्कारु–जरत्कारुणी संवादः)
लब्ध्वा वित्त मुनिवरस्तक्षकाद् यावदीप्सितम् । निवृत्ते काश्यपे तस्मिन् समयेन महात्मनि
labdhvā vittaṃ munivaras takṣakād yāvad īpsitam | nivṛtte kāśyape tasmin samayena mahātmani ||
Takṣaka sprach: „Als der große Weise Kāśyapa von Takṣaka so viel Reichtum erlangt hatte, wie er begehrte, kehrte jener Hochgesinnte—an die vereinbarte Frist gebunden—um (und ließ von seinem Vorhaben ab).“
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how wealth and negotiated conditions can divert even a capable person from a righteous or intended course of action, raising an ethical warning about bribery, attachment to gain, and the power of time-bound agreements to shape outcomes.
Takṣaka recounts that the sage Kāśyapa, after receiving the desired amount of wealth from him, turned back—restrained by the agreed time/condition—thus withdrawing from what he was about to do.