Shloka 123
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
उदपानप्लवे ग्रामे ब्राह्मणो वृषलीपति: । तस्य सालोक््यतां यातु बिसस्तैन्यं करोति यः
udapānaplave grāme brāhmaṇo vṛṣalīpatiḥ | tasya sālokyatāṃ yātu bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ ||
Gautama sprach: «In einem Dorf, in dem man Wasser aus einem gemeinsamen Brunnen schöpft, gibt es einen Brahmanen, der mit einer Śūdra-Frau zusammenlebt. Wer Lotosstängel (mṛṇāla/bisa) stiehlt, möge dieselbe Welt erlangen wie jener Brahmane. Der Vers zeichnet selbst einen scheinbar geringen Diebstahl als moralischen Sturz, der das jenseitige Geschick dem eines Brahmanen gleichsetzt, der durch unziemliche Sexualgemeinschaft soziale und ethische Schranken bricht.»
गौतम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that even small acts of theft carry serious moral weight, and that unethical conduct—whether stealing or violating prescribed social-ethical restraints—shapes one’s karmic destiny; the thief is said to reach the same posthumous realm as a Brahmin who cohabits with a Śūdra woman.
Gautama is giving a pointed ethical comparison: he describes a Brahmin in a village who lives with a Śūdra woman, then declares that a person who steals lotus-stalks should attain the same ‘world’ as that Brahmin—using equivalence of outcome to warn against moral lapses.