Shloka 127
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
अरुन्धत्युवाच नित्यं परिभवेच्छवश्रूं भर्तुर्भवतु दुर्मना: । एका स्वादु समाश्षातु बिसस्तैन्यं करोति या
arundhaty uvāca nityaṃ paribhavec chvaśrūṃ bhartur bhavatu durmanāḥ | ekā svādu samāśnīyāt bisastainyaṃ karoti yā ||
Arundhatī sprach: „Eine Frau, die Lotusstängel (mṛṇāla/bisā) stiehlt, lädt Schuld auf sich: täglich die Schwiegermutter zu verachten, dem Gatten Kummer zu bereiten und Köstlichkeiten ganz allein zu verzehren.“
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a seemingly small act of theft is treated as a serious breach of dharma, believed to generate further moral and relational harms—disrespect within the household, distress to one’s spouse, and selfish enjoyment—thereby warning against dishonesty and self-centered conduct.
In a didactic passage, Arundhatī states a moral consequence: a woman who commits theft of lotus-stalks is said to incur sins that manifest as habitual contempt toward her mother-in-law, causing sorrow to her husband, and eating delicacies alone—framing theft as corrosive to family harmony.