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
Bharadvāja sprach: „Hier gibt es, was uns betrifft, keinen Kummer um jenen törichten ‘Brahmanen nur von Geburt’ (der des wahren Brahmanentums unwürdig ist). Der Schmerz ist entstanden durch die Verleumdung, die man über seine Frau ausgoss — samt jenem erbärmlichen Aufschrei.“
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.