Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell
पुनर्दात् च कन्यायाः कृमिरेवोपजायते । देवता-पितृ-विप्राणामदत्वा योऽन्नमश्नुते ॥
punardāt ca kanyāyāḥ kṛmirevopajāyate / devatā-pitṛ-viprāṇāmadatvā yo 'nnamaśnute
Und wer «eine Jungfrau nochmals hingibt» (d. h. die rechte Vorschrift des kanyā-dāna, der Darbringung der Jungfrau, verletzt), wird wahrlich als Wurm geboren. Wer Speise verzehrt, ohne zuvor den Göttern, den Ahnen und den Brahmanen zu geben (zieht Tadel auf sich—die Aussage setzt jenseits dieser Zeile fort).
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The verse ties personal consumption and family rites to a larger economy of obligation: eating is framed as a sacrificial act requiring prior sharing (with gods, ancestors, and learned guests). It also flags marriage-gifting norms as dharmically regulated.
Dharma/ācāra instruction (gṛhastha conduct) rather than pancalakṣaṇa narrative material.
‘Not offering before eating’ symbolizes severing reciprocity with cosmic and ancestral orders; the ‘worm’ rebirth motif encodes spiritual diminishment into a life of mere consumption without higher orientation.