Shloka 15
तापती–संवरणोपाख्यानम्
The Tapatī–Saṃvaraṇa Episode: Meaning of “Tāpatya”
नच मे विद्यते वित्तं संक्रेतुं पुरुष क्वचित् । सुहृज्जनं प्रदातुं च न शक्ष्यामि कदाचन,मेरे पास धन नहीं है, जिससे कहींसे किसी पुरुषको खरीद लाऊँ। अपने सुहृदों एवं सगे-सम्बन्धियोंको तो मैं कदापि उस राक्षसके हाथमें नहीं दे सकूँगा
na ca me vidyate vittaṃ saṃkretuṃ puruṣaṃ kvacit | suhṛj-janaṃ pradātuṃ ca na śakṣyāmi kadācana ||
The brāhmaṇa said: “I have no wealth by which I could purchase a man from anywhere. And I will never be able to hand over my friends and kinsmen into that rākṣasa’s hands.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic boundary: even under threat or compulsion, one should not treat human beings—especially friends and relatives—as commodities to be bought or surrendered. Material poverty does not justify moral transgression, and loyalty/protection toward one’s close community is presented as an ethical imperative.
A Brahmin, confronted with a demand involving a rākṣasa, explains his inability to comply: he lacks the money to procure a substitute person, and he refuses to hand over his own friends or relatives to the rākṣasa. The statement highlights both his helplessness (no wealth) and his moral refusal (cannot give loved ones).