Shloka 38
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
मृत्पात्रस्य क्रियायां हि दण्डचक्रादयो यथा । कारणत्वे प्रकल्प्यन्ते तथा त्वमपि पन्नग,सर्प! जैसे मिट्टीका बर्तन बनाते समय दण्ड और चाक आदिको भी उसमें कारण माना जाता है, उसी प्रकार तू भी इस बालकके वधमें कारण है
mṛtpātrasya kriyāyāṃ hi daṇḍacakrādayo yathā | kāraṇatve prakalpyante tathā tvam api pannaga-sarpa ||
The hunter said: “Just as, in the making of an earthen pot, the stick, the wheel, and the other implements are all counted as contributing causes, so too, O serpent—O snake—you are also a cause in the killing of this boy.”
लुब्धक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses an analogy of pot-making to argue for shared causality: not only the direct agent but also contributing factors can be held responsible. Ethically, it frames blame as extending to those who enable or participate in the chain of harm.
The hunter addresses a serpent and asserts that the serpent is also to be counted among the causes of a boy’s death, just as tools like the stick and wheel are counted among the causes in producing a clay pot.