Shloka 124
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
विश्वामित्र उवाच जीवतो वै गुरून् भृत्यान् भरन्त्वस्य परे जना: । अगतिर्षहुपुत्र: स्याद् बिसस्तैन्यं करोति यः,विश्वामित्र बोले--जो इन मृणालोंको चुरा ले गया हो, जिस पुरुषके जीवित रहनेपर उसके गुरु और माता तथा पिताका दूसरे पुरुष पोषण करें उसको और जिसकी कुगति हुई हो तथा जिसके बहुत-से पुत्र हों उसको जो पाप लगता है वह पाप उसे लगे
Viśvāmitra uvāca: jīvato vai gurūn bhṛtyān bharantv asya pare janāḥ | agatiḥ sahuputraḥ syād bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ ||
Viśvāmitra said: “May that very sin fall upon the one who steals these lotus-stalks—(the sin of a man) who, while still alive, lets others maintain his elders and dependents (such as his teachers and parents); (the sin of one) who has sunk into a wretched condition; and (the sin of one) who has many children yet fails in his duty.”
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns theft by equating it with grave moral failures: neglecting one’s duty to support elders and dependents (so that outsiders must do it), and living in a degraded state despite having family responsibilities. It frames dharma as active responsibility and self-restraint.
Viśvāmitra pronounces a moral imprecation: whoever stole the lotus-stalks should incur the same sin as a person who, while alive, allows others to maintain his teachers/elders and dependents—an ethical censure meant to expose the thief through the weight of dharmic guilt.