Shloka 125

Devanagari script

अशुचिर्त्रद्यकूटो5स्तु ऋद्धया चैवाप्यहंकृत: । कर्षको मत्सरी चास्तु बिसस्तैन्यं करोति य:,जिसने मृणालोंका अपहरण किया हो, उसे अपवित्र रहनेका, वेदको मिथ्या माननेका, धनका घमंड करनेका, ब्राह्मण होकर खेत जोतनेका और दूसरोंसे डाह रखनेका पाप लगे

Transliteration

aśucir trayakūṭo 'stu ṛddhyā caivāpy ahaṅkṛtaḥ | karṣako matsarī cāstu bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ ||

Translation

Viśvāmitra said: “Let the one who steals lotus-fibres (bisa) become impure; let him be a denier of the Veda; let him be swollen with pride over wealth; let him, though a brāhmaṇa, take to the plough as a cultivator; and let him be envious. Such are the moral stains that cling to the thief of lotus-fibres.”

Word by Word

अशुचिःimpure

त्रैविद्यकूटःone who falsifies/cheats with the three Vedas (a Veda-deceiver)

अस्तुlet him be

ऋद्धयाby/with wealth, prosperity

चand

एवindeed, just

अपिalso, even

अहंकृतःmade arrogant; puffed up with ego

कर्षकःploughman; cultivator

मत्सरीenvious

चand

अस्तुlet him be

बिसस्तैन्यम्theft of lotus-stalks (fibres)

करोतिdoes; commits

यःwho

Speaker

विश्वामित्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Viśvāmitra

Veda

bisa (lotus-fibre/mṛṇāla)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even seemingly minor theft (here, lotus-fibre) is treated as a serious breach of dharma, bringing moral and social degradation—impurity, envy, arrogance, and a fall from proper conduct and reverence for Vedic authority.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic passage of Anuśāsana Parva, Viśvāmitra pronounces the kinds of दोष/पाप (faults and sins) that are said to accrue to a person who steals lotus-fibres, listing the resulting moral taints and degraded dispositions.