Shloka 17
वसिष्ठ उवाच अस्वाध्यायपरो लोके श्वानं च परिकर्षतु । पुरे च भिक्षुर्भवतु यस्ते हरति पुष्करम्,वसिष्ठने कहा--जिसने आपके कमल चुराये हो, वह स्वाध्यायसे विमुख हो जाय। कुत्ता साथ लेकर शिकार खेले और गाँव-गाँव भीख माँगता फिरे
Vasiṣṭha uvāca: asvādhyāya-paro loke śvānaṃ ca parikarṣatu | pure ca bhikṣur bhavatu yas te harati puṣkaram ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “May the one who steals your lotus become, in this world, a person turned away from sacred study. Let him drag about with a dog, and in towns let him live as a beggar.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames theft—especially of a valued or sacred object—as a dharmic lapse that results in loss of svādhyāya (sacred learning) and honor. The punishment is ethical and social: ignorance, disgrace, and dependence replace the stability and dignity that dharma protects.
Vasiṣṭha pronounces a curse upon an unnamed offender who has stolen ‘your lotus’ (puṣkara). He declares that the thief will become averse to sacred study, be reduced to dragging about with a dog, and wander in towns as a beggar—depicting a fall from cultured life into humiliation.