Shloka 25

Devanagari script

जगदग्निरुवाच अनध्यायेष्वधीयीत मित्र श्राद्धे च भोजयेत्‌ । श्राद्धे शूद्रस्य चाश्रीयाद्‌ यस्ते हरति पुष्करम्‌,जमदग्नि बोले--जिसने आपके कमल लिये हों, वह निषिद्ध कालमें अध्ययन करे। मित्रको ही श्राद्धमें जिमावे तथा स्वयं भी शूद्रके श्राद्धमें भोजन करे

Transliteration

jamadagnir uvāca—anadhyāyeṣv adhīyīta mitra śrāddhe ca bhojayet | śrāddhe śūdrasya cāśrīyād yas te harati puṣkaram ||

Translation

Jamadagni said: “Let the one who has taken away your lotus undertake study even during forbidden times; let him feed only a ‘friend’ at the śrāddha; and let him even accept a meal at a Śūdra’s śrāddha.”

Word by Word

जमदग्निःJamadagni (sage)

उवाचsaid

अनध्यायेषुin times of non-study (prohibited days)

अधीयीतshould study

मित्रO friend

श्राद्धेat/in a śrāddha rite

चand

भोजयेत्should cause to eat / should feed

श्राद्धेin a śrāddha

शूद्रस्यof a Śūdra

चand

आश्रीयात्should resort to / should partake (take refuge in)

यःwho

तेof you / your

हरतिtakes away / steals

पुष्करम्lotus (or lotus-like object)

Speaker

शुक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Jamadagni

Mitra (addressed as ‘friend’)

Śūdra

Śrāddha

Puṣkara (lotus)

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?

The verse uses deliberate inversion of accepted ritual norms as a moral rebuke: the offender is ‘assigned’ conduct that is normally censured (studying in anadhyāya, limiting śrāddha hospitality, eating at a Śūdra’s śrāddha). The ethical point is that wrongdoing invites social and ritual disapproval, expressed here through a punitive prescription.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within the discourse, Jamadagni speaks about the person who has taken away the listener’s ‘lotus’ (puṣkara). He pronounces a set of harsh injunctions aimed at that wrongdoer, framed as a condemnation rather than a model for ordinary dharmic practice.