Shloka 28
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
स कदाचित्् परिपतन् श्वपचानां निवेशनम् | हिंस्राणां प्राणिघातानामाससाद वने क्वचित्,एक दिन वे किसी वनके भीतर प्राणियोंका वध करनेवाले हिंसक चाण्डालोंकी बस्तीमें गिरते-पड़ते जा पहुँचे
sa kadācit paripatan śvapacānāṁ niveśanam | hiṁsrāṇāṁ prāṇighātānām āsasāda vane kvacit ||
Bhishma said: “Once, as he stumbled and fell again and again, he chanced to reach, somewhere in a forest, the settlement of the dog-cookers (outcastes)—a violent community devoted to the slaughter of living beings.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a morally charged setting—people habituated to killing—highlighting the ethical weight of hiṁsā (violence) and preparing the listener to consider how environment and actions shape one’s dharma and consequences.
A person, weakened or distressed, wanders and stumbles until he arrives in a forest at the settlement of śvapacas/caṇḍālas described as violent killers of living beings.