Shloka 43
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
स विगाढां निशां दृष्टवा सुप्ते चाण्डालपक्कणे । शनैरुत्थाय भगवान् प्रविवेश कुटीमठम्,जब प्रगाढ़ अन्धकारसे युक्त आधी रात हो गयी और चाण्डालके घरके सभी लोग सो गये, तब भगवान् विश्वामित्र धीरेसे उठकर उस चाण्डालकी कुटियामें घुस गये
sa vigāḍhāṃ niśāṃ dṛṣṭvā supte cāṇḍālapakkane | śanair utthāya bhagavān praviśa kucīm aṭham ||
Bhīṣma said: Seeing that the night had grown deep and that the people of the Caṇḍāla household were asleep, the revered sage Viśvāmitra quietly rose and entered the Caṇḍāla’s hut. The episode underscores a deliberate, ethically charged act carried out in secrecy, setting up a reflection on dharma under constraint and the tension between social boundaries and higher purpose.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an action performed quietly at night, inviting reflection on how dharma may involve difficult choices where intention, necessity, and higher aims can come into tension with social norms and appearances.
After midnight, when the Caṇḍāla household has fallen asleep, the sage Viśvāmitra rises silently and enters their hut, indicating a purposeful act undertaken discreetly as the story moves toward its ethical implications.