Shloka 85
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
श्षपच उवाच नैवोत्सहे भवतो दातुमेतां नोपेक्षितुं हियमाणं स्वमन्नम् । उभौ स्याव: पापलोकावलि प्तौ दाता चाहं ब्राह्मणस्त्वं प्रतीच्छन्,चाण्डालने कहा--ब्रह्मन! मैं यह अभक्ष्य वस्तु आपको नहीं दे सकता और मेरे इस अन्नका आपके द्वारा अपहरण हो, इसकी उपेक्षा भी नहीं कर सकता। इसे देनेवाला मैं और लेनेवाले आप ब्राह्मण दोनों ही पापलिप्त होकर नरकमें पड़ेंगे
śvapaca uvāca: naivotsahe bhavato dātum etāṃ nopīkṣituṃ hriyamāṇaṃ svam annam | ubhau syāvaḥ pāpalokāvaliptau dātā cāhaṃ brāhmaṇas tvaṃ pratīcchan |
The outcaste said: “I cannot bring myself to give you this (impure) thing; nor can I stand by while my own food is being taken away. If this happens, both of us will be stained by sin and fall into a realm of wrongdoing— I as the giver, and you, O Brahmin, as the one who accepts.”
श्षपच उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral responsibility on both sides of an exchange: giving and accepting can both generate ethical fault when the object or circumstance is improper. It highlights that dharma is not only about need or power, but also about the moral status of what is taken or offered and the accountability of both parties.
An outcaste speaker addresses a Brahmin who is seeking (or attempting to take) his food. The speaker refuses to give an ‘unfit/impure’ item and also refuses to passively allow his food to be seized, warning that both giver and receiver would incur sin and suffer harmful consequences.