Shloka 91

Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)

Devanagari script

श्षपच उवाच अस्थानतो हीनत: कुत्सिताद्‌ वा तद्‌ विद्वांसं बाधते साधुवृत्तम्‌ । श्वानं पुनर्यो लभते5भिषज्भात्‌ तेनापि दण्ड: सहितव्य एव,चाण्डालने कहा--जो अयोग्य स्थानसे, अनुचित कर्मसे तथा निन्दित पुरुषसे कोई निषिद्ध वस्तु लेना चाहता है, उस विद्वानको उसका सदाचार ही वैसा करनेसे रोकता है (अत: आपको तो ज्ञानी और धर्मात्मा होनेके कारण स्वयं ही ऐसे निन्द्य कर्मसे दूर रहना चाहिये); परंतु जो बारंबार अत्यन्त आग्रह करके कुत्तेका मांस ग्रहण कर रहा है, उसीको इसका दण्ड भी सहन करना चाहिये (मेरा इसमें कोई दोष नहीं है)

Transliteration

śvapaca uvāca | asthānato hīnataḥ kutsitād vā tad vidvāṁsaṁ bādhate sādhuvṛttam | śvānaṁ punar yo labhate 'bhiṣajbhāt tenāpi daṇḍaḥ sahitavya eva ||

Translation

The Śvapaca said: “A learned man’s good conduct restrains him from accepting what is forbidden—whether it is sought from an improper place, through a degrading means, or from a contemptible person. But whoever repeatedly, with excessive insistence, takes dog’s flesh even from a physician—he alone must bear the penalty for it. In this, I am not at fault.”

Word by Word

श्वपचःthe dog-cooker (Chandala)

उवाचsaid

अस्थानतःfrom an improper place/occasion

हीनतःfrom an inferior (person)

कुत्सितात्from a vile (person)

वाor

तत्that (thing)

विद्वांसम्the learned man

बाधतेhinders/obstructs

साधु-वृत्तम्good conduct

श्वानम्a dog

पुनःagain, further

यःwho

लभतेobtains/takes

अभिषक्-भात्from a physician (as giver/source)

तेनby him/therefore

अपिalso, even

दण्डःpunishment

सहितव्यःto be endured

एवindeed, only

Speaker

श्षपच उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śvapaca (Caṇḍāla speaker)

abhiṣaj (physician)

śvāna (dog; dog’s flesh)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True learning expresses itself as sādhuvṛtta—inner restraint that prevents one from pursuing prohibited gains from improper sources. If someone knowingly persists in a forbidden act, the moral and karmic consequence belongs to the doer, not to the one who merely becomes an occasion for it.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Śvapaca (Caṇḍāla) responds to a situation involving the taking of a prohibited substance (dog’s flesh). He argues that a genuinely wise and dharmic person would be checked by propriety itself; but if someone insists on taking it repeatedly—even if obtained via a physician—then that person must bear the resulting penalty, and the speaker disclaims blame.