Shloka 8
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
जघ्नुस्ता: पयसा पुत्रांस्तथा पौत्रान् विधुन्वती: । पशूनवेक्षमाणाश्च साधुवृत्तेन दम्पती
jaghnustāḥ payasā putrāṁs tathā pautrān vidhunvatīḥ | paśūn avekṣamāṇāś ca sādhuvṛttena dampatī ||
Las vacas, temblando de angustia y mirando en torno a los demás ganados, al no ver a su legítimo dueño ni a sus terneros, se estremecían de dolor. Y con su propia leche destruyeron a aquella pareja que vivía del robo—junto con sus hijos y sus nietos. El episodio enseña que el daño nacido de un sustento injusto recae sobre el malhechor, y que aun lo que suele dar vida puede volverse instrumento de retribución cuando se viola el dharma.
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
A livelihood rooted in adharma—such as theft and exploitation—invites inevitable ruin. The verse frames moral causality: violating rightful ownership and harming dependents (cows and calves) turns even nourishing milk into a means of punishment, emphasizing dharma’s protective and corrective force.
The cows, distressed because they cannot find their owner and calves and are searching among other cattle, tremble in pain. In that state, they bring about the destruction of the abducting/stealing couple and also their sons and grandsons—said to occur through the agency of the cows’ milk.