Shloka 15
Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
दत्तमाहारमिच्छामि त्वया क्षुद् बाधते हि माम् । स तद्वचः प्रतिश्रुत्य वाक्यमाह विहड्भम:
dattam āhāram icchāmi tvayā kṣud bādhate hi mām | sa tad-vacaḥ pratiśrutya vākyam āha vihaṅgamaḥ, sañcayo nāsti cāsmākaṃ munīnām iva bhojane |
Dijo él: “Deseo comer el alimento que puedas darme, pues el hambre me atormenta.” Al oírlo, el ave respondió: “Hermano, no tenemos riqueza ni provisiones guardadas con que apagar tu hambre. Somos aves del bosque; vivimos sólo de lo que recogemos cada día. Como los ascetas, no conservamos reserva de comida.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights aparigraha (not hoarding) and the ethical tension of hospitality: a forest creature lives day-to-day without stored provisions, resembling ascetics, yet must respond compassionately to a hungry guest.
A hungry visitor asks for food. The bird replies that it has no stored supplies—only what it gathers daily—framing its simple livelihood and setting up the moral challenge of how to offer hospitality despite scarcity.