Shloka 5
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
चाण्डाल उवाच ब्राह्मणस्य गवां राजन् द्वियतीनां रज: पुरा । सोममुध्वंसयामास त॑ सोम॑ येडपिबन् द्विजा:
cāṇḍāla uvāca | brāhmaṇasya gavāṃ rājan dvijatīnāṃ rajaḥ purā | somam udhvaṃsayāmāsa tat somaṃ ye ’dapiban dvijāḥ ||
Le Caṇḍāla dit : «Ô roi, jadis des vaches appartenant à un brāhmaṇa furent saisies et chassées au loin. Tandis qu’on les emmenait, la poussière de leurs sabots, mêlée de fines gouttes de lait, tomba sur le Soma et le souilla. Les dvija qui burent ce Soma, ainsi que le roi qui avait reçu l’initiation sacrificielle pour ce rite, tombèrent bientôt en enfer. Avec les prêtres officiants, le roi devint voué à l’enfer, car le sacrifice était soutenu par une richesse prise à un brāhmaṇa.»
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
A sacrifice does not become meritorious merely by correct ritual form; if it is supported by stolen or unrighteous wealth, it becomes tainted, and both patron and priests share the karmic consequence.
The Caṇḍāla recounts an earlier incident: cows belonging to a Brāhmaṇa were unlawfully taken; as they were driven away, dust from their hooves fell into the Soma and defiled it. Those who drank it—together with the initiated king and officiants connected with the rite—incurred grave downfall because the ritual was linked to the wrongdoing.