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 ||
Les vaches, tremblantes d’angoisse et cherchant du regard les autres bêtes, lorsqu’elles ne voyaient ni leur maître légitime ni leurs veaux, frissonnaient de douleur. Et par leur propre lait, elles détruisirent ce couple vivant du vol—ainsi que leurs fils et leurs petits-fils. L’épisode montre que le tort issu d’un gagne-pain injuste se retourne contre le coupable, et que même ce qui nourrit la vie peut devenir instrument de rétribution lorsque le dharma est bafoué.
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.