Shloka 51
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
क्षुधित: कलुषं यातो नास्ति हीरशनार्थिन: । क्षुच्च मां दूषयत्यत्र हरिष्यामि श्वजाघनीम्
kṣudhitaḥ kaluṣaṃ yāto nāsti hrīraśanārthinaḥ | kṣuc ca māṃ dūṣayaty atra hariṣyāmi śvajāghanīm ||
Accablé par la faim, il avoue être tombé dans une voie souillée : pour celui qui cherche de quoi manger, la honte ne retient plus l’acte. «C’est la faim elle-même qui me souille ici ; c’est pourquoi j’emporterai cette cuisse de chien.»
घपच उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme hunger can erode shame and push a person toward morally impure actions, yet it also preserves ethical awareness by naming the act as 'kaluṣa' (tainted) and recognizing hunger as the force driving the fall.
A speaker, driven by hunger, justifies an intended act of taking a dog’s thigh for food, stating that a starving person loses the restraint of shame and that hunger is what is bringing him disgrace in this moment.