Shloka 88
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
विरूप उवाच धारयामि नरव्याप्र विकृतस्येह गो: फलम् । ददतश्न न गृह्नाति विकृतो मे महीपते
virūpa uvāca | dhārayāmi naravyāghra vikṛtasyeha goḥ phalam | dadataś ca na gṛhṇāti vikṛto me mahīpate ||
Virūpa dit : «Ô tigre parmi les hommes, j’ai conservé ici, comme une dette, le fruit (le mérite) du don d’une vache appartenant à Vikṛta. Ô seigneur de la terre, aujourd’hui je m’acquitte de cette dette ; mais Vikṛta refuse de la recevoir de moi.»
विरूप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma around obligation and moral accounting: one should repay what one holds as another’s due (even intangible ‘phala’/merit), and acceptance/refusal itself can carry ethical significance in disputes about rightful ownership of merit.
Virūpa tells the king that he has been holding the ‘fruit’ (merit) of Vikṛta’s cow-gift as a kind of debt. Now he is offering to return it, but Vikṛta refuses to accept the repayment, indicating a moral or legal complication being brought before royal judgment.