Shloka 21
Gārhasthya-Śreṣṭhatā and Kṣatriya-Daṇḍadhāraṇa
Householder Primacy and the Royal Duty of Punishment
एक दिन लिखित शंखके आश्रमपर आये। दैवेच्छासे शंख भी उसी समय आश्रमसे बाहर निकल गये थे ।। सो5भिगम्याश्रमं भ्रातु: शंखस्य लिखितस्तदा । फलानि पातयामास सम्यक्परिणतान्युत
so’bhigamyāśramaṁ bhrātuḥ śaṅkhasya likhitastadā | phalāni pātayāmāsa samyak-pariṇatāny uta ||
Vyāsa dit : « Alors Likhita se rendit à l’āśrama de son frère Śaṅkha. À cet instant même, par le jeu du destin, Śaṅkha était sorti de l’ermitage. Likhita fit alors tomber (des arbres) des fruits parfaitement mûrs. »
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up the principle that dharma is sensitive to intention, ownership, and permission: even taking or using what belongs to another—here, causing fruits to fall at another’s hermitage—can become ethically significant, especially for those committed to restraint and righteousness.
Likhita arrives at his brother Śaṅkha’s hermitage. By coincidence (daiva), Śaṅkha is away at that moment. Likhita then makes ripe fruits fall from the trees, an action that will lead into the ensuing moral-legal consequences in the Śaṅkha–Likhita episode.