Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 137
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
वृषादर्भिप्रयुक्तैषा निहता मे तपोधना: । दुष्टा हिंस्थादियं पापा युष्मान् प्रत्यग्निसम्भवा
vṛṣādarbhiprayuktaiṣā nihatā me tapodhanāḥ | duṣṭā hiṃsthād iyaṃ pāpā yuṣmān pratyagnisambhavā ||
शुनःसख बोला—वृष और दर्भ-तृण के प्रयोग से इसने मेरी तपस्या-सम्पदा, मेरे कठिन अर्जित पुण्य को नष्ट कर दिया है। अग्नि से उत्पन्न यह दुष्टा, हिंस्र और पापिनी है; इसने मुझे पीड़ा दी है और इसका वैर तुम लोगों की ओर भी है।
शुन:सख उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity of harming ascetic merit (tapas) through malicious or ritualized means: spiritual wealth is portrayed as precious, and its destruction is condemned as wickedness (duṣṭatā, pāpatā), inviting moral accountability.
Śunaḥsakha laments that a fire-born woman has ruined his accumulated tapas, allegedly using a bull and darbha grass as instruments. He denounces her as sinful and warns that her hostility is directed toward the listeners as well.