Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 25
Chatra–Upānah Dāna: Origin Narrative
Jamadagni–Reṇukā–Sūrya Saṃvāda
जगदग्निरुवाच अनध्यायेष्वधीयीत मित्र श्राद्धे च भोजयेत् । श्राद्धे शूद्रस्य चाश्रीयाद् यस्ते हरति पुष्करम्
jamadagnir uvāca—anadhyāyeṣv adhīyīta mitra śrāddhe ca bhojayet | śrāddhe śūdrasya cāśrīyād yas te harati puṣkaram ||
जमदग्नि बोले—जिसने तुम्हारा कमल ले लिया है, वह निषिद्ध काल में अध्ययन करे; श्राद्ध में केवल मित्र को ही भोजन कराए; और स्वयं भी शूद्र के श्राद्ध में भोजन स्वीकार करे।
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses deliberate inversion of accepted ritual norms as a moral rebuke: the offender is ‘assigned’ conduct that is normally censured (studying in anadhyāya, limiting śrāddha hospitality, eating at a Śūdra’s śrāddha). The ethical point is that wrongdoing invites social and ritual disapproval, expressed here through a punitive prescription.
Within the discourse, Jamadagni speaks about the person who has taken away the listener’s ‘lotus’ (puṣkara). He pronounces a set of harsh injunctions aimed at that wrongdoer, framed as a condemnation rather than a model for ordinary dharmic practice.