Shloka 18
शृङ्गिशापः—तक्षककाश्यपसंवादः (Śṛṅgī’s Curse and the Takṣaka–Kāśyapa Dialogue)
मम कन्या सनाम्नी या भैक्ष्यवच्चोदिता भवेत् | भरेय॑ चैव यां नाहं तां मे कनन््यां प्रयच्छत,“जो कन्या मेरे ही जैसे नामवाली हो, भिक्षाकी भाँति मुझे दी जा सकती हो और जिसके भरण-पोषणका भार मुझपर न हो, ऐसी कन्या कोई मुझे दे”
mama kanyā sanāmnī yā bhaikṣyavac coditā bhavet | bhareya caiva yāṃ nāhaṃ tāṃ me kanyāṃ prayacchata ||
Takṣaka said: “Give me a maiden who bears the same name as I do—one who can be handed over to me as easily as alms are given, and whose maintenance will not fall upon me. Provide me such a girl.”
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethically charged attitude toward responsibility: the speaker seeks a relationship-like transfer (a maiden) while explicitly refusing the duty of maintenance. It implicitly contrasts desire or acquisition with the dharmic expectation of accepting obligations that accompany one’s demands.
Takṣaka makes a pointed request: he asks to be given a maiden who shares his name and can be handed over as easily as alms, specifying that he does not want to bear her upkeep. The statement frames the terms of what he is willing to accept.