Shloka 23
Kubera’s Arrival and the Disclosure of Agastya’s Curse
Vaiśaṃpāyana–Janamejaya Narrative
भुक्त्वा चान्नानि दुष्प्रज्ञ कथमस्मान् जिहीर्षसि । एवमेव वृथाचारो वृथावृद्धों वृथामति:,“खोटी बुद्धिवाले राक्षस! तू हमारा अन्न खाकर हमें ही हर ले जानेकी इच्छा कैसे करता है? इस प्रकार तो अबतक तूने ब्राह्मणरूपसे जो आचार दिखाया था, वह सब व्यर्थ ही था। तेरा बढ़ना या वृद्ध होना भी व्यर्थ ही है। तेरी बुद्धि भी व्यर्थ है
bhuktvā cānnāni duṣprajña katham asmān jihīrṣasi | evam eva vṛthācāro vṛthāvṛddhoṁ vṛthāmatiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O foolish one! After eating our food, how can you now wish to carry us off? If this is what you do, then the brahmin-like conduct you have displayed until now was entirely in vain. Your growing up—indeed even your maturity—is futile, and your intellect is futile as well.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse condemns betrayal of hospitality: accepting someone’s food and protection and then harming them is a grave breach of dharma. External displays of piety (such as brahmin-like conduct) are worthless if one’s intent is predatory; true virtue is measured by consistent ethical action.
In the forest narrative, a speaker rebukes a deceitful aggressor who has eaten their provisions and then seeks to seize them. The rebuke exposes the hypocrisy of a brahmin-like façade and declares the offender’s maturity and intellect ‘vain’ because they are used in service of adharma.